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Last summer, I can’t tell you how many news alerts I saw talking about Verizon and Sprint strengthening their EV-DO network with Revision A. I then heard how fast the network can be, and got real excited, because I knew I was getting a smartphone sooner or later. But it wasn’t until recently that I discovered that no, Verizon and Sprint handsets don’t operate on Rev. A. They operate on Rev. 0. That high-speed Rev. A was reserved for laptop cards, an area which the two companies are trying to expand. Sprint, though, has announced a handset that will work on the Rev. A network.

It’s the HTC Mogul, another neat-o phone from the Taiwanese company.

So what’s the difference between Rev. 0 and Rev. A? Download speeds with Rev. 9 range from 400 to 700 kbps, while Rev. A brings that up to 600 to 1,400 kbps. So it’s a bit higher base speed, with the potential for far faster connections (as in, when fewer people are using the network).

Upload speeds are improved, too, far more drastically than download speeds. You can only upload at 50 to 70 kbps with Rev. 0, but that shoots up to 350 to 500 with Rev. A. Brenda Raney, spokeswoman for Verizon, has said that they haven’t made Rev. A available on handsets because the main advantage (as you can see) is the upload speed, which isn’t as important on handsets than it is on laptops.

The Mogul will cost you $199.99 with a two-year contract. But that’s a two-year commitment to Sprint. So you gotta ask yourself…are you prepared for this?

[Associated Press]

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