Verizon gets aggressive on mobile broadband

Verizon Wireless is turning up the heat on the nascent wireless broadband market as it expands into new cities and slashes prices 25 percent. On Monday, the wireless provider, owned by Verizon Communications and

Verizon Wireless is turning up the heat on the nascent wireless broadband market as it expands into new cities and slashes prices 25 percent. On Monday, the wireless provider, owned by Verizon Communications and Vodafone, announced that it is lowering prices on its wireless broadband service to $60 from the previous price of $80 a month. It also announced that it has expanded the service--which is based on a technology called EV-DO, or Evolution-Data Optimized--into seven new markets, bringing the total number of markets served to 60. The new price is only available to customers who also subscribe to a Verizon Wireless voice plan, and it requires customers to sign a two-year contract. The new price cut has surprised some analysts because Verizon Wireless' competitors are just now starting to offer comparable services of their own. "Verizon is acting like it's a price war when there isn't anyone else really competing against them yet," said Albert Lin, a telecom analyst with American Technology Research who first wrote about the price cut in a research note to investors published last week.

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