By Cleve Wiese

Published: May 8, 2008

A new nTelos mobile broadband service, launched last week, provides access to high-speed wireless Internet in isolated rural areas, office buildings – even moving cars.
“It gives people options that they didn’t have in the past,” said Mike Minnis, director of public relations for nTelos.
Utilizing what is known as “Evolution-Data Optimized” technology, the service beams high-speed internet access through radio signals transmitted from cell phone towers, Minnis said. It can be picked up by laptops, handheld devices such as Blackberry’s and cell phones, he said.
Minnis said the mobile access is likely to appeal to business people frequently on the move. But it will also create a new, cost effective Internet option to people living outside ordinary DSL service areas, he said.
It will likely render dial-up service in the region largely obsolete, said Dan Fajohn, owner of PC Medics in Waynesboro.
“What it’s going to mean is, if you’re in an area where you can get a radio signal, you’ll be able to get a high speed Internet signal,” he said.
Previously, dial-up service – a much slower, increasingly outmoded form of Internet access – was the only option, other than more expensive satellite service, available to 25 to 30 percent of his customers, especially those living in more remote areas, Fajohn said.
Widely accessible high-speed Internet access will also be a boon to the local economy, said Ben Carter, president and CEO of the Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“It could be one component of bringing business to the area,” Carter said. “But equally important is taking care of businesses that are already here: This will create a positive environment for them and create a situation where they can expand and grow ... The days of dial-up are come and gone.”
The mobile broadband service costs $9.99 per month for a cell phone, $29.99 for a BlackBerry and 59.99 for a computer, Minnis said.
NTelos has budgeted $80 million to equip around 1000 cell phone towers over the next 16 months with transmitters for the new service, Minnis said.