Vodafone is introducing new versions of its connection
cards to link laptops to corporate intranets and the internet over
new high-speed wireless networks.
Leading the rollout is the German subsidiary Vodafone D2, which
has announced the availability of two new Vodafone Mobile Connect
Cards.
"We're rolling out the new cards ahead of the other Vodafone
subsidiaries because we've been heavily involved in their
development," said Michael Paetsch, marketing director at Vodafone
D2. "The group is planning a Europe-wide roll-out over the next few
weeks."
While one card offers subscribers online access via GPRS
(General Packet Radio Service), the other provides online
connectivity via GPRS or wireless LAN (WLAN).
Each card contains software that lets users choose between
access to their company intranet with the necessary security or
access to the public Internet for browsing and e-mail. The later
possibility wasn't available in an earlier version of the
connection cards, launched last year. "The cards are designed for
plug-and-play use," Paetsch said. "Users can easily select which
sort of access they want and connect."
Each card costs €199 (£136), in addition to a mobile data
service contract, which ranges in price between €9.95 (£7) and
€39.95 (£27), depending on data volume, the company said.
The GPRS-based card offers speeds up to 53K bps (bits per
second), while the WLAN-enabled card, based on the 802.11b
standard, provides speeds up to 11M bps, according to Paetsch.
Vodafone also plans to introduce a card that will offer access
to GPRS, WLAN and new 3G (third-generation) broadband mobile
networks, it said. The company, however, provided no details about
availability of the new card.