A Core Competence Product Evaluation
The Basics: A Cell Phone and PC Card...
To use GSM circuit-switched data services, you'll need a suitable cell phone, a PC card modem, and a matched cable to connect them together. Xircom GSM Connection Kits support several combinations.
Start with one of Xircom's GSM-capable PC cards: the CreditCard GSM GlobalACCESS, CreditCard Modem 56 GlobalACCESS, or CreditCard Ethernet 10/100+Modem 56 GlobalACCESS. We used the latter to support our GSM trial. The CEM56 is an impressive multi-function PC card we'd reviewed previously for Internet World. Click here to read our review or visit Xircom's web site for more info.
Next, pick a GSM 1900 phone: Xircom offers GSM Connection Kits for Ericsson 300, 688, and 788 series, Siemens S3, S4, and S4 Power families, Sony CMD-100, 200, and CMDX-1000, or compatible phones. Nokia kits will also be available soon; for a current list, click here.
The trick, of course, is to find a GSM service provider that offers one of these phones, and to negotiate a good service package. Start by searching for a GSM service provider in your area, using North American network coverage maps like this one. You'll want to make sure that GSM service is available where you live, work, and frequently travel. GSM is growing at the rate of about 2000 subscribers per day, but is far less ubiquitous that plain old cellular service today. If you're located in or very near a major metropolitan area, you should have no trouble obtaining GSM service. Rural locations and even the edges of suburbia may lie outside current GSM serving areas. In our case, GSM coverage stops just short of our Philadelphia-area offices, so we trialed the GSM Connection Kit while roaming throughout the San Francisco bay area with an Ericsson CF388 Digital PCS service package from Pacific Bell.