By Cassimir Medford

Only days after it posted fairly aggressive 2006 mobile data revenue results, Verizon Wireless said it will begin pumping up the data volume on its vaunted network starting in six regions within its coverage area.

But one analyst said the upgrade, which could increase network data capacity by a factor of six, will not significantly spur consumer adoption of data services until the carrier offers more compelling applications.

The Basking Ridge, New Jersey-based wireless carrier said Thursday it will upgrade its network in the Boston area; the Chicago area; Richmond and Hampton Roads, Virginia; Gary, Indiana; Salt Lake City, Utah; and areas of Florida.

The carrier will upgrade the network to CDMA 1x Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Revision A technology, or EV-DO Rev A for short.

EV-DO Rev A promises average download speeds of 450 to 800 kilobits per second (kbps) and average upload speeds of 300 to 400 kbps—a major performance boost from the current EV-DO network.

Shares of Verizon Communications rose $0.32 to $38.32 in recent trading.

Business Appeal

“EV-DO Rev A will appeal to businesses because the problem with EV-DO was the combination of great speeds on the downlink and slow speeds on the uplink,” said Peter Gorham, an independent analyst.

“It was great for web browsing but if you are sending an email with an attachment, the uplink becomes a bottleneck,” he added.

While businesses with their smart phone-wielding road warriors will probably enjoy the EV-DO bandwidth upgrade, consumers will be less stoked by it because it does not remove a nagging roadblock, according to Mr. Gorham.

Outside of text messaging, consumers seem unimpressed by most of the mobile data services, such as Internet surfing and video, currently on the market.

And at least one analyst thinks that by including text messaging as a data application, the wireless carriers are clouding over the true paucity of consumer mobile data adoption.

“I don’t really consider text messaging a data application…It’s more like an extension of voice,” said Roger Entner, an analyst with Ovum-RHK. “And the lion’s share of data revenue is still heavily text messaging, although that is beginning to change.”

Data by the Numbers

Verizon Wireless generated $4.5 billion in data revenue in 2006, double its 2005 data revenue. But the carrier does not break down its revenue by data application, or by business versus consumer revenue.

“This upgrade is going to benefit business users who generally need mobile laptop access to the Internet so it will improve Verizon’s numbers but it will not bring them consumers,” Mr. Gorham said.

Verizon Wireless also introduced a new compact USB720 wireless modem that will be available Friday. It will take advantage of the higher speeds.