Fast Hookup With Cellphone Is Expected From Verizon

Verizon Wireless, the largest wireless carrier in the United States, is expected to announce today the availability of the nation's first commercial ''third-generation'' wireless service, which would provide users with fast access to the Internet through cellphones, people close to the company said.

The service, which will cost at least $30 a month in additional fees, will be available on the East Coast from Maine to Virginia, in the Bay Area of Northern California and in Salt Lake City in time for the Olympic Games. It will provide Internet access at speeds up to 144 kilobits a second, more than double normal connections.

The debut of third-generation, or 3G, service comes at a delicate time for the industry. Carriers in Asia, Europe and the United States have wagered about $150 billion on third-generation services, with the expectation that its high-speed Internet applications will make current service pale in comparison. (First-generation cellphones are analog; second-generation devices, which offer some data services, are mainly digital.)

The debut of third-generation services in parts of Asia, however, has been greeted without much fanfare. Concern has also increased over the carriers' ability to recoup investments in licenses and infrastructure through the sale of third-generation services.

For the time being, Verizon Wireless service is expected to resemble other wireless Internet technologies and services available from its rivals, AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless. Rather than focusing mainly on data services available on the tiny screens of cellphones, as carriers in Japan and South Korea have done, Verizon Wireless will probably try to sell its services to customers who want mobile Internet connections on laptop computers.

Customers will be able to buy a card made by Sierra Wireless that can be plugged into their laptop and provide Web access. This option also allows them to use their laptop as a phone through the use of headphones. Another option involves the purchase of a phone made by Kyocera of Japan that connects to a laptop and acts as a modem.

The differences between the third-generation services from Verizon Wireless and the two-and-a-half generation technology offered by AT&T Wireless and Cingular are minimal, especially where connection speeds are concerned.

Still, Verizon Wireless is the first to make such services available in a large part of its territory. About 20 percent of its customers will have access to the service this week and most customers will be covered by the end of the year, a person close to the company said.

The entry by Verizon Wireless into fast wireless Internet service comes after several companies, like Metricom and Teligent, filed for bankruptcy protection after pursuing similar plans.

Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone of Britain, will try to sell its service mainly to business customers, people close to the company said.