Sierra Wireless and Cingular Wireless today announced the availability of a new LaptopConnect card, the AirCard 875, the most advanced 3G PC Card based upon the GSM global wireless standard. Cingular's BroadbandConnect service and LaptopConnect card are currently available in more than 80 markets surrounding more than 20 major metropolitan cities. The company said it will continue to expand coverage to additional markets in and around major metropolitan cities in the coming months.

The AirCard 875 is a Type II PC Card with a fixed antenna, supporting peak theoretical data rates of up to 3.6 Mbps on HSDPA networks  and is upgradeable to support future firmware upgrades providing theoretical peak data rates of up to 7.2 Mbps1. The AirCard 875 supports HSDPA and UMTS on the 2100, 1900, and 850 MHz frequency bands, plus EDGE and GPRS on the 1900, 1800, 900, and 850 MHz bands, allowing one card to operate at the best available speed on wireless networks worldwide. In addition to the increased data speed and worldwide roaming capability, the AirCard 875 offers new advanced features: 

• Receiver equalization enables reductions in signal interference and better throughput, which is particularly beneficial to customers in urban areas with high levels of signal noise;
• High-performance antenna in a rugged housing includes integrated status indicator lights and a new low profile design.

The AirCard 875 LaptopConnect card will be available in October through Cingular Wireless enterprise and retail sales channels for $99.99 (after rebate) when customers sign up for a two-year unlimited DataConnect contract.

BroadbandConnect provides average downlink data speeds between 400-700Kbps (kilobits per second) with bursts to more than a Mbps (megabit per second) and uplink speeds to 384Kbps. When traveling outside the BroadbandConnect coverage area, the AirCard 875 enables service on Cingular's EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) network, available in more than 13,000 cities and towns and in areas along more than 40,000 miles of highways.