Two-way paging with Mobitex

Last week I was researching what happened to the Mobitex network, which is an older network in the U.S. for machine to machine interactions.  It was used with the older RIM 950 Blackberry, among other devices.  The Mobitex network is data only.

I was surprised to find that Velocita Wireless is still offering two way messaging services.  When I went to their web site, I found that they are offering Blackberry handhelds and service for a very, very low price.  I decided to try it out.  While there are some coverage holes in my area, their coverage in the area I live is good.

So why would anyone want to use older Blackberry devices and an older, low speed network?  This gets back to my posts a few months ago on one-way and two-way paging services.  The advantage to these often forgotten networks is that they were designed to do one thing:  carry data and messages.  Cellular networks are designed to handle voice and data, but frequently get overloaded when an accident or disaster happens.  If you are looking for a backup communications device to your cellphone, its hard to beat the deal that Velocita has.  An advantage to the device I got (RIM 950) is that it uses one AA battery, so if you find that the battery is low, it is easy to find another.

Of course, the disadvantages are that sometimes coverage is spotty in the more rural areas away from cities.  Also, the handhelds are 10 year old technology, and as such are large compared to today’s cell phones.  One other disadvantage to using AA batteries is that I’ve heard the battery life is not that good.  I haven’t used mine long enough to know how long the battery will be good, but the early signs are that I should keep a supply of AAs on hand.

In conclusion, I think that Velocita is providing a good alternative if you want to just send emails.  Sometimes its nice to just be able to message this way without having to worry about making phone calls.  Research I’ve done on Mobitex indicates that the network typically has a 3-8 second turnaround time, making it suitable for doing Instant messaging between two devices.