InformationWeek's W. David Gardner reports today that Verizon Wireless "tried to pin down bragging rights to the high-speed data wireless sweepstakes" by announcing its rollout of next-generation CDMA EV-DO Rev. A.

First locations to get the faster service will be Boston, MA; Richmond and Hampton Roads, VA; Chicago, IL; Salt Lake City, UT; and areas of Florida.

The biggest difference, according to Spectral Advantage analyst Joe Nordgaard, lies in the upload speeds. "EV-DO Rev. A represents an important step in wireless network evolution, because the improved up and down link speeds will allow for many new services like VoIP and better push-to-talk service," he says.

Sprint has already had Rev. A in place for months now, and announced today that it's adding coverage in South Florida, Puerto Rico and Oregon.

More here from ZDNet's Marguerite Reardon, and Verizon Wireless' press release is here.