Some cellular operators in Asia and Europe are deciding to stick with EDGE networks across most areas, only deploying true 3G networks in cities: EDGE follows GPRS, currently available on many networks, on the migration path for GSM operators and was meant to be a precursor to high-speed 3G mobile networks.
The strategy has been discussed often in the U.S., somewhat due to the size of this country--it'd be a major expense to build 3G literally everywhere. During the dotcom boom, however, there was some discussion of building 3G more broadly here. Now, of course, money isn't so easy to come by so operators are falling back to the "oceans of EDGE, islands of w-CDMA" concept, as one analyst puts it. Apparently the idea is somewhat new in Europe and Asia where until recently operators had still hoped to deploy 3G everywhere.
This development could be good news to Wi-Fi operators who can build hotspots or zones in areas where the only competition may be a 100 Kbps and likely expensive EDGE offering.