3G Industry Members Collaborate to Speed Up Roll Out of Quality Terminals

date: April 10, 2002

In a common effort to ensure the successful introduction of the first 3G terminals onto new networks, industry members have begun a ground-breaking series of collaborative meetings. Through these, operators, terminal manufacturers and test-equipment providers aim to prioritise the 3G terminal functions most necessary for successful user-equipment deployment.

Chaired by Anite Telecoms and co-ordinated by the Global Certification Forum (GCF), a series of roundtable discussions have begun in the UK and at ETSI's headquarters in Sophia Antipolis, France. A key goal of the meetings is to agree on the priority services and user-equipment functions that are essential in determining a handset's successful introduction onto a 3G network.

It is only once the test requirements priority is agreed that the necessary test cases can be developed; something, until now, lacking in 3G. This co-ordinated prioritisation will ensure all terminals, wherever manufactured, can be developed to the same conformance standards. Meeting conformance standards is a regulatory requirement before any handset can be launched onto a network.

"3G technology offers an unparalleled level of functionality and an almost limitless range of services," commented Anite Telecoms' Bob Morley, Chairman of the GCF 3G meetings. "Without prioritisation and a common direction, there is little chance that all required testing can be achieved, and so little chance of guaranteeing that terminals will work on the new networks."

"So far, the initial discussions show a determination to agree terminal priority functions, corresponding test procedures and test cases, as well as the overall standards needed to be set. There is a good deal still to achieve but a very promising start has been made," Morley stated.

This urgent development collaboration is a strong indication of how important a successful 3G launch is to an industry that has had its fair share of previous setbacks as a result of handset supply problems.

"Past experiences with GSM and GPRS terminal delays highlight what happens when industry members operate in isolation. For consumer confidence and the overall success of 3G, it is absolutely essential that we avoid making the same mistakes. I have every confidence that this new collaborative process involving key industry participants, will achieve its aims," Morley concluded.

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