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Malaysians have no reason to pay for 3G
August 30, 2002
Price sensitive Malaysians have no compelling reason yet to pay
for mobile Internet under 3G services, says June Liang of international
marketing consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan.
Liang, programme leader for Asia Pacific technology practice, said
Malaysia may only see wider 3G adoption in 2005, citing delays in
3G deployment in more advanced markets like Hong Kong and Singapore.
"There is a lack of value proposition in the market now even for
the 2.5G GPRS (general packet radio service). Consumers will only
spend money to change their handsets if they think it's worth it,"
she said at an MSC Technology Forum on 3G in Cyberjaya yesterday.
While technology-savvy Malaysians may already be ready for the
next generation high speed mobile data services, most consumers
just couldn't care less because they do not see the relevance of
3G to them, noted a participant at the forum.
Liang said the success of the i-mode in Japan may not easily be
replicated here or anywhere in the world.
"No two places are the same. For example, an average Japanese commuter
spends about four hours in the train with their hands free, thus
the time to play with their phones," she said.
Nonetheless, she said, multimedia messaging service (MMS) and GPRS
is expected to attract and introduce more users to 3G-like services,
and an average of two to three years is needed to gain enough users
for the service.
For now, the lack of compelling applications and content, competitive
handset pricing, and reliable network support are among key issues
that would make or fail 3G services deployment, she said.
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3G Motorola A920
