Qualcomm and Teleepoch
Enter Into a 3G CDMA Subscriber Unit License Agreement, October
6, 2007
MTN chooses Cambridge Broadband
Networks for multi-service wireless network in Rwanda, October 6,
2007
Brazilian government to
publish 3G bidding rules soon, October 6, 2007
KTF 3G service suffers
from technical problems, October 6, 2007
Argentina’s Personal
lunches 3G service in Rosario, October 6, 2007
Russia has it's first 3G
network, October 6, 2007
AT&T could drop Alcatel-Lucent
as 3G mobile network supplier, October 6, 2007
Enea Extends License Agreement
with ZTE for 3G Handsets, October 2, 2007
LG to unveil premium handsets
in Brazil, October 2, 2007
KTF 3G subscribers doubled
in less than 3 months, October 2, 2007
3G policy in India will
be non-uniform, October 2, 2007
- previous news
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T-Mobile UK To Launch 3G This Year?
August 18, 2003 - source: BWCS
Rumour has it that the UK’s second 3G service will be up and running
by Christmas. According to a story in Telecom.paper quoting ‘a well-placed
source’, German-owned operator T-Mobile is to start a 3G trial with hundreds
of customers in the London area in October in preparation for a launch
just before Christmas.
The news, if indeed true, is not likely to be welcomed by existing operator
Hutchison 3G, which was no doubt hoping to have the lucrative Christmas
business all to itself. Neither Orange nor O2 are planning to start their
3G services before next year, while Vodafone says it is aiming for an
autumn launch in ‘major European markets’ but has repeatedly fallen behind
its stated rollout schedules.
For T-Mobile, a quick UK launch following its German 3G debut scheduled
for the third quarter this year would certainly make sense. The company
is already trialling UMTS services in a major pilot covering 23 cities
in Germany, and getting a headstart on its major rivals could be a smart
move, now that UK consumers are finally beginning to show some interest
in 3G. The latest subscriber numbers for 3, to be published later this
week, are expected to be a long way off Hutchison’s target of 1 million
by the end of the year, though its strategy of cutting prices and giving
away free handsets is beginning to bump up subscription sales, now estimated
at 10,000-12,000 a week.
Whatever happens, this year’s Christmas is not likely to be a season
of peace and goodwill to all men. In addition to the Big Four operators,
new entrant Tesco Mobile is expected to be pushing cheap own brand pay-as-you-go
phones out to its 14 million supermarket customers, while rival MVNO Virgin
has just announced signing its 3 millionth customer after only three years
of operation. Both Virgin and Tesco will be able to undercut the other
operators since they have no network infrastructure to support. A price
war will be hard to avoid.
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3G Motorola A920
