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 The Nokia 6650 is currently the only handset offered by T-Mobile Austria |
In autumn 2000, T-Mobile Austria purchased the right to use a frequency by means of UMTS licence and undertook to satisfy the associated conditions. The company is now complying with the concession specifications and announcing the start of its UMTS network. "We have not yet fully satisfied the preconditions for a widespread market launch. However as a partner remaining loyal to the contract we are satisfying our specifications and launching a commercial offer. For the time being we are not however actively advertising this offer", explains Dr. Georg Pölzl, CEO of T-Mobile Austria. "The technology functions in principle and is serviceable but the customer benefits we want to provide cannot yet be achieved when used in combination with the end devices currently available."
T-Mobile focuses on UMTS as the technology of the future
T-Mobile Austria considers UMTS to be an important access technology for its services just as it does GSM, GPRS and W-LAN. The long-term success of UMTS therefore depends on those preconditions which have been true in the past: network technology, services and devices. UMTS end devices only hold real additional value if they offer at least the same quality of modern GPRS devices. In the service sector, UMTS opens up possibilities for new multimedia applications. This will supplement the varied multimedia services provided by T-Mobile t-zones. "Apart from these three basic preconditions, use on an international basis is key to its success. We are certain that UMTS is an indispensable network technology for the future of all mobile phone operators. T-Mobile is focusing on UMTS and is currently expecting it to break onto the mass market as of 2005", explains Pölzl.
Approx. 100 million Euro invested to date in UMTS
T-Mobile Austria is starting up its UMTS network with a level of supply which extends 37% beyond the licence requirements. Here the company is initially mainly concentrating on the following conurbations: Vienna, Linz, Graz, Innsbruck, Eisenstadt, Klagenfurt, St. Pölten. In addition to this, T-Mobile is also offering to supply UMTS to large cities throughout Austria, such as Villach, Wiener Neudorf, Zwettl, Bruck a. d. Mur, Hall i. Tirol. Salzburg is not initially being included. To date the company has invested around Euro 100 mill. in the new technology. Over the coming years, the lion’s share of the company’s investments will also be made in UMTS. Pölzl: "UMTS is a technology which is continuously further developing at great speed. In order to prevent duplicate network-wide system updates and multiple exchanges of technology, we are pursuing a graduated development plan. The next specified regulatory milestone is providing a 50% supply by December 2005."
Start of offer: "performance boost"
The UMTS network from T-Mobile Austria provides a data transfer rate of up to 384 kbit/s and therefore also goes beyond that required by the relevant regulations covering this issue. "In an initial stage, our customers will experience a "performance boost" in the speed of transfer. To start with we will not be providing any new services oriented towards the higher bandwidth of UMTS. Anyone using UMTS, can use the wide range of existing multimedia applications provided by T-Mobile at a faster speed", says Pölzl. The speed benefits of UMTS are especially noticeable when downloading information from Internet and WAP pages and when using photographic and video content.
Selection of UMTS end devices available during the course of 2004
At the launch of this new network, T-Mobile Austria will be offering just one end device. The Nokia 6650 costs Euro 499 incl. data cable. It permits handovers from UMTS to GSM so that customers can have phone conversations without being cut off. The end device does not support data interworking. "During the course of 2004 we are expecting to see the launch of end devices which allow for the seamless use of our services Handover is one end device feature which is imperative for the success of UMTS", says Pölzl. The Nokia 6650 is available in the T-Mobile’s shops. Once available, T-Mobile will launch other end devices, e.g. from Siemens, Motorola and Samsung, onto the market in 2004.
Data and voice tariffs remain the same
Customers who have a UMTS device and are registered for both of T-Mobile’s data tariffs at the same time, can automatically use T-Mobile’s services via UMTS. They do not need to register again or gain additional activation. Regardless of the access technology used, charges will remain as in the past. UMTS will therefore be no more expensive than GPRS. "Initially, it will mainly be "early adaptors" and business customers who feel that these services are relevant to them. Pölzl is convinced that the "user experience" will increase continuously as new end devices appear so that other groups of customers can enter the new era".
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