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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Could Hutchison Walk Away from 3G?
June 10, 2003 - source: BWCS
As 3G handsets finally arrived in shops across the UK, rival operators
were considering their response to the drastic price cuts announced by
Hutchison 3G last week. According to a report in Telecom.paper, both Orange
and mmO2 said that they were not worried about the price cuts, which are
up to 50% below the UK average, and that service quality and customer
experience were more important than price. But their cool reaction did
not stop shares in the operators from sliding as markets feared that the
European mobile phone industry was headed for a price war.
In Italy, however, Hutchison says it has no plans to follow the strategy
of its UK sister company. Instead, it is offering a discount on 3G handsets,
which brings down the cost of one of its most popular models, made by
NEC, to €495.
Some analysts believe Hutchison may pull the plug on 3G if it continues
to fall short of expectations rather than let its credit rating slip into
non-investment grade. Dilip Parameswaran, director of credit research
at Credit Agricole Indosuez, said, “We believe Hutchison would be prepared
to walk away from 3G, given the great care it has taken to structure 3G
financing separately from the rest of the business.”
To date, Hutchison has signed up 25,000 3G subscribers in the UK and
100,000 in Italy, a long way short of its combined target of 2 million
for the end of the year. The operator is said to be expecting its 3G business
to be Ebitda positive by 2005, which in the light of slow take-up and
recent price cuts is looking increasingly unlikely.
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3G Motorola A920
