Telstra may be first in Australia
March 25, 2003
Telstra and Hutchison will begin battling each other this week
for the eyes and wallets of mobile phone customers keen on next-generation
services in Australia.
Telstra will introduce a consumer version of its CDMA200 1X network.
The upgrade will be the latest in a series of spoilers designed
to disrupt the launch of Hutchison's $3 billion 3G mobile network
- Australia's first.
Sources at Telstra said trial customers had taken to the service
and its launch was "imminent".
Telstra is understood to be playing a game of cat and mouse with
Hutchison about the precise day.
Telstra's consumer and marketing chief Ted Pretty has previously
promised that the 1X service would be easy to use and affordable.
Telstra will launch the service with two handsets and package the
hardware, software and access fees for customers.
The company is understood to have been working directly with handset
makers for the first time.
A nationwide CDMA upgrade will cost Telstra no more than $150 million,
promising a much faster return on investment than Hutchison can
expect.
In essence, the difference between Hutchison and its rivals is
the belief in the "build it and they will come" strategy rather
than sweating existing assets - the latest view of the incumbents.
Telstra and its main rival Optus believe that customer demand does
not yet warrant the cost of deploying a new mobile network, despite
having available spectrum for which Australia's mobile players collectively
paid more than $1 billion.
Hutchison has always targeted the end of March as the launch date
for its 3G mobile network. While the company is not ready for a
full commercial launch, it is keen to show its network is working.
Insiders have said it will, later this week, display a network capability
and some of the eight channels it is expected go to market with.
Hutchison's European launches have had continual delays and handset
supply problems.
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3G Motorola A920
