Weekly Round Up and Comments
November 11, 2002
David Yuen - 11 November 2002
Our round up and comments of the past week's main stories from
our editor.
******** THIS WEEK ********
- Hutchison contradict themselves on launch date
- A third 3G standard will complicate matters in China
- Gartner: operators ignoring consumers
- Reduction in W-CDMA royalty fees
- Nokia 6650 poll: confusion over 3G classification
- Romania going to grant licenses by end of year
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>>> HUTCHISON CONTRADICT THEMSELVES ON LAUNCH DATE
The launch date of Hutchison's 3G services in Britain and Italy
has featured in the news over the pass two weeks. After two weeks
of speculation and rumours, we are still confused as to whether
Hutchison will launch 3G services before the end of the year.
The FT reported on 3rd November that Hutchison would not launch
3G services before year-end. ". . . we cannot be absolutely certain
we will be able to deliver handsets by December," Hutchison 3G UK
was quoted as saying.
Then on Monday, Reuters reported Hutchison spokeswoman Nora Yong
as saying, "Our plan remains unchanged. We hope to have paying customers
by the end of the year."
Are Hutchison employees ill informed of the schedules or does the
company themselves have no clue to its launch plans. It looks like
there is turmoil in the internal affairs of the company.
Hutchison 3G of Italy still expects to take 3G handset orders via
its website sometime this month, but rival operator Telecom Italia
Mobile aims to beat Hutchison and plans to launch 3G services in
Italy before the end of the year. If so it would spoil Hutchison's
ambition of launching 3G first in Italy.
-- FT: Hutchison may miss 3G launch date (subscription)
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT
/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1035872956843
-- CNN: Hutch: No change in 3G plans
http://europe.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/asia/11/04/hk.hutch/
>>> A THIRD 3G STANDARD WILL COMPLICATE MATTERS IN CHINA
China is one step closer to developing its own 3G standard called
TD-SCDMA, which has the backing of the government.
Datang believes the technology is more spectrum efficient in China
and cheaper to implement, but you need to ask, is it really necessary
to develop a new standard.
Chinese operators have not indicated whether they will implement
TD-SCDMA technology, but the paths that some have taken suggests
they will either implement CDMA2000 or W-CDMA networks. If operators
do decide to deploy TD-SCDMA, they would most likely deploy it alongside
one or more of the other standards, making China use all 3 standards.
In South Korea, operators have problems with deploying both W-CDMA
and CDMA2000 networks. If China adds a third standard it would complicate
matters even further.
Whether the course China has taken is correct or not, it seems
China is trying to establish itself as one of the key players in
the mobile industry.
>>> GARTNER: OPERATORS IGNORING CONSUMERS
A Gartner report suggests people use more SMS than email. Mobile
phones have more influence on users than PCs, but the mobile industry
has been obsessed by 3G technology and has forgotten the consumer.
Adam Daum of Gartner said, "It does not matter how good 3G is if
nobody knows or understands what they can do with it."
It is true that operators have done little in promoting 3G to the
consumers, but since most operators are delaying their 3G launch,
why waste money informing the general public this early when reliable
services won't be available for sometime. Even if services are launched,
handsets will be limited at the beginning so operators do not expect
mass take-up anyway.
-- GartnerG2 Says Mobile Industry Obsessed By 3G, and Has Forgotten
The Consumer
http://www3.gartner.com/5_about/press_releases/2002_11/pr20021105a.jsp
>>> REDUCTION IN W-CDMA ROYALTY FEES
An agreement between industry leaders NTT DoCoMo, Ericsson, Nokia
and Siemens, will limit the royalty rates they charge for licensing
their W-CDMA technologies.
It would help cash strapped telecom companies and lower cost for
developing countries deploying 3G networks. Hopefully operators
and vendors would pass on the savings to the consumers.
>>> NOKIA 6650 POLL: CONFUSION OVER 3G CLASSIFICATION
Fifty-nine percent of people voted in our poll feels the Nokia
6650 should not be classified as a 3G phone. Under the rules of
the ITU, 3G phones must have a minimum transfer speed of 144kbps.
If the specifications on the Nokia website are correct (data rate
of 128kbps), it should not be called a 3G phone despite being WCDMA
compatible.
>>> ROMANIA GOING TO GRANT LICENSES BY END OF YEAR
Last but not least, the Romanian government will award the possibility
of four 3G licenses by the end of the year. After several delays
and problems with license conditions, lets hope the issues are finally
resolved.
-- Global Wireless: Romania to grant 3G licenses by year-end
http://www.globalwirelessnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=3504
****************************
All comments and suggestions are welcome. Please send them to davidyuen@3gnewsroom.com
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