3GNewsroom.com Weekly Round Up and Comments
David Yuen - 18 November 2002
Our round up and comments of the past week's main stories from
our editor.
******** THIS WEEK ********
- Chunghwa's decision implies Nortel use inferior products
- Ericsson's brag prompts angry reactions
- EU bureaucrats get their act together
- Spanish government lead by example in helping operators
- 3G standard poll: Few support for TD-SCDMA
****************************
>>> Chunghwa's decision implies Nortel use inferior products
After Nortel forced the judging panel to let them look at the evaluation
scores for Chunghwa's 3G equipment tender, it is still not understood
why the Taiwanese operator awarded the contract to Nokia, despite
Nortel offering the lowest bid of NT$8 billion while Nokia offered
NT$12 billion.
Nortel says key information had been erased from the results and
the final score was too low. "… this technical evaluation score
gap cannot be explained - at least not to the point of compensating
for a price difference of NT$4 billion," said Stephane Le Dreau
of Nortel. Could the auction be rigged?
Chunghwa has a history of awarding contracts to the lowest bidder
and has worked in the past with Nortel. The operator could not explain
the reasons for awarding the contract to Nokia and refused to clarify
its decision. Has the working relationship between Nortel and Chunghwa
gone sour or does Chunghwa feel Nortel's equipment as sub-standard?
The lost of the contract for Nortel could be more damaging than
expected. It has put the company's reputation in jeopardy. The decision
by Chunghwa to over pay by NT$4 billion implies Nortel equipment
is inferior to Nokia and would affect Nortel's chances in future
equipment tender bids.
A local news media quoted an official of the Ministry of Transportation
and Communication as saying that the decision showed that Chunghwa
"buys good products, not cheap products".
-- Asia Times: Mystery taints Taiwan 3G contract
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/DK15Ad01.html
>>> Ericsson's brag prompts angry reactions
When Ericsson Italia CEO Massimo Gentili boasted this week about
the achievements of Ericsson in Italy, it prompted angry reactions
from its rival Siemens and the operator Vodafone.
"Ericsson is the company that has invested most and is farthest
ahead in UMTS technology," Gentili said.
"The only three networks in operation in Italy at the beginning
of next year will be those created by Ericsson," Gentili said, referring
to Hutchison, Wind and Telecom Italia. He claims Vodafone, a user
of Nokia technology, would not be ready to launch commercial operations
until later.
Luigi De Vecchis, CEO of Siemens in Milan, responded by saying,
"Those who have chosen Siemens, such as H3G and TIM in Italy…did
so for the stability of our technology and the competence of our
group," and believes the group is a step ahead of everyone else
in Italy.
Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao reacted to Gentili's statement by stating,
"I have never shared information on the state of development of
our network with Mr. Gentili…"
He furiously said Vodafone will not give work to Ericsson in Italy,
"I can confirm that Ericsson is not and will not be among the suppliers
of our 3G network in Italy."
Nokia did not get involve in the slanging match.
-- idg.com.sg: Ericsson to launch Europe's first broad 3G services
http://www.idg.com.sg/idgwww.nsf/unidlookup
/91C54FC565BC3D3948256C700007858F?OpenDocument
>>> EU bureaucrats get their act together
Following pressure from leading telecom players in Europe, the
EU Commission has finally introduced an initiative to please the
mobile industry. The sudden reluctant change in attitude from the
bureaucrats will benefit consumers and operators as 3G services
can be rolled out quicker.
The EU ruling this week to allow firms access to another manufacturer's
3G mobile phone technology without fear of breaching antitrust rules
is a step in the right direction for the mobile industry in Europe.
The group of 18 firms - including Alcatel, Telecom Italia Mobile,
Sonera, Royal KPN and Sony - applied for anti trust protection in
July.
"The Commission welcomes industry initiatives that accelerate the
introduction of 3G mobile services for European customers, provided
that such initiatives do not distort competition with respect to
different 3G mobile technologies," the European Commission said
in a statement.
The move would speed up the rollout of 3G networks and services
as it ensures firms have access to patents that are essential in
order to develop products that work with a particular new technology.
Analysts believe the move by the EU could improve 3G rollout by
six months. In addition, it will lower costs for operators deploying
3G networks.
-- BBC: Brussels okays 3G link-ups
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2448853.stm
>>> Spanish government lead by example in helping operators
Spain has been one of the most lenient on its 3G license holders
in Europe. The price of its 3G license is considered 'cheap' compared
with other countries in Europe. The 3G service launch date of August
2001 - covering 21 cities - was moved back to 2004, which many still
say is too soon. And now the government is planning to slash the
€7 billion deposits that 3G license holders had to pay. Instead,
license holders have to pay €1 billion provided they meet their
investment plans. Furthermore, the government will consider allowing
operators to share networks.
If the government approves the plans, it could cut the commercial
rollout date to 2004 instead of 2005 as many analysts have predicted.
Other European countries should follow Spain's lead and show more
leniency towards their 3G operators so they have time to rollout
quality services. Consumers are not going to benefit from partial
services as seen with DoCoMo's 3G FOMA services which has limited
coverage. It was partly the fault of some greedy governments for
selling their licenses so expensive and for delays in granting building
permits for radio masts. You could say the governments created some
of the mess and it's time for them to improve the situation.
-- Reuters: Spain may allow sharing of 3G mobile networks
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=search&StoryID=1729519
>>> 3G standard POLL: Few support for TD-SCDMA
Our recent poll suggests that CDMA2000 is the most appropriate
3G standard to implement. CDMA2000 had 60% support from our voters
while 36% voted for WCDMA and not surprisingly only 4% voted for
TD-SCDMA. The backing for CDMA2000 is not unexpected because of
the subscription and implementation success in South Korea. The
success is further illustrated in Japan where NTT DoCoMo, whom implemented
WCDMA, has a much lower subscribers rate than its rival KDDI, whom
implemented CDMA2000.
****************************
All comments and suggestions are welcome. Please send them to davidyuen@3gnewsroom.com
To unsubscribe, email information@3gnewsroom.com and include the
word "unsubscribe" in the subject field.
|
3G Motorola A920
