3GNewsroom.com Weekly Round Up and Comments
David Yuen - November 25, 2002
Our round up and comments of the past week's main stories from
our editor.
******** THIS WEEK ********
- Is 3G under threat from 4G?
- Vodafone Australia abandon national 3G network
- Europe losing its mobile technology advantage
- Nokia confused over 3G definition
- Croatia to award 3G licenses after long delay
- 3G handset POLL: Few are willing to pay for high handset prices
****************************
>>> Is 3G under threat from 4G?
According to a study, "3G Alternatives: 3G vs. Wi-Fi vs. 4G" from
Visant Strategies, forward-thinking wireless operators could rollout
4G cellular technologies as soon as mid-2003. 4G air interfaces
are already being prepared for beta deployment by leading operators.
The new technology costs less and has a higher performance than
3G systems.
It is expected that 4G would account for 14% of total mobile wireless
data revenues in 2007. The study also stated that 3G is under threat
from Wi-Fi if the technology is coupled with existing 2.5G technologies
such as GPRS.
Will 3G be obsolete by the end of next year? With the problems
that Europe is having at the moment, they wouldn't be considering
4G any time soon and would still be focused on rolling out 3G services.
In addition, Europe hasn't a history of demand for high speed data
services and 3G will be adequate for several years to come. As for
Asia, is there the need for speeds of 100 Mbps? Third generation
networks in Japan and South Korea has yet to reach its potential
and introducing 4G so soon would be unnecessary.
-- 4G Is Imminent on the Heels of 3G, Visant Technologies Study
Says
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?bw.112102/223252381
>>> Vodafone Australia abandon national 3G network
Vodafone Australia chief operating officer Graham Maher said this
week the company would either build a partial 3G network or more
likely run a wholesale service on a competitor's network. The firm
will not build a national network due to financial constraints.
Vodafone is one of six 3G license holders in Australia, but Maher
believes that there won't be more than four 3G networks in the country.
He said, "We have not yet found the applications that justify the
networks."
Tim Miles of Vodafone New Zealand feels the same, "There isn't
a critical mass of customers who want or can use 60 to 100kbps."
Choosing to build a partial network is very much advised because
of the enormous network costs, A$3 billion in the case of Hutchison.
With low demand for 3G and large number of operators, building a
national network is unjustified. On the other hand Telstra's upgrade
of CDMA network to 3G expects to be between $A100 million and $A110
million. Again this shows why there are many support for cdma2000
technology.
-- Vodafone hangs up on 3G
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5521355%255E15306,00.html
>>> Europe losing its mobile technology advantage
With recent 3G worries in Europe, and rollout of 3G services in
Asian and US, has Europe lost its dominance in the mobile phone
market?
Although 3 is taking orders for 3G handsets in Italy, most operators
in Europe are delaying rollout until next year. South Korea and
Japan has had much success with high consumer take-up of 3G services
since its launched.
In Korea, roughly 40% of users utilise data services such as net
access and picture messaging, far higher than countries in Europe.
Interest for data services in Japan is also very strong as income
from data usage account for more than 20% of revenue.
There is no doubt that Europe is behind in its 3G rollout. SMS
is the main form of data usage in Europe while picture messaging
has only been launched in some countries. The introduction of WAP
can be argued to be a flop. But the trend in data usage for Europe
could change with the rollout of 3G services. European users will
have access to new data services that Japanese mobile phone users
have enjoyed for years. Analysts believe picture messaging will
be a big revenue generator as it enhances the experience of the
successful SMS. Even so, it will take some time for Europe to catch-up
with Asia.
-- The Straits Times: Asia's 3G edge in mobile-phone market
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mexpiredcontent/0,4393,,00.html
>>> Nokia confused over 3G definition
Nokia announced the world first GSM/EDGE 3G handset Nokia 6200,
but you have to wonder whether it really is a 3G handset. EDGE has
been classified as 3G, although some would argue it shouldn't be,
and data speed can reach beyond 144 kbps, but the handset is only
capable of 118.4 kbps according to the Nokia website.
This is the second time Nokia has announced a handset that is based
on a 3G standard but falls short of the minimum speed of 144 kbps
required for 3G. The Nokia 6650, announced in September, is a GSM/WCDMA
handset but has a data speed of only 128 kbps. When will Nokia release
a proper 3G phone?
>>> Croatia to award 3G licenses after long delay
Croatia will auction two 3G licenses in March 2003, the government
has said. A third GSM license is also scheduled to be awarded next
year. Previously, the Croatian government intended to award three
UMTS licenses through a beauty contest at the end of last year.
After a year of delays, let's hope this time around they will finally
award 3G licenses as planned.
-- Croatia To Award 3G Licences in 2003
http://www.bwcs.com/marketing/index2.cfm?subcat=4&id=1&findid=1698#1698
>>> 3G handset POLL: Few are willing to pay for high handset prices
In our recent poll, 64% of voters are only willing to pay between
$150 to $300 for a 3G handset and only 8% will pay more than $450
for a handset. Estimated price for 3G handsets in Europe is between
600 euros (US$600) and 900 euros without subsidies. If so, operators
would find it difficult persuading customers to upgrade to 3G handsets
if they are unwilling to pay such high prices.
****************************
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