Let the wait begin for 3G
date: 07th March 2001, source by: Telecom Asia
In line with the cloud of skepticism that has permeated the industry recently regarding next generation mobile services, planned 3G service launches this year are now being put back well into 2002.
Japan Telecom, who owns cellular operator J-Phone, said this week that it would not launch its W-CDMA 3G services in December 2001 as planned, but in June 2002.
The Japanese operator blames the fact that the 3GPP, who is responsible for standardizing W-CDMA, has yet to secure a global consensus for the final technical specifications. Japan Telecom has decided to delay its launch so it can “providing better services in future,” according to a company statement.
In Singapore, the Infocomm Development Authority has, for the second time in three months, missed a self-imposed deadline for the release of guidelines for its upcoming 3G spectrum auction.
The Korean cellular sector, regarded as the collective leader in second-generation CDMA, has also announced delays in rolling out the next evolutionary stage of CDMA, – cdma2000, or IS-95C. IS-95C offers 144 kbps of throughput over the wireless network and uses a packetized core network like GSM’s GPRS/EDGE.
According to reports in the Korea Herald, all three operators – SK Telecom, Korea Telecom and LG Telecom – have decided to put off launching IS-95C services, citing delays in suitable handsets and services.
Delays are also expected in Europe, where many operators with 3G licenses are heavily burdened with debt and must solve their immediate fiscal woes before moving forward with building their network and launching services.
NTT DoCoMo is still sticking to its 30 May launch date for what should be the world’s first third-generation network using W-CDMA. |
