Telecom needs little new money for 3G
28 June 2004
By TOM PULLAR-STRECKER
INFTOTECH: Telecom's plan to upgrade its 027 CDMA mobile phone network to a 3G network based on EV-DO technology will not require a significant change in its annual spending on mobile and wireless telecommunications infrastructure, according to figures released by the company.
Telecom last week announced it would earmark $40 million of its total planned capital expenditure of $650 million in 2004-05 on upgrading its CDMA network – initially in the three main centres and holiday resorts including Taupo, Queenstown and the Coromandel.
The 3G network will be branded "T3G".
The outlay will be partly offset by Telecom spending less on expanding its existing network to cover previously unserviced areas.
Telecom's overall spending on mobile and wireless infrastructure is expected to total $90 million in 2004-05, up from $80 million this year and $69 million in 2002-03.
In 2001-02 when its network expansion plans were in full swing, Telecom spent $138 million on mobile and wireless infrastructure.
The figures indicate the move to EV-DO will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary from a financial as well as a technological perspective.
The EV-DO upgrade is expected to provide 027 users with the ability to download data at speeds averaging 300-500 kilobits per second if they buy EV-DO capable data cards or handsets. It is theoretically capable of peak speeds of 2.4 megabits per second. Telecom quotes an average speed of 60-100kbps on 027 today.
Existing 027 devices will continue to work at their current speeds when connected to the upgraded network infrastructure.
Telecom will initially market EV-DO at notebook computer users who want to send and receive data across the network using data cards.
The company expects consumers will be able to receive live TV on EV-DO capable mobile phone handsets some time next year.
The upgraded network, which is being built by current 027 outsourcer Lucent, is due to go live by Christmas and Telecom mobile general manager Kevin Kenrick says it will launch with "a substantial footprint".
Vodafone business manager Russell Stanners appears to concede Telecom's network will precede and be faster than Vodafone's planned 3G network, which has been commissioned from technology supplier Nokia.
Mr Stanners says its new UMTS network is scheduled to go live in the first quarter of next year. Like Telecom's EV-DO upgrade, Vodafone's 3G roll-out is relatively open-ended.
It reportedly expects to have network coverage for 78 per cent of New Zealanders by March 2009.
Telecom's current CDMA network is faster than Vodafone's GPRS network – Telecom claims it is about twice as fast – and the speed differential looks likely to be roughly preserved as the two telcos migrate to 3G. However, Mr Stanners says this has not stopped Vodafone capturing 55 per cent of the mobile market.
"I don't think anything is likely to change in terms of the competitive position of the two companies."
A wider selection of handsets, "better price points" and global roaming are all reasons for customers to pick Vodafone over Telecom, he says.
"What we'd say is we are absolutely competitive in terms of speed and capability, but we are more than a one-trick pony. Let's have a conversation about terminals, services and what people really use mobility for."
Telecom's decision to upgrade now appears to have been influenced by US company Sprint. The fourth largest mobile phone company in the US, Sprint has decided to implement EV-DO.
Lucent's managing director in Australia and New Zealand, Bart Vogel, says Sprint's decision provides "a guaranteed stream of applications, devices, handsets and data cards" for EV-DO network operators.
Mr Kenrick says Telecom is talking to Sprint "to work out what their road map is for mobile phones and data cards for the foreseable future and how we can work with them on that".
stuff.co.nz |
