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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting
QCOM 170.90-1.3%Nov 7 9:30 AM EST

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To: Ramsey Su who started this subject1/24/2001 7:30:00 PM
From: grinder965   of 196552
 
Sounds like things are even worse than I thought for the Euroland GSM/GPRS crowd:

Mobile Data Timetable In Doubt

Dan Roberts
January 22 2001
Financial Times

Two of Europe's largest mobile phone networks have cast doubt on the widely accepted
timetable for introducing new mobile internet services.

Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) and Vodafone both believe that so-called "2½-generation" mobile
phones will not be sold in significant volumes until early next year.

Orange, which on Monday confirmed plans to raise E8bn (£5.12bn) through a flotation, is
confident of a full launch in the second quarter of this year. It rejects growing fears in the
industry that problems will delay the introduction of the new high-speed internet system,
General Packet Radio Switching (GPRS).

The disparity over timing comes at an awkward time for Orange. It has been forced to lower
the valuation range for its shares amid uncertainty over whether these new services can
compensate quickly enough for a predicted fall in revenues from voice calls.

GPRS handsets were expected to go on sale in large numbers for Christmas 2000 after
several European networks began trial launches last summer. But software glitches and
component shortages have meant only a handful have ever been sold.

TIM, which runs the largest mobile network in Europe, privately believes the industry will not
now be ready for a mass market launch until well after Christmas 2001. "It will probably be
summer 2002 before most of the handsets we have on sale are GPRS," said one TIM
executive. "I also think there is some over-hyping about the timing of third-generation phones.
My guess is 2004 rather than 2002."

On Monday Orange was still predicting a 2002 launch for third-generation phones, although it
said this was largely in the hands of manufacturers.

In the meantime, GPRS technology promises significantly faster connection speeds for internet
browsing. Operators had hoped it would compensate for the widely acknowledged flop of
internet-enabled, or WAP, phones using second-generation networks.

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator, is also sceptical about the likelihood of
substantial GPRS sales this year.

It said it had not changed its plans for an initial launch in the UK in the middle of this year.

However, it is uncertain about the availability of GPRS handsets offering higher data speeds.
Vodafone predicted these so-called "four time slot" handsets should prove popular but were
unlikely to be available until the end of 2001 and not on sale in large numbers until early 2002.

Nokia, the world's largest handset manufacturer, has yet to announce its first GPRS handset
but a spokesman said predictions of substantial delays were "overly gloomy". <<
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