"..As for Per Lindberg's "handsets are rapidly becoming a commodity", someone should tell him they have always been a commodity.."
And someone should tell NOK - so they might prepare shareholders.
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Eric, regarding GPRS, you've become a fine spokesman for the industry! <g>
However, there are divergent perspectives that question your authority….
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Study: European GPRS Doomed to Fail
Message 15072833
"European wireless operators are deploying faster wireless General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), but like Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), the service is misunderstood, overhyped and is unlikely to achieve widespread acceptance, a new study predicted."
"Their failure lies in the gross mismatch between reality and customer expectations."
"Among the reasons for that is, despite fast GPRS speeds in theory, actual speeds of live networks are estimated to be only 14Kbps to 28Kbps."
"Combined with the scarcity of compatible handsets and inflated performance expectations, these low transmission speeds put GPRS at an all-but-insurmountable disadvantage from the outset."
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Orange faces IPO test
Message 15177702
"Large volumes of handsets had been promised for Christmas but have been delayed by incompatability between networks and manufacturing shortages."
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GPRS found initially slow in Europe.
Message 15187849
"Mid-December trials of Finnish operator Sonera's (SNRA) GPRS service, according to reviews in Finnish dailies Helsingin Sanomat and Taloussanomat, were plagued by technical problems with Internet surfing as slow as on the old GSM system and prices nearly as high."
"I could connect easily and see all kinds of services and websites, but it was not any quicker than a normal GSM phone," said Niklas Lidstrom, a reporter at Tidningen Mobil, a daily specialising in mobile phones."
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GPRS delayed on Moscow.
Message 15230183
"Moscow cellular operators Vimpelcom (NYSE:VIP- news) and Mobile TeleSystems (NYSE:MBT - news) have pushed back the launch of their latest mobile Internet technology, GPRS, citing software crashes and a lack of handsets."
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Mobile Data Timetable In Doubt
Message 15240897
"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."
"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."
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BT Cellnet GPRS Network - Progress So Far
Message 15034404
"The throughput that can be expected on the current GPRS capabilities offered by BT Cellnet is approximately 20Kbps when using two timeslots…"
Very impressive. Perhaps they'll actually have handsets to enjoy 20kbs in future…. <g>
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And you posted a very impressive list of GPRS commercial launches!
It's rather hard to imagine their cumulative rage.
<g>
ben |
