Parthus Warns of 2.5g Delay
By The Guardian Unlimited, Jan 26 2001
Overheating mobile handsets and poor battery life could
delay the mass take-up of the next generation of internet
enabled devices by at least one year, Irish technology firm
Parthus cautioned yesterday.
The warning coincided with the first next generation phones
going on sale in Europe after Berlin-based operator Viag
Interkom said it had stocked 20,000 in German stores.
Mobile firms have gambled billions of pounds on developing
devices and buying licenses through which they hope to
deliver lucrative new services that will transform mobiles into
personal organisers and entertainment systems that have an
"always-on" high-speed link to the internet.
Big players such as Vodafone, BT Cellnet and Orange hope
GPRS (general packet radio switching) or "2.5 generation
phones" will be on mass sale by Christmas, but Parthus chief
executive Brian Long believes that target may have to be put
back until the end of 2002.
Operators already have to contend with worries that demand
for the new GPRS handsets will oustrip supply.
BT Cellnet and KPN Mobile of the Netherlands have already
started offering the services to corporate customers.
GPRS phones are expected to be around three times as fast
as WAP phones, which were launched last year offering
access to the internet but have disappointed consumers.
"There are problems with GPRS for sure," he said. "I don't
think we'll see mass use of GPRS until the end of 2002. GPRS
cellphones will go on sale this year, but the big issue is
performance. Phones are running too hot and talk time is too
low."
Industry sources say that trials on prototype third-generation
or UMTS phones which will also be able to deliver live video
footage to users' handsets are proving even more
troublesome as engineers struggle to cram into handsets
technology that meets power, size and cost requirements.
"Some of the models that we have seen hardly work," said
an executive at one European network operator.
Parthus, which designs mobile chips, yesterday reported a
68% rise in revenues to $31.9m (?22m) and a net loss of
$16m. Shares climbed 10% to 209.5p.
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