Right In Your Own Back-Yard...............
Finland stalls on 3G
launch
A Finn on the Helsinki metro with her mobile phone
By BBC News Online technology
correspondent Mark Ward
Finland's leading mobile phone firm Sonera is
planning to switch on its third-generation
phone service even though there will be no
handsets available for it.
Meanwhile, rival operators have asked for a
delay to the switch-on date for the new
network citing problems with handsets and
technical problems.
At the same time Spain
has decided to put back
the switch-on date for
its 3G phone system
until next year to allow
technology to catch up
with the ambitions of
the phone companies.
In separate announcements earlier this month
BT's Isle of Man subsidiary, Manx Telecom, and
Japan's NTT DoCoMo announced that they
were being forced to delay the roll-out of their
new mobile networks.
Empty hands
In March 1999 Finland became the first
country in the world to award licences for new
third-generation mobile phone services.
Four licences were handed out to Sonera,
Radiolinja, Telia Mobile and a consortium of
regional telecom firms called Suomen
Kolmegee.
The 3G - or Universal Mobile
Telecommunications Services (UMTS) -
network promises to boost the speed with
which data crosses wireless phone networks.
It will also give operators a chance to deploy
futuristic multimedia services.
The licences were awarded on the condition
that the UMTS networks went live on 1
January 2002. Now Radiolinja has asked for a
delay to the switch-on date, saying that
problems with developing the network
technology and a lack of handsets make the
deadline difficult to meet.
Last month Finnish transport and
communications minister Olli-Pekka Heinonen
said he would consider a delay to the start
date if any of the operators asked for one. It
is not yet clear whether Radiolinja's request for
a postponement has been granted.
But rival mobile phone firm Sonera said it is
planning to launch its UMTS network on time
even though no-one will be able to use it.
"It's probable that there will be no handsets,"
said a spokesman for Sonera, adding that it
had the same problems with handsets that
BT's Manx Telecom had when it delayed its 3G
turn-on.
The spokesman said Sonera could not even
turn to Finnish phone maker Nokia for help
because its 3G handset would not be available
until late in 2002.
"We are monitoring the situation but still we
are holding to the target, which would mean
launching service from the beginning of next
year," he said.
No networks
News that countries which have led the way in
mobile use cannot get the technology to work
will come as yet another blow to mobile phone
companies keen to recover some of the cash
they splashed out to buy 3G licences.
Now it has emerged that Spain has given
permission to its mobile operators to launch in
June 2002. Originally the Spanish firms were
due to switch their UMTS networks on in
August of this year.
All 3G licences have strings attached that
force mobile phone firms to meet certain
switch-on dates, coverage targets or
standards of service. Those operators with UK
licences must have their network cover 80% of
the population by 2007.
Delays could also hit German mobile phone
firms which are currently discussing whether to
share networks in a bid to cut costs.
"These delays do not come as a great
surprise," said Jason Chapman, senior analyst
at the Gartner Group consultancy.
"We are seeing delays where the operators
were probably being over ambitious with their
launch dates." |
