Here we go again. A must-bookmark announcement for future giggles. Hope they're right but I'm not holding my breath:
Nokia Says on Track to Launch 3G Phones in 2002
TOKYO (Reuters) - Finland's Nokia (NOK1V.HE) (NOK.N), the world's top mobile phone maker, said on Wednesday it was on track to deliver advanced third-generation (3G) mobile phones in Europe in the third quarter of calendar 2002.
At a joint news conference held in Tokyo with Japan's top mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T), Nokia Chairman and Chief Executive Jorma Ollila said the company was on track to deliver 3G phones in Europe next year, and that volume production would begin in 2003.
Ollila and DoCoMo President and Chief Executive Keiji Tachikawa unveiled a plan to create common and open standards for 3G products and services, particularly in the areas of Internet browsing, messaging and applications.
Asked if Nokia was prepared to deliver a 3G phone in Japan, where DoCoMo launched the world's first 3G service last month, Ollila said: "We will have to discuss this with NTT DoCoMo, but technologically we are ready to launch in the third quarter."
While DoCoMo and its two main handset vendors, Matsushita Communication Industrial Co Ltd (6781.T) and NEC Corp (6701.T), have managed to make 3G a reality, Europe's carriers and manufacturers have yet to prove whether they can meet their already-delayed 3G timetables.
The Financial Times on Wednesday quoted Chris Gent, chief executive of the world's top mobile operator, Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L), as saying he was sticking to his commitment for a formal launch of 3G services in the second half of the next calendar year.
But a shortage of handsets, he cautioned, could delay the widespread availability of 3G services until mid-2003.
Nokia, already the top supplier of mobile phones worldwide, is considered the only non-Japanese manufacturer that will be able to deliver a 3G phone without an alliance.
Although Nokia has yet to unveil a Java phone for DoCoMo, Ollila said plans were in the pipeline to introduce a phone capable of downloading mini programs.
"We hope to have a Nokia product in the Japan market next year," said DoCoMo's Tachikawa. He did not specify whether this would be a 3G or current-generation product.
The joint Nokia-DoCoMo announcement was a partial elaboration of plans unveiled earlier this week at the COMDEX trade show in Las Vegas to create a 3G standard consortium that would allow mobile products and services to be cross-compatible across regions, services and systems. |
