World looks for a 3G lead
thisislondon.co.uk
by James Mclean, Evening Standard
ON A windswept hillside on the Isle of Man, the chances of
recouping the £22.5bn paid for third-generation licences has
boiled down to 130 phones, a few laptops and a blue van.
In the new headquarters of Manx Telecom, colour-screen 3G
phones made by Japanese electronics giant NEC are being put
through their paces and Manx's computer-equipped van is a
regular sight around the island as it tests connection speeds and
new applications.
Manx Telecom, a unit of mmO2, is operating the first 3G phone
system outside of Japan and has given away the 130 handsets to
islanders in a bid to discover exactly how the new system will
work and if consumers find it as essential as mobile operators
hope.
The good news is that it does work, and well. In the van,
connection speeds around the island are showing to be about
160 kilobytes per second (easily enough to watch video) and
laptop internet connection speeds through the phones compare
with the quickest available via cable modems.
The bad news is that the prospect of mobile operators making
money from such ventures looks dubious. With debt-laden
telcos now under pressure to conserve cash, investors have
taken the view that the capital investment the licences entail has
become a burden. Sceptics could point out the £5.94bn
Vodafone paid for its 3G licence is 50% more than the current
market value of rival licence holder mmO2.
Until better handsets arrive, the capabilities of the bulky phones
are simply disappointing. Although Manx says that fast mobile
net access, e-mail on the move, route-finding and home security
are on the way, the current offering is very limited. You still
need a laptop to watch video and access the entire web, which
means the content available through the handsets is currently
little faster than that of a WAP model. Pricing also remains a
mystery and consumers may have to confront a multi-tier tariff
system with business users paying for the highest connection
speeds and general users coughing up less for slower speeds.
MmO2 losing its advantage
ALTHOUGH its network on the Isle of Man is the first working
3G system outside Japan, mmO2, the former BT Cellnet, does
not expect to switch on its network on the British mainland
before the middle of next year.
Although NEC built the system and made the handsets for
mmO2's subsidiary on the Isle of Man, Canada's Nortel is
supplying the core network for the British mainland. MmO2,
under chief executive Peter Erskine, is promising open internet
surfing and instant video streaming at speeds of between 64 and
144kbps.
Although the infrastructure build-out is not expected until the
start of 2003, 4,000 mmO2 workers and other programmers are
beavering away on applications for the new technology. Logica
supplies the firm's current text messaging software but mmO2
says there is no guarantee the same firm will pick up the 3G
multimedia messaging order when it is confirmed within the next
month.
Core infrastructure supplier: Nortel; Radio
infrastructure supplier: Nokia; Handset suppliers: None
yet; Multimedia messaging: To be confirmed next month;
Initial 3G coverage: Undisclosed.
Hutchinson 3G
AFTER selling Orange, Hutchison is returning to the mobile
arena in Britain in partnership with NTT DoCoMo, which
began its own 3G service in Japan last year. That should help
minimise technical problems with the new network and may
make Hutchison the first operator out of the blocks when its
service launches around the end of September, under a so-far
secret new brand name.
Most services are likely to be available at 64 kilobytes per
second, but the official line is that there will be sufficient
bandwidth for all applications. Although video and open
internet surfing on handsets is unlikely at first, a contract for
Premiership football clips suggests moving pictures will not be
far behind. Handset prices and distribution strategy remain
under wraps but the first two models will offer automatic
switching to mmO2's current network when users stray from
Hutchison's 3G coverage area.
Core infrastructure supplier: Nokia; Radio
infrastructure supplier: Nokia and NEC; Handset
suppliers: NEC and Motorola, with NEC camera-enabled
handset available early 2003; Multimedia messaging: CMG;
Initial coverage: 40-45% of the population, 8% geographical.
Orange
ORANGE has secured 1,000 sites for its 3G equipment and is
expected to have its network commercially switched on by the
end of the year. However, there will be no fanfare and
trumpets for the new technology. Instead, Orange says the
system will be sold on the features that it will bring to
consumers.
Those are likely to include route finding and payment for
goods and services through the handsets. 'I can't stress enough
that we will never be launching UMTS (3G) as a technology,
but as on the basis of individual services,' says a spokeswoman.
The group says it currently offers video streaming on its 2 1/2G
service, but is not planning to make it available in the first
stages of a 3G network. Open internet surfing will also come
later on a network likely to offer speeds of 64kbps.
Core infrastructure supplier: None yet; Radio
infrastructure supplier: Nokia; Handset suppliers: None
yet; Multimedia messaging: None yet; Initial 3G
coverage: Undisclosed.
Vodafone's fringe benefit
VODAFONE, the largest mobile phone operator, is promising a
'phased introduction' of video and music downloads for its 3G
system, which should go live later this year. It will unveil a
package of new-style applications ahead of the launch when it
outlines so-called global data services, designed to work on
GPRS (2 1/2G) and 3G networks, probably in the autumn.
Vodafone guarantees the minimum service level at the fringe
area of a network will be 64kbps, just enough for video.
Core infrastructure supplier: Ericsson; Radio infrastructure
supplier: Ericsson; Handset suppliers: None yet, looking
for dual GPRS/3G models; Multimedia messaging: Ericsson;
Initial coverage: Major cities.
Germans last in line
T-MOBILE, the Deutsche Telekom unit and former One2One
brand, expects to have its 3G network running during the
second half of 2003, probably making it the last among the major
operators to appear. The company says the timing depends on
the availability of 'reasonable volumes of useful and usable
handsets' and stability of the new technology.
'The services will mainly be an evolution of the services
offered over GPRS,' says a spokesman. That means no video
streaming initially, but the firm promises open internet surfing.
Core infrastructure supplier: Nokia/Nortel/Siemens; Radio
infrastructure supplier: Nokia; Handset supplier: Nokia;
Multimedia messaging: To be announced 1 June; Initial
3G coverage: Undisclosed.
Associated Newspapers Ltd., 24 May 2002
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