re: TIM 3GSM WCDMA "Commercially Available" in 2002
So much for that slide that Jacobs senior and Jacobs junior of Jacobs, Jacobs, & Jacobs showed at the Goldman, Sachs Internet Conference, Deutsche Banc Alex Brown 2000 Technology Conference in November 2000. Not to worry. The Pooper-Scooper-Patrol expunged those slides from the Jacobs, Jacobs, & Jacobs website eons ago.
>> TIM to Push Ahead with 3G Launch in Italy
Robert Budden
Telecommunications Correspondent
Financial Times
Nov 06, 2002
TIM, Telecom Italia's mobile business, is pushing ahead with its planned 3G launch in Italy this year despite rival operators elsewhere in Europe pulling back from their launch date commitments.
Marco de Benedetti, chief executive of TIM, said he expected to sell "tens of thousands" of 3G handsets to consumers in Italy before the end of the year.
"We will open up the service this year and we will have a [3G] network with reasonable coverage," he said in an interview with the Financial Times.
Mr de Benedetti said TIM would launch with about 1,000 base stations in Italy giving 3G coverage in all major cities.
The revelations mean TIM could become the only mobile operator in Europe to push ahead with a commercial 3G launch this year.
Earlier this week, Hutchison 3G, the new entrant controlled by Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa, conceded that it might not meet its targets of delivering 3G handsets to consumers in the UK and Italy before the end of the year owing to technical glitches.
Along with Hutchison 3G, TIM remains the only mobile operator aiming for a commercial 3G launch in Europe this year. Analysts have argued that Italy is a natural test-bed for 3G services given the country's high number of mobile subscribers. Mobile penetration in Italy is about 90 per cent compared with a European average of 75 per cent. Italy also does not have large handset subsidies, meaning consumers are used to paying high prices for handsets. The first wave of 3G handsets in Italy are expected to cost between €600 and €900 ($600-$900).
Mr de Benedetti conceded that its 3G trials were "not perfect" and that TIM was experiencing technical problems relating to network coverage and battery life but said he was confident these issues would be resolved.
Its 3G service, which will initially run on handsets provided by Japanese manufacturer NEC and Motorola of the US, will include live video conference calls. However, he said real-time broadcasting services would not be available this year.
Mr de Benedetti said that he was aiming for 50 per cent of its customer base to have 3G phones by 2005. But he said it would take time for handset volumes to reach "mass distribution" levels. "3G handsets are not going to be the big thing this Christmas," he said, "as there are very limited numbers of 3G phones." <<
- Eric - |
