Telesp Celular to launch BREW handsets in 1Q03
DECEMBER 9, 2002 12:00AM
BUSINESS NEWS AMERICAS
BNamericas.com via NewsEdge Corporation : Brazil's largest mobile operator
Telesp Celular (NYSE: TCP) will launch Qualcomm's (Nasdaq: QCOM) BREW
wireless applications platform in early 2003, Qualcomm Brasil senior marketing
manager Jacqueline Lee told BNamericas Monday at Qualcomm's headquarters in
San Diego, California.
Lee confirmed that Telesp will be the first Latin American operator to
commercialize BREW. The operator ran preliminary tests with 250 subscribers in
the Sao Paulo metro area during June and July of this year, she said.
Telesp has already enjoyed considerable success with mobile data services based
on Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), marketed under the brand Waap.
Short for Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, BREW is an open platform
that brings together software developers, handset manufacturers and mobile
operators, ultimately enabling the operators to select downloadable wireless data
applications for their customers. Qualcomm describes it as providing the
"kick-start" needed to fuel mass-market adoption of wireless data applications
and services.
Since BREW is an open platform available to all mobile technologies, the cost for
launching it is no higher for GSM than CDMA subscribers, Qualcomm Internet
services president Peggy Johnson told BNamericas. Johnson said the Telesp trials
were "very successful."
However, costs may limit mass-market penetration of data applications among
Latin American subscribers, who continue to spend little on data services other
than short-text SMS messaging. Although BREW is available for handsets with
standard greyscale screens, most BREW-capable handsets are being developed
with color screens, and the least expensive color handsets yet seen in the US are
priced at around US$100. Lee said color handsets in Brazil are selling for about
1,800 reais (US$492), although "prices will come down."
Qualcomm Mexico's business development VP Flavio Mansi told BNamericas that
operators might subsidize handsets to an extent, but added he expects Latin
American operators to focus BREW on high-end markets. "You're going to go
after a market that can pay you," he noted.
On the other hand, the actual cost of downloading applications, such as one
dollar for a particular game, can be quite low, Clint McClellan, senior director for
Qualcomm strategic marketing, told BNamericas. BREW may make sense even
for prepaid subscribers, he said. However, at the end of the day the operators
themselves are the ones who will have to determine the economic viability of that
and other marketing strategies, he added.
Portugal Telecom (NYSE: PT) controls Telesp Celular, while Spain's Telefonica
Moviles (NYSE: TEM) has a minority interest. The company ended the third
quarter with 5.75 million clients.
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