COMMENT: Mobile petulance threatens 3G
24/January/2003
By Phil Buxton
Its some threat. O2 is putting back its 3G launch until the second half of 2004 after the Competition Commission's ruling that mobile operators must reduce termination charges for calls made to their networks.
O2 has taken such umbrage at the decision that it has promised to scrap planned tariff reductions, pass other charges onto consumers, and - worst of all - delay its 3G launch. Outrageous. As if the mobile companies didn't need another excuse for 3G delays.
As we stand, Hutchison is launching its Three service some time this quarter, just as soon as its handsets make it out of the factories. Vodafone, Orange and T-mobile say 'some time' this year - as did O2 until yesterday's outburst. As far as loose targets go, we're talking really baggy.
And yet, O2 seems to think its show of petulance will turn opinion in its favour, despite the fact that 'regular' mobile customers are too frustrated at the over-promise advertising campaigns, baffling tariff plans and the noticably high costs associated with making and receiving calls on a mobile phone to care. 'Advanced' customers such as IT journalists simply think of mobile firms as the group with the most impressive talent for missing a deadline.
Of course, the trouble with 3G is that, however, long it takes to deliver, it must be delivered satisfactorily or doom the industry to a permanent reputation for failure thanks to the previous efforts with WAP technology. Whatever the wait, they can't afford to do 3G by halves and must assure both reliability and value; a very tough task for what remains very advanced technology.
In the meantime, the mobile advances that most of us continue to plug away with are the odd game and the space-age SMS. MMS remains something of a useless gadget, since, once again, the issue of interoperability rears its head. I can create MMS messages, but I know very few people with a.) MMS and b.) a compatible phone. The combination of the two of course means I have no-one to show off with. And, given I have no-one to swap new pictures with, it also means I don't have a lot to show off about.
Still, moves are afoot to address the compatability issue. MMS interoperability, according to the Mobile Data Association, will be launched by March. In announcing the move, however, the MDA said, rather critically, that it wouldn't be for all four of the major networks. If the doubt exists that the person to whom one wants to send an MMS message will be able to receive it, would one send it? It would appear to be a significant obstacle.
While the operators work to at last deliver what has been discussed since the initial days of the internet boom, the purchase decision over a handset instead looks likely to go backwards. One of the elements that O2 said it will have to look at in cost-cutting is its handset subsidies. The potential therefore lies for consumers to seek to upgrade their phones and find they can only afford a lower grade model - hardly the route to 3G success.
netimperative.com
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