New mobile operator (3) admits launch glitch
The Times (London)
February 7, 2003
Dan Sabbagh
THE new mobile phone operator, 3, admitted yesterday that a big technical glitch would affect the first wave of third-generation video phones, which will go on sale for the first time later this month.
The unresolved problem means that a phone call will cut out every time the caller drifts outside 3's third generation coverage area. The network operator had hoped to introduce seamless roaming, which would have allowed voice calls to switch uninterrupted on to an existing second-generation network. Colin Tucker, managing director of 3 UK said: "It's obviously not desirable. We have resolved the technical issues in theory but we're faced with the old problem of interconnecting between our network and others."
Mr Tucker blamed the company's partner, mmO, for the problem. MmO2 provides the coverage for areas that 3's network does not reach.
He said: "They have to do a lot of work to make this happen, but they've not made the investment." An mmO spokesman disputed this, saying: "The problems are not with us."
The new operator has coverage amounting to 60 per cent of the UK population but it will be difficult for phone users to determine where the network coverage ends. As a result subscribers on the move face the prospect of repeatedly losing calls until the issue is resolved.
It will be possible to use 3's third-generation phones for voice calls on mmO's traditional network but subscribers will have to redial every time they go out of range of 3's base stations.
The introduction of third-generation technology, which allows television clips such as football highlights to be downloaded to a mobile phone, has been held back by teething problems.
The new operator originally intended to launch in September last year. It will now take orders on its website, www.three.co.uk, from February 23. A launch will follow on March 3 and the handsets will be delivered during the month.
The company will launch with three models: a Pounds 399 flip-phone from NEC with two-way video camera; a bulky Pounds 399 handset from Motorola designed for fast picture playback; and a Pounds 499 palmtop computer from NEC. The first 20,000 customers will be entitled to a discount of about 50 per cent on the phones, although more people than that have signed up.
The company released three pricing plans, which it said were cheaper than other operators' services. The basic package will feature voice calls at 10p a minute and videocalls of 50p a minute. There are two other bundled packages at Pounds 59.99 and Pounds 99.99 a month.
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ROTFLMAO!
From "Dow Jones Try Out 3G Phones" - 2/5/03
Message 18537693
1) Choreographed test locations.
2) 100kbs on an empty network in near lab-perfect "demonstration center" conditions.
3) Internet access --- not working.
4) Mapping --- not working.
5) "Unresolved technological challenges."
6) Video bugs and limitations.
7) And the reporter didn't even try roaming from his restricted trial zone into GSM (handsets don't offer GPRS) coverage.
Now we know why! |
