Tero: GPRS deals and other info
Ericsson is at the moment ahead in deals done (although there are only a handful of deals concluded so far and we are at the early stages of the game). Sources indicate that Nokia may have a problem in that they do not have an open platform and that seriously restricts who they can sell to, as well as their solution is more hardware than software (unlike Motorola and Ericsson -please, someone prove me wrong or enlighten me). At the moment, the basic opinion is that the initial deals will be done with existing clients (so guess the percentages of deals done and to be done).
As for UK operators, out of the four I know two have already signed up for GPRS (I've been away for 2 weeks, so I'll try and get an update, as they may all have now opted for GPRS). The biggest problem facing operators with GPRS is the billing aspect, but once they understand the value of GPRS and the relative ease in changing their billing requirements they tend to tow the line.
Also remember that not all deals go public and that Nokia may not have been the first in Asia (a bit like how the recent announcement about Nokia making the first WCDMA call over the PSTN, when it was actually achieved a year ago by Ericsson and who knows when by DoCoMo, Lucent, NEC, Fujitsu or Motorola!).
Mika |
