Forget the standards, sell the handsets
technologypost.com
Friday, April 9, 1999
TELECOMS
WIRED by Yvonne Chan
The ideal mobile phone for globe-trotting business
travellers would be an all-standards-in-one handset able
to switch between GSM, TDMA and CDMA and be
used in different countries.
An Ericsson executive said this concept was still years
away, although handset vendors were looking at it.
Dual-band phones that switch between GSM and PCS
networks are available, but, for now, TDMA and CDMA
handsets cannot be used on other frequencies.
Hakan Olsson, Ericsson director of new products and
services sales for TDMA systems, believes smaller
phones are the fashion and users might reject a bulkier
model, even if it was highly versatile.
"Personally, I would prefer two or three nice phones that
I can take with me anywhere I want to," he said.
His preference may not be shared by many users - there
is only so much space in business-suit pockets and purses
- but the ideology seems to make sense from someone in
the business of volume handset sales.
As long as handset vendors can sell multiple handsets for
each standard to one user - no doubt a good way to boost
unit sales - developments in the all-in-one phone will not
be at breakneck speed.
In the most recent episode of public condemnation
against China Telecom, publicised poll results
showed that 72 per cent of mainland respondents
surveyed said that the state's telecommunications
monopoly should be broken and competition
introduced.
Xinhua reported the China Business Climate
Monitoring Centre's survey of 1,290 urban
mainland residents cited complaints including high
fees, poor service and the "arrogance of many
staff".
Criticism of China Telecom by the public and media
has been mounting, and analysts say that
Communist Party members are warming to the idea
of the introducing domestic competition in the
telecoms sector.
In July, the government is to issue key rules that
will help shape domestic competition.
The New Territories country bumpkin of the mobile
networks is finally coming to the city.
Hongkong Telecom says it is upgrading 1+1, the SAR's
only TDMA (time division multiple access) network,
which it acquired last year from Pacific Link.
1+1 offers Telecom's cheapest mobile tariffs, but its
range of coverage is limited to the New Territories.
While it was ideal for people who worked and lived in the
New Territories, the reception quality degraded when
users commuted to Central and surrounding areas.
Telecom said its trial upgrade would involve the
installation of new Ericsson cell stations in urban areas on
Hong Kong island and Kowloon.
While it declined to specify the cost of the upgrade and
the exact location of the cells, shopping malls such as
Times Square and Pacific Place are on the list.
Copyright (c)1999. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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