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To: Eric L who wrote (5902)	1/29/2000 8:12:00 PM
From: gdichaz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13582

Eric L: Please note the repeat of Japan part of my "Smart Cards" post here earlier. Re Japan and DoCoMo, this quote from the article this is in reply to (#5902) is fascinating: "Even in Japan, 3G is being deployed in increments. NTT, the carrier in charge of 3G in Japan, will offer these services by 2001, but it will only offer 64-Kbit/s wireless-data services, not the 2-Mbit/s that was previously promised, analysts said." So NTT is "in charge of 3G in Japan" ? The CDMA roll out which has the 64 k which is envisioned by NTT in 2001 has been commercially available since Jan 7 of this year on the CDMA One network in Japan in competition with NTT DoCoMo.. Don't think NTT is "in charge" of that. Again there still seem to be the GSM camp and the CDMA camp and never the twain shall meet. But while both issue press releases, the GSM group seems to have the bigger megaphone in the press . (The GSM camp seems to have the ear of the Wall Street Journal in particular as Ericsson always did - now its an NTT DoCoMo mouthpiece). Ah how past is prelude. And he who has the greates influence with the press and spreads FUD is powerful, no? Best as always. Chaz

To: Eric L who wrote (5902)	1/30/2000 2:41:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 13582

Forcing A Digital Conversion: Not A Rousing G'Day, Mate By Owen Hughes SYDNEY, Australia--Dominant telcom provider Telstra is retreating from plans to replace analog cellular service with a CDMA network following protests from rural Australians. Subscribers have complained about sharp declines in coverage as a result of the initial phase of the changeover. Just two weeks after beginning the nine-month phase out of the analog network that was serving 300,000 subscribers, Telstra has offered to switch it on again for dissatisfied subscribers. The forced migration of analog customers to a digital network would save Telstra substantial amounts of money due to the increased capacity digital networks provide. But Telstra seems to have over estimated the reach of its digital coverage, while under-estimating the reaction by subscribers to a new network. Moreover, Telstra remains half-owned by the Australian government, thus the forced migration has political overtones for taxpayers who feel they've been short-changed by their government. For those outside Australia, the quick switch has the quality of a high-profile experiment. Such a migration is unlikely to take place in, say, the United States, although U.S. carriers have in some cases stopped advertising their analog service. Farming and other rural interests have embarrassed Telstra with criticism over the analog shutoff. Peter Welsh, Farmers Federation president for the state of Victoria, says he and his members have suffered from poor range and call quality. "We were promised comparable coverage but we have not got it," he complains. The company has admitted to "glitches" according to Catherine Payne, a Telstra spokeswoman for its mobile division, though she adds that complaints have arisen in areas where the migration had not taken place. The issue is an emotional one in "The Bush," as the Australian countryside is known. The huge distances between individual farms and rural communities mean that mobile phones have become hugely popular among rural residents. Despite the expense, bush dwellers bought CDMA-compatible handsets in the run-up to the first part of the analog network's Dec. 31 shutdown, believing their service would improve. Some country people have seen the perceived drop in network quality from analog to CDMA in the same light as the closure of rural bank branches and other services-simply more evidence of the disparate quality of life between town and country. Outside the cities, however, there are few alternatives to using Telstra. Formerly a federally run monopoly, Telstra has floated nearly half its equity over the last 24 months, although a majority stake remains in government hands. A legacy of its official origins is its "universal service obligation"--meaning it has to provide telephony wherever there is a demand, regardless of the financial return. Telstra faces competition at the end of the year when Vodafone launches its pan-Australian Globalstar mobile phone service relayed by satellite and GSM technology, and the row over analog has come at a sensitive time. This may have influenced Telstra's Jan. 13 announcement that anyone unhappy with CDMA could switch back to analog, until the transfer to the new technology is completed this October. Lyall Howard, acting executive director of the National Farmers' Federation, had urged his members to take a wait-and-see attitude to CDMA in the first week of January as the first stirrings of unease were reported. But after Telstra's partial about-face over analog he called the company's move "highly inconvenient" adding that it had forfeited the goodwill shown by NFF members. "They are going to be a lot less tolerant the next time around. If there were going to be problems at the end of last year [Telstra] should have been aware of them." Payne's response has been to ask for patience, in the process revealing something of the idiosyncrasies of cellular phone reception in the bush. Payne says: "We need customer feedback. In Shepperton in Victoria we were testing for two weeks before we narrowed the problem with CDMA down to an antenna interfering with the signal. "With rural fire services, for example," she continues, [subscribers] "knew if they stood on a certain rock they could get some reception. They have to find another rock to get CDMA reception. We are not saying things are identical, but they are comparable. You have to expect that with a transition."