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Technology Stocks : Vodafone-Airtouch (NYSE: VOD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (3075)	1/24/2001 7:30:11 AM
From: MrGreenJeans	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3175

TIM, Vodafone insist GPRS is on track for 2001 (UPDATE: Adds Vodafone comment on plans for GPRS in second half) ROME, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Italian mobile giant Telecom Italia Mobile and cellphone giant Vodafone Group Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: VOD.L) insisted on Tuesday that they were on track to start selling mobile phones with Internet access this year. Denying a report in the Financial Times which said the mobile phone sector would not be ready for mass market launch of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) cellphones until after Christmas 2001, a TIM spokeswoman said: "TIM confirms the launch of our GPRS service in the first half of 2001. ``Mass distribution on the market will take place in the second half of the year,'' she said. Vodafone also confirmed that it would be offering a ``meaningful'' supply of GPRS mobile phone services, which are supposed to offer ``always-on Internet access'', from June and planned to launch the service in volume in the second half. But the group, the world's largest mobile phone company, declined to specify whether it had placed an order with cellphone manufacturers such as Finland's Nokia . Last week, TIM executives said they aimed to sell about one million GPRS terminals. The telecoms sector has fallen out of favour with investors amid concerns about future revenues and heavy costs of services such as GPRS and a new generation of faster mobile services, dubbed UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). Having spent more than 100 billion euros ($94 billion) on UMTS licences in Europe last year, telecoms companies are keen to try and recoup costs by launching services as soon as possible. The success of GPRS, dubbed 2.5 generation services, will be a litmus test for third-generation UMTS.