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To: 49thMIMOMander who wrote (11622)	5/16/2001 7:31:56 PM
From: S100	Respond to of 34857

Software bugs out to haunt 3G phone services TOKYO Ð NEC president Koji Nishigaki said yesterday that software bugs will haunt troubled third-generation (3G) mobile phone services after their planned launch in the latter half of this year. "It's very difficult or even impossible to eliminate bugs from such a big software system," Nishigaki told a briefing for foreign reporters. He did not, however, expect a delay in NTT DoCoMo's rescheduled October 1 start in Japan of commercial 3G services, which promise much faster data speeds needed for video-conferencing, secure online banking and other advanced wireless functions. NEC, a leading Japanese manufacturer of electronics and communications equipment, is set to be a key supplier of handsets and infrastructure for 3G. DoCoMo, Japan's dominant wireless carrier, said last month it would delay the full launch of its 3G service in Japan to October 1 from May 30. Earlier this week a British Telecommunications subsidiary postponed a 3G kick-off on the tiny Isle of Man, blaming the delay on software problems in NEC handsets. Nishigaki countered that the problem rested with both the carriers and their suppliers, adding that the communications sector generally lacked computer makers' understanding of bugs in complex software systems. "The 3G handset itself is like a computer," he said. "Even at NEC, our network communications company people have no experience with such a big software development." "Usually communications equipment tests are not so severe or the occasions not so many. But in the computer business, especially the operating system should be tested more strictly and in more cases," he said. "The only way is to release devices to customers, which they use in many ways, then send them to market." DoCoMo downgraded its May 30 launch to a limited pool of 3,000 to 4,000 users, including DoCoMo employees, giving the company an opportunity to more thoroughly test the system. Nishigaki doubted, however, that DoCoMo would delay the commercial launch past October 1. "Even now they can operate an actual service. However, there will occur many problems," he said. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese handsets made by Matsushita Communication Industrial and Sony for DoCoMo's Web-enabled "i-mode" service have been recalled in recent months due to software glitches, casting further doubts on the reliability of the much more complex 3G system. Ð Reuters

To: 49thMIMOMander who wrote (11622)	5/16/2001 7:33:42 PM
From: S100	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 34857

3G mobile: yet more bad rollout news Catalyst: Finland's Sonera has said it may not have any handsets available to launch 3G services. 16/05/2001 16:15:00 (CommentWire) - Yet another would-be trailblazer has fallen at the wayside. But the high-profile rollout delays from Sonera, Manx Telecom and DoCoMo are unlikely to translate into major difficulties for the major European mobile operators. By the time Vodafone and its peers launch services in 2002-3, the key problem will be finding attractive content rather than making the kit work Finland's Sonera has to start providing commercial 3G services by January 1, 2002, as part of its license terms. However, the company today announced that while it expects its network to be ready by the deadline, it might not have any phones available for consumers to use. The news comes in the same week as Manx Telecom, the BT subsidiary that was scheduled to launch the world's first 3G network, postponed its launch to the end of the summer due to difficulties integrating handsets with its network. It's certainly an embarrassment for the would-be trailblazers. The Finnish government deliberately gave licenses away for free so that it could be a mobile Internet pioneer, while BT and NTT DoCoMo have been locked in a PR battle over who will launch the first 3G service. All are now left looking foolish. But the delays don't jeopardize 3G. Most operators in major European markets never expected to launch before mid-2002, and the major problems being experienced now are with handsets. The lack of working 3G devices, both to sell and to test networks with, will certainly hit Manx, DoCoMo and the Finns, but it will be much less of a problem for major players such as Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange. By the time these big players launch, probably in late 2002 or early 2003, networks in Japan and Finland will have been operating for some time, having solved the problems of integrating handsets and networks. And the big firms' network infrastructure will not be radically different from that used by the earliest players. Vodafone and its peers should benefit from the experience and difficulties of their rivals. Their launch services will be comparatively bug-free, avoiding another PR disaster like WAP over GSM. The bigger problem will be to create compelling content offerings that actually make people buy the service. 3G needs some kind of 'killer app' to drive uptake, and it's not yet clear what that will be. commentwire.com