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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dexter Lives On who wrote (11945)	10/1/2001 3:07:59 PM
From: Dexter Lives On	Respond to of 12823

More on the ongoing demise of 3g... "We believe that the desire of the (wireless) operators to control as much content as possible is a key reason for the current slow rollout of exciting content," the research report stated. "As a result, applications that eventually will stimulate demand aren't available yet." In addition, Goldman Sachs noted that the technology is proving to be more complicated than many anticipated and the infrastructure still needs refinement, particularly CDMA-based wireless technology. "The industry still seems to be underestimating how difficult it is to implement CDMA-based technologies given the problems of power management and the lack of experience in Europe of commercial CDMA rollouts," the report notes. Overall, both Goldman Sachs and the industry remain gloomy about the prospects of 3G. "There was little presented that excited us about the sector," the report concluded. "It seems clear to us that investors are unlikely to become excited about 3G until they see whether GPRS is rolled out successfully over the next 12 months." internetnews.com _____________________________________________________________________________ That was the original idea, anyway. And such was its allure that European telecom carriers collectively bid more than $100 billion to acquire the necessary radio spectrum licenses. Now these debt-burdened carriers must spend at least that much again to build their 3G networks--and all to offer a costly service for which there is no proven demand. Hence the tremendous global interest inDoCoMo's trailblazing experiment. In the U.S., wireless carriers have been inhibited less by the cost of 3G licenses than by the limited spectrum available. It probably will be at least 2005 before true 3G is offered here. But an interim step between 2G and 3G is much closer to market. In fact, it's already being offered in Seattle by AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between BellSouth and SBC Communications . Dubbed 2.5G, this is a souped-up version of current digital services, with the added convenience of an always-on connection. "You won't have to make a phone call to get a stock quote," Gold notes. If 2.5G turns out to be a serious moneymaker for the carriers, they might not rush to follow DoCoMo's lead into 3G, which is much more costly to roll out. "We don't see this huge demand for it," says Ken Hyers, a Cahners In-Stat Group analyst. "Two-and-a-half G probably will be sufficient for a lot of customers' needs." The problem with 3G is that at the moment, nobody really knows how well the technology will work, which services will be most popular and how much wireless customers will be willing to pay for them. "There's more hype than reality right now," Gold says. "3G has lots of promise, but it's going to take awhile to get here." biz.yahoo.com UGGGHHHHHH! (count 'em - three G's)