Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: S100 who wrote (114217)	2/24/2002 10:29:23 PM
From: S100	Respond to of 152472

CDMA delay about getting it right 25 February 2002 By RICHARD BRADDELL Telecom says its delay in deploying high-speed data over its new digital CDMA cellular network is due to its wish to get a very advanced technology right. The 1XRTT overlay to CDMA would boost data rates from 14.4 kilobits a second to between 60 to 70 kilobits, making it faster than landline dial-up modems and opening the way to a host of value-added services, all offering more income for Telecom. Telecom was initally hoping to have it up and running by the end of last year. It was then due to go live early this year, but will not now become operational till sometime in the second half. Previously, Telecom has said that 1XRTT could give it a two-year technology advantage over rival Vodafone's slightly slower GPRS offering. But spokeswoman Linda Sanders says it wants to get the service absolutely right before introducing it. "This is very bleeding edge," she says. "I think Verizon (in the United States) has just introduced one and I think Korea's got one and that's basically it," she says. Nevertheless, Ms Sanders says planning for new services is advanced and Telecom is already selling the "G-trans" PC cards that will carry them. Although the cards will come into their own when high-speed 1XRTT comes onstream, customers are using them now at CDMA's existing 14.4 kilobits. Although Ms Sanders concedes that the new network has provided challenges in bedding down its completely new technology and handsets, it is proving to be a much needed answer to rival Vodafone's GSM network which can offer a much broader range of value-added services than Telecom's older analogue and digital amps networks. Chief executive Theresa Gattung revealed last week that Telecom's 110,000 CDMA customers account for about 10 per cent of its mobile base, but are producing 20 per cent of network traffic. "It's still early days, but we are starting to see data become more significant," she says. Mobile operators globally are coming under increasing scrutiny from the investment community as they concentrate on high-value customers rather than adding new ones in order to boost average revenue per customer unit (ARPU). But even with its existing CDMA service, the slump in Telecom's ARPUs appears to have bottomed with a slight recovery in the December quarter. Last week, Collins Stewart, a British broker, forecast that British-headquartered Vodafone's shares would drop more than 40 per cent because subscriber growth is plateauing and ARPU growth appears to have stalled. "If Vodafone cannot grow ARPU then it is simply not a growth stock and should be derated further," Collins Stewart was quoted as saying stuff.co.nz