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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: foundation who wrote (23667)	6/11/2002 4:25:32 PM
From: foundation	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197443

"Telia International Carrier (TIC), which currently provides GPRS roaming exchange (GRX) services to six mobile operators across its European network, is currently handling about one megabyte of data per month in terms of GPRS service traffic. If that Mbyte was charged at a rate comparable to Vodafone Group PLC's (NYSE: VOD - message board) business user rates for GPRS-enabled data downloads (see Vodafone Launches (Expensive) GPRS Euro Roaming ), TIC is transferring less than $10-worth of GPRS data between Europe's mobile operators. Nurse, call the revenue doctor, and quick!!" from: "GPRS Lacks Cross-Border Clout" Message 17585549 ========== I had to repeat an excerpt from the piece I posted this morning - as its message is quite remarkable. As an exercise: 1) Go to the Nokia board and read all about the wonders of GPRS roaming - and how important roaming is for the success of GPRS, especially for business use. 2) Then listen to NOK's CC from this morning - and their projections for GPRS in the 2nd half and 03. 3) Then let the FACTS slowly sink in. Telia, currently providing "GPRS roaming exchange services to six mobile operators across its European network, is currently handling about one megabyte of data per month in terms of GPRS service traffic." 6 operators - 1MB of data roaming between them per month. Somebody's living in a dream.

To: foundation who wrote (23667)	6/11/2002 11:04:00 PM
From: Rick	Respond to of 197443

GPRS networks: wireless sour grapes? Oh gee, here comes 2.5G By Ben Charny Special to ZDNet June 7, 2002 GPRS is the data delivery arm of cellular telephone networks using the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard, which is at the core of between 70 and 80 percent of the world's telephone networks. GPRS is supposed to provide Web download speeds slightly faster than those from a typical dial-up Internet connection like AOL. Wireless carriers choosing GSM have little--if any--alternative than to use GPRS if they want to evolve to the much-hyped third-generation (3G) networks promising wireless download speeds of at least 144kbps, according to Kim Thompson, a spokeswoman for VoiceStream Wireless. Most major U.S. carriers plan to build these 3G telephone networks. Verizon Wireless has already launched one; Sprint PCS will launch its network in July or August. GPRS was first deployed throughout Europe two years ago, but with disastrous results. The hope was the download speeds of GPRS would make it palatable for a European cell phone owner already sending billions of wireless messages a month to do even more complex and expensive things like swapping picture messages or downloading songs. But carriers overpaid for government spectrum licenses, waited years for handsets from vendors, then built bug-filled networks using the generally untested first generation of GPRS phones and network equipment. The industry was having problems meeting the hype over the networks' download abilities, for example. European carriers were expecting to offer services based on download speeds averaging upwards of 60kbps. Instead, they could only produce 20kbps, said David Kerr, vice president of wireless practice at Strategy Analytics, a consulting firm. Nokia, Siemens and Ericsson disappointed most European carriers by repeatedly missing GPRS handset delivery deadlines. And those handsets that made it to market were buggy. One Nokia GPRS phone had a faulty screen, which faded to black with time. The GPRS networks also had trouble when someone was simultaneously moving and using the phone. The call or Web session was interrupted because base stations couldn't hand off the call, Kerr said. The networks also had trouble when someone was moving and using the phone at the same time. The call or Web session was interrupted because base stations couldn't hand off the call, Kerr said. The result was European consumer apathy--something carriers in Europe didn't count on. In April, Europe's biggest mobile phone seller, Carphone Warehouse, said stores were selling about 35,000 GPRS handsets a month. But only 200 subscribers were signing up every month for GPRS wireless Internet service via Carphone Warehouse. Network and phone problems persist in Europe. For example, calls are often dropped when someone roams from one cellular site to another, according to sources. Also, some of the Nokia GPRS phones that were part of a batch with faulty screens shipped in 2001 continue to surface in the United States and other countries, according to Nokia spokesman Keith Nowak. The company is no longer using the supplier of the faulty screens, Nowak said. "The problem has been contained." techupdate.zdnet.com - Fred