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

To: John Biddle who wrote (29834)	12/8/2002 8:42:42 PM
From: John Biddle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197214

Vodafone willing to buy Hutchison's 3G network Dec 9, Katrina Nicholas afr.com Vodafone is prepared to buy Hutchison Telecommunications' $3 billion third-generation mobile phone network to secure its place as a dominant player in Australia's wireless data market. The bold statement by Australia's third-largest mobile carrier comes as local interest in 3G technology hots up. Last Monday, Telstra upstaged Hutchison by launching what it claims is the country's first fully operational 3G network. Hutchison plans to launch its network in March. In an interview with The Australian Financial Review, Vodafone Australia managing director Grahame Maher said Vodafone would consider buying Hutchison's 3G network, rather than building its own or striking an alliance to share capacity. Mr Maher said it would make more sense for Vodafone to purchase Hutchison's new network because Hutchison was a global competitor to Vodafone. He said he would look at either buying capacity on the network, or buying the network outright. "In the short term, if there was capacity, we could buy that from Hutchison . . . we've already provided them with the ability to buy 2.5G access from us, so we'd be asking to get 3G from them. "Then, in the longer term, we would consider buying the network if it became available. We could do an alliance, but for us, Hutchison is a competitor worldwide so it'd be harder for us to have a partnership with them [in Australia]." Although Mr Maher said he had discussed infrastructure deals with all operators, he said he had no imminent plans to invest in 3G. "That's because we think the applications aren't there and the market in Australia is not ready yet." Mr Maher also said Vodafone still believed its licence for 3G spectrum, which cost more than $200 million, was valuable. For months, industry watchers have speculated that Hutchison would do well to strike some sort of alliance with Vodafone which would see Vodafone migrate its GSM customers to Hutchison's 3G network. "Otherwise, how is Hutchison going to get people on its 3G network? Vodafone learnt this lesson when it launched its GSM network in Australia. Typically, mobile customers tend to stay with their existing carriers, not switch because a new network is launched," one telecommunications analyst said. But a Hutchison spokesman said customers would come from Telstra and Optus. "They won't be new customers, rather existing customers of other carriers who are prepared to spend money on a new mobile service," he said. The spokesman declined to respond to Mr Maher's comments. Mr Maher also dismissed Telstra's launch last week of what it is touting as Australia's first 3G network. Rather than build a wideband CDMA network from scratch like Hutchison is doing, Telstra has used a technology called 1xRTT to upgrade its existing CDMA network. Mr Maher said Telstra was simply trying to steal Hutchison's thunder. He also questioned whether there were the applications available to warrant Telstra's new high-speed network. Vodafone, he said, had a mature 3G network in Japan "and all the applications on that are running at below 20 kilobits a second, even though the network runs at 384 kilobits - there's just not the applications at the moment that need that speed." Industry experts, however, predict that applications will, in the near future, require the bandwidth a 3G network can offer. FutureLab business manager Leslie Shannon said 3G applications would be extremely compelling to both businesses and consumers. FutureLab is a collaborative venture between Nokia and Optus based in Sydney's Pyrmont. The lab opened in March 2001 to develop new applications and content for next generation mobile networks. Ms Shannon said the lab had been doing work in recent months with technology from RealNetworks, which allows video to be received on a mobile phone. "That needs as much bandwidth as we can get so yes, there will be applications that need 3G," she said. "And as soon as people start seeing what can be delivered, the drive for it will be insatiable." Mr Maher also said the number of 3G networks would increase as the technology became more cost effective. "The applications will come, but more importantly, at some stage 3G will become more cost effective to build, like records and CDs."