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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 (30430)	12/26/2002 12:15:27 PM
From: ggamer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197126

From Briefing.com . . . biz.yahoo.com 10:22AM AT&T (T) and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (NTT) ATT: 26.80 (-0.19) (-0.70%) NTT: 18.00 (+0.15) (+0.84%) DoCoMo and AT&T will start 3G service in 2004 is the headline on this morning's press release. This one clearly falls into the "so what" category. The only reason we mention it is that there are still people who occasionally email us with the "telecom will be rescued by 3G" message. The truth is 3G came in with a whimper, not a roar. It is almost reminiscent of the sixties anti-war phrase: "what if they gave a 3G war, and nobody came?" The promise of 3G service is "broadband meets cell phones." The 3G idea helped push the bubble valuations for telecoms and network equipment manufacturers because everyone was willing to believe that the world-wide internet infrastructure was inadequate for the explosion of video transmission. (It probably did have inadequate capacity for the internet citizenship to send photos and movies to each other. But the net has far more than enough for the text based data transmissions.) Now, DoCoMo (which is Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) (00C) says they will roll out 3G capabilities in four US cities (San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and Dallas) by the end of 2004. That is 24 months from now. Two years. It bears repeating. TWO YEARS for the initial rollout in the US. You have probably seen the ads here for transmission of still-photos over a cell phone. It feels like something new here in the US, but in Japan, where they love techno-gadgets of all kinds, they already have video cell-to-cell capability. Yet the 3G business in Japan has floundered, with the causes usually attributed to high prices, short transmission ranges, and huge battery demands. Apparently, after you talk to someone on the video-based transmission, your battery needs charging. We think the real reason is demand. Do you really want to look at the person you are talking to on a cell phone? You have to move the handset from your ear to do it. And how many Ivory Toads of Shanghai are there anyways? There are still some investors who expect the eventual broadband revolution to bring a revival to the entire technology sector. Today's press release from DoCoMo could almost be viewed as an earnings warning or a lowering of guidance for those investors. The message is pretty clear: "Don't expect 3G business to explode anytime soon." If you read Briefing.com frequently, you know we have been arguing against that since April 2001, when the tech markets stopped growing. But now you have it from the vendors themselves: wait two years. Extra revenues for telecom companies, and equipment sales by the vendors, based on 3G services are long way off, with no clue to the scale. - Robert V. Green GGamer

To: foundation who wrote (30430)	12/26/2002 4:21:14 PM
From: foundation	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197126

Reliance Infocomm revises rates to 40 paise per minute RAJESHWARI ADAPPA THAKUR TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2002 01:49:29 AM ] MUMBAI: Reliance Infocomm has revised its rates to 40 paise per minute, at a 15 second pulse, from the initial 20 paise per minute, after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India mandated that all incoming calls have to be free as per conditions of the basic service license. Reliance, for its three-year plan, will now offer 400 minutes of outgoing calls at 40 paise per minute which works out to 10 paise per 15 seconds. The regulatory approval comes just before the launch of Reliance’s wireless in local loop services on December 27, allowing the company to start offering the services. Trai is also said to have insisted that the WLL (limited mobility) services have to be confined to the SDCA (short distance charging area) as per the license conditions. Industry sources said that Trai has even restricted the call forwarding to within the SDCA, so that the services are in line with license terms. Trai officials refused to comment on the subject. Sources close to Reliance said that the company would charge subscribers of a special club, the Dhirubhai Pioneer Club, a nominal fee so as to provide them call forwarding facilities, which would be in keeping with the regulations. "We may have to charge them a small amount per SDCA to satisfy the regulations," said sources. Reliance will be offering more than 40% discount for calls from outside its network, but for long distance calls within its own network, the local call rates of 10 paise per 15 second pulse would apply. Industry sources said that Trai permitted this facility since Reliance Infocomm was a merged entity that had licenses for both basic services and long distance calls. Reliance is offering all value added services like caller ID, voice mails, call holding, call forwarding, call barring free. Reliance also plans to offer carry forward of unused minutes within the same quarter. The plan minutes cover all outgoing local calls, long distance calls within the state and inter-state long distance calls within the Reliance network. Apart from the three year tariff package, Reliance is also offering a membership to the Dhirubhai Pioneer Club at Rs 3,000 and a monthly charge of Rs 100, which gives you a free phone, a discount coupon booklet with Rs one lakh of discounts. Reliance is said to have received approval for its tariff plans, late evening on December 24. economictimes.indiatimes.com