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

To: foundation who wrote (33030)	3/3/2003 7:25:49 AM
From: foundation	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196633

Quiet 3G rollout for 3 March 2, 2003 After months of promises from 3 to launch its 3G mobile phone service in the UK, the operator is expected to commence the service tomorrow, on the special date of 03/03/03. Even so, consumers would not be able to get their hands on the new handsets until sometime. Starting from tomorrow customers will be able to order handsets from high street outlets with a payment of £20 but may have to wait another four weeks or so for the handsets. Technical problems and availability of handsets has meant that 3 would seek a much more quieter launch. 3 is experiencing problems in some rural areas and handover problems between 3G and 2G areas. The operator has a roaming agreement with O2 that allows customers to made calls on O2's network when they are out of 3's network coverage range. A spokesman for 3 said the problems would have minimal impact on users. 3 were confident last autumn that they would commence 3G service in November of last year. Then they said they would have paying customers before the end of 2002. Industry experts believe that further delays to the launch of 3 would be damaging for the company as well as to the 3G technology itself. Critics of 3G are expected to undermine the new service and that 3G is over-hyped and too expensive. Third generation operators in the UK have spent a total of £22.5 billion for the privilege of providing 3G services, the second highest figure in Europe. Promises and lairs We find out how H3G informed us of UK launch dates and then miss them. -- January 30, 2003 Hutchison 3G UK has said it will launch 3G mobile phone services by the end of March. The operator recently opened its flagship store in London, Oxford Street, showcasing its new phones. -- December 31, 2002 Hutchison 3G may not launch commercial 3G services in the UK until March next year reported the Independent. The operator has admitted it is facing technical difficulties with its network. -- November 4, 2002 Hutchison 3G maintained that it still plans to have paying customers by the end of the year. "Our plan remains unchanged. We hope to have paying customers by the end of the year," said spokeswoman Nora Yong, Hutchison Whampoa media team. -- September 30, 2002 A spokesman for Hutchinson said handsets could go on sale as early as the end of the year and the network could cover 50% of the UK population. -- June 17, 2002 Hutchison 3G has delayed the launch of its UK service until the end of 2002 year, reported by The Guardian. -- December 6, 2001 A spokesman for Hutchison 3G said the company internally did not regard the timetable for launching its 3G network in the UK as slipping, but was now using the phrase second half of 2002 as its launch target. -- November 9, 2001 Hutchison Whampoa plans to launch its 3G mobile phone services in September 2002 in Britain and Italy and in Hong Kong a month later said Group Managing Director Canning Fok. -- April 19, 2001 Hutchison Whampoa founder Li Ka Shing believes 3G services could be launched in the UK by the middle of 2002 next year. 3gnewsroom.com