New generation phones make a low-key debut
By Alan Cane
Published: March 4 2003 4:00
news.ft.com
Twenty years after the first, king-sized mobile phones appeared in the UK, the high street is hosting a second communications revolution. But you will have to be alert to spot it, and you cannot take part in it yet.
Three UK, the trade name for Hutchison 3G, yesterday became the first telecoms operator to launch "third generation" mobile phone services in Britain.
This latest wave of mobile technology brings full-motion, colour video images and other advanced services to the handset.
Three UK has opened two shops in London and one in Birmingham, and orders can also be placed in selected branches of Dixons, The Link, the Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U.
However, there are still no handsets available for sale and none will be delivered until the end of the month.
Yesterday the curious and the baffled flowed through the group's shop in London's Oxford Street, where demonstration phones, manufactured by NEC of Japan, were on display.
The launch was the culmination of a research and development programme to develop a European standard for third generation services that began in 1987. But it was a low-key launch for a technology that is expected to bring fresh dimensions to the way we communicate.
Three UK's progress will be watched closely by Vodafone, Orange T-Mobile and O2, its UK competitors. Between them, they paid £22bn for licences for the new services and desperately need 3G to succeed.
Three UK said it had opted for a "soft" launch so customers could become familiar with the new phones before placing orders.
Colin Tucker, Three UK's managing director, said: "We are offering consumers the kind of services that were in the realm of science fiction just a few years ago."
One window-shopper in Oxford Street said it all seemed "very complex". He would not be ordering a phone. But Andy Evans had already placed his order. For Mr Evans and Rob Kelly, his colleague in internet publishing, the NEC and Motorola phones on offer were not complex enough, lacking features such as the short-range radio system that can replace cables.
Joseph MacMahon, a Three UK salesman, said all three shops had reported steady interest and orders. Three UK was reticent about the volume of orders, beyond saying they were "satisfactory".
The first 20,000 customers to order handsets will pay £199, and thereafter £399. Three UK is offering three price plans. Monthly rental will be £59.99 or £99.99, depending on the bundle of services. Without monthly line rental, video calls and video downloads will cost 50p a minute.
Third generation services are already on offer in South Korea and Japan. Three UK's competitors expect to follow with their own 3G services later this year or next.
Japanese operators have had significant success with i-mode, which provides many of the features of third generation systems and which they hope to introduce to Europe.
Qualcom, the US company that developed the basic technology underlying 3G services, is also competing with a system called CDMA-2000. Wireless economy, Page 14 KPN strategy, Page 29 www.ft.com/3g
Video handsets pave the way for new social phenomenon
Be prepared for the advent of a new social posture. We have become used to the phenomenon of people, hunched, hand pressed to ear, apparently talking to themselves as they stroll down the street, writes Alan Cane. With the coming of third generation services, they will walk, holding their handset at eye level with both hands, yelping with glee as Arsenal score.
3G brings full motion, colour video to the handset. You will be able to hold a video conference with another 3G subscriber and see yourself and your counterpart on the screen. You will be able to show friends back home how idyllic your holiday spot is.
You will be able to see highlights of the news, which in Three UK's case is provided by ITN, action from sporting events or clips from popular films. The clip is downloaded to the handset, where it can be watched as often as desired. Of course, you will be able to browse the internet.Then there are location-based services - maps and directions for getting to anywhere from anywhere on foot, courtesy of Ordnance Survey and TeleAtlas. Reuters provides financial information.
The 3G handsets will be dual or triple mode - that is, able to operate both on the 3G standard known in Europe as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System) and the 2G standard GSM that is current throughout Europe. So you will never be cut off from voice calls even if there is no 3G network in your area. Some of these services are already accessible through the intermediate technologies, GPRS and Edge, using Vodafone's popular "live!" service. |
