3G Networks Go Into Production, But Future Uncertain

UK Will Not Refund 3G Money
The United Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, reiterated that the UK will not refund any of the money that telecommunications companies paid to acquire third-generation ( 3G) spectrum. "We're not going to change our policy. It was a market-driven exercise. People bid in the normal way for this, and people paid the price they were prepared to offer."

South Korea Claims First 3G Rollout
South Korea may have beaten the rest of the world to the punch by announcing the rollout of a live third-generation (3G) mobile network. The news will come as a blow to U.K. telecommunication firms, which have been forced to postpone sending 3G networks live. Earlier this month, BT had to delay a test on the Isle of Man after problems were discovered in the 3G handsets it used. Between them, South Korea's three mobile carriers have a user base of over 30 million people. The entire population of the country is 46 million, and mobile firms plan to expand their user bases with the nationwide launch of 3G services.

Nokia Believes Wireless Web To Explode Next Year
Nokia is bullish on the wireless web, predicting that sales of GPRS (2.5 G) phones will increase in the second half of this year, and that advanced wireless services will begin blossoming in the next year, after the penetration of advanced handsets increases. Nokia believes that the 2.5 G phones they have designed will be purchased for other reasons (sleek design, size, features) but that consumers will come around and begin seeking out additional services the phones are capable of offering.

Despite Call Speed Record, 3G Services Keep Everyone Waiting
On April 10, 2001, a call broke the speed record for sending data over a wireless network with third-generation (3G) wireless technologies in the U.S. Using a Sprint testing site and Lucent's data-transmission equipment the call transmitted data at a speed of 2.4Mbps. According to Sprint that was about 165 times faster than the speed of today's wireless voice and data networks.

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Mobileinfo Comments and Advisory: 2Q 2001 will go down as an important milestone in 3G evolution. Yes, the first 3G network did get implemented in Korea and NTT DoCoMo started i-Mode user trials on 3G networks. It became quite apparent that in this race, North America conceded defeat to Asia and Europe. While this apparent success of the Wireless Internet was definitely in Asia and Europe's favour, the total consummation of the Internet was still in North America's favor. The real comparison should not be in terms of utilization of a specific network technology but total utilization of fixed and wireless networks. As to Nokia's claim about next year's explosion with wireless web, we are not very hopeful. We think that it will be slow and gradual adoption. The trade and PR press might give you a different impression.