3G phones 'unfit for mass market'
Published: 16 Jun 2003 09:01 BST
Nokia has started shipping its much-anticipated 3G (third generation) phone, the 6550, just as a storm is brewing over the quality of such handsets.
Third-generation (3G) handsets have failed to deliver on their promises and are unfit for the mass market, say spokesmen from a group of European mobile operators.
The sentiment was voiced at the recently concluded 2003 UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Congress in Holland after the group evaluated 3G handphones from several equipment makers, according to various reports.
Their gripes: the phones were too chunky, have a short battery life, and are expensive. All of them boast a handful of 3G functions, but none have all of them. These include high-speed Internet browsing, superb voice quality, streaming video and smooth handovers between base stations.
Mobile operators have had their fingers burnt by the WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) bubble and are now warier and more demanding than ever, especially since they have paid so much for 3G licences. Problems at this early stage could spell doom for longer-term adoption of 3G, say analysts.
Among the phones singled out for criticism: the Nokia 6550, which is based on the W-CDMA (Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access) cellular standard.
"We had ten Nokia 6650s, but they had to be sent back for software upgrades," Rudi Westerveld, assistant professor at Technical University of Delft, was quoted as saying in a report from Reuters news agency.
Westerveld is involved in application testing with Germany's T-Mobile in the Netherlands.
A Nokia spokesman in Singapore defended the 6550, saying that the mobile phone maker has "done an extensive piloting and testing programme, successfully working out interoperability challenges and enhancing the phone's capabilities."
"Almost 20,000 Nokia 6650 phones were used in the pilot programme," said Foo Wen-Dee, a spokesman with Nokia Asia-Pacific.
Nokia has started commercial deliveries of the Nokia 6650 to mobile operators, starting with J-Phone and mobilkom austria this month, she added.
These complaints come just three months after the commercial launch of 3G networks in several European countries.
In March, 3, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchinson Whampoa, launched 3G services with handsets from NEC and Motorola. Telekom Austria did likewise a month later with a phone from Siemens. Other European operators are expected to join the 3G fold within the next 12 months.
To date, there are 46 3G operators across 25 countries worldwide.
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