Page 13 - Sphere No.6 (Jun 2002)

A picture is worth a thousand
words.That’s one of the cru-
cial differences between 3G
(third generation) mobile
multimedia communications and 2G.
Soon, when we communicate via our
mobile handsets we will be able to not
only talk to each other as we do with
2G but also to show each other what
we mean.
With the launch planned for the
UK in autumn this year, and with Italy,
Hong Kong and Sweden on track to
follow soon after, 3G is set to make a
real difference to people’s lives, and
Hutchison will be in the vanguard of
that change.
In the past two years, telecoms oper-
ators have spent billions buying 3G
licences in the hope that they could do
something spectacular with them.
However, when the buying frenzy abat-
ed some analysts concluded that prices
paid were too high for what amounted
to little more than pieces of paper
entitling them to a slice of the wireless
spectrum.
But not everyone is writing off the
value of these licences. “The UMTS
spectrum is like real estate,” says Jeremy
Green, a research director at Ovum in
the UK. “It’s a limited commodity that
will not go out of fashion – and
Hutchison knows a thing or two about
real estate.”
The Group has so far secured eight
licences, each within strict budget lim-
its, and walked away from others that
didn’t make sound economic sense.
Unfettered by 2G legacy networks
and services in Europe, Hutchison has
been building out infrastructure and
striking high-profile content deals
to ensure that spectacular things will
happen.
Says Matthew Mo of J.P. Morgan:
“In contrast to many European telecom
analysts, [Hutchison] believes that a 2G
operation is a burden as 2G operators do
not have the right organisation to man-
age, monitor, and generate products for
3G users. We should bear in mind that
the negative sentiment surrounding 3G
is created by 2G operators, which have
good reason to be bearish as their 3G
rollout might eat into the profitability of
their current 2G operation.”
Group Managing Director Canning
Fok is unequivocally upbeat about 3G:
“The more I get involved, the more I
feel confident,” he says. “The building
blocks are 99% complete and we are
now in execution mode.”
READY...
ONE, TWO, 3G
S PHERE
11
The curtain is about to rise on a new world of 3G multimedia communications and one company
is pulling out all the stops to make showtime an unforgettable experience.
By Justin Quillinan
T RAILBLAZING
The rollout will begin in a few short
months, with Hutchison 3G companies
launching the new services under a new
global brand. Starting in the UK and
Italy, followed by Hong Kong, Sweden
Australia, Denmark, Israel and Austria,
these companies will blaze a trail into a
new world of mobile multimedia that
promises to be as different from existing
offerings as TV was when it overshad-
owed radio.
Analysts differ over the timing, but
they generally agree 3G will be a key
driver into the next technology era.
“In the short term we are being
pragmatic about 3G’s business prospects,”
says Declan Lonergan, Research
Director, Wireless at Yankee Group
Research in the UK, “but in the long
term we fundamentally believe 3G will
be a success. Hutchison is coming into
an exciting market with some interest-
ing ideas.”
The ink has already dried on con-
tracts to offer richer content than ever
before.
Voice will still be there, of course,
but 3G will go far beyond 2G’s low data
rates to harness the power of multime-
dia. It will create a wireless environment
offering complex colour graphics, quality
audio and video, and high-speed file
transfer for business use. New services
will include entertainment, news, current
affairs, sport, and multimedia messaging
in a way never seen before.
Those companies that do make a
success of 3G stand to reap rich
rewards, though opinions differ on
3G
MIRANDAYIU (4)