Page 18 - Sphere No.11 (Apr 2004)

as well as hear him gurgle — or enabling

a buyer to view a property without actually

being in it.

“The new era of video mobile communi-

cations has commenced,” says 3 HK

Managing Director Agnes Nardi. “This

is a revolution that people should try and

use as soon as possible. It is becoming the

new style of communications.We are talking

about a new lifestyle. It’s fun and useful and

compelling. In future, people will wonder

how they lived without it.”

I

T

AKES

3

TO

T

ANGO

As Metcalfe’s Law states: “The usefulness

of the network increases with the number

of people who use it.”Accordingly it is now

vital for

3

to sign up as many customers

as possible to drive the revolution.

By offering a rich selection of applica-

tions and services at affordable prices,

3

appeals to a wide range of niche-interest

groups.With something extra for everybody,

from home security to horse racing, more

and more subscribers are finding that there’s

something special that they want, motivating

them to move to the next level.

In a March report in which he described

a week of testing the new service with fam-

ily and friends, Goldman Sachs analyst Mike

Warren expressed the opinion that users

only need one or two unique features in 3G

to justify the migration from 2G.

“Our favourite applications were video

calling and downloading English football

video clips,” he said, adding “our first video

calls with the family were an unforgettable

experience and, importantly, the novelty fac-

tor has not worn off.”

Warren noted that he could easily see

how downloading news clips could become

a way of life for commuters travelling to and

from work.“At the end of the day, the same

news is in the press, but video brings the sto-

ries to life,” he said.

C

LEVER

I

NSIDE

; E

ASY TO

U

SE

With just a couple of clicks needed to navi-

gate, it’s relatively simple to master the

mechanics of the

3

video mobile phones.

The various functions can be divided into

two general categories — “interactive com-

munication” and “information & entertain-

ment”

(see sidebar, p.19)

.

Interactive communication covers per-

son-to-person video calls, voice calls, and

video messaging. With the capacity to

switch seamlessly and automatically between

3G and 2G networks, users can stay in touch

wherever they are — and the

3

service offers

video and voice roaming capabilities in over

170 countries and regions.

Along with video links to Japan’s FOMA

users,

3

provides international video calling

in the six other markets where the brand

currently operates. Subscribers can make

and receive video calls while in Austria,

Australia, Denmark, Italy, Sweden and the

UK as well as access 3 Hong Kong’s

3Grid

while in Austria, Denmark, Italy, Sweden

and the UK.

Apart from videocall connectivity

between

3

video mobile phones, users can

also make eye contact by connecting to

Vfones (see sidebar, p.18)

or via webcalls to

camera-equipped PCs.

In the area of information and entertain-

ment,

3

offers a wide range

of easy-to-access content

through specially designed

portals and push-content fea-

tures to enable customers to

watch updated clips easily and conveniently.

Pioneered by 3 HK,

TodayOn3

features

an innovative “rolling portal” that allows

users to easily see content offerings without

the need to manually scroll up or down. If

there’s something that catches their interest,

they can get the full story with a couple

of clicks. The success of

TodayOn3

in HK

has led to its introduction in

3

’s other mar-

kets worldwide.

For added convenience,

DailyExpress

delivers a variety of information and enter-

tainment services in video throughout the

day with scheduled and personalised alert

services for selected information updates.

Customers can also personalise their pref-

erences through

ExpressLink

, which provides

quick access to the type of information and

content they use most frequently by having

it delivered directly to their video mobile

phone screen.

Another innovative offering called

HomeWatch

provides a live video mobile ser-

vice that allows customers to make visual

contact with their home or office via an

installed web camera. Similar technology is

used to provide live scenes of traffic condi-

tions in Hong Kong.

With a total of some two dozen commu-

nications and infotainment channels already

on the

3

portal, the door has now been flung

wide open for exciting new content and

services offerings to emerge.

In March, 3 HK unveiled the

3

Developer Programme

, designed to inspire

and encourage the development of new

3G content and services. The

introductory forum attracted

some 300 industry players and

content/application developers

from the telecom sector.

T E L E C O M S