News

Dutch 3G provider hopes to cover "just one Dutch city by 2004" -FT

The message still hasn't penetrated a lot of minds; third generation phone networks are not immediately imminent. Here's another warning not to be in a hurry ...

"On Thursday, April the 18th, KPN Mobile will begin offering mobile data services unique in the Netherlands: i-mode," explains the company's official press release. But the important question, surely, must be: "If you're launching i-mode, surely this implies a delay to your plans to launch UMTS third-generation mobile services?"

This was the question asked by the Financial Times, who got the following response: "Ludolf Rasterhoff, a senior executive at the Dutch group's mobile division, said 3G services would cover one Dutch city by 2004. Last month KPN said it planned a commercial launch 'in the second half of 2003'."

The i-mode launch is not a surprise - it has been flagged for months, and the company is planning a launch for Belgium, too. Germany has already seen an i-mode rollout, and E-Plus Mobifunk GmbH will launch i-mode service on its 2.5G GPRS network, using current GSM technology, this year.

Newsbytes reported that "In the U.S., AT&T Wireless is due to unveil its 'M-mode' service later this month. AT&T Wireless holds exclusive rights to use i-mode technology in the U.S."

Most reporters at the ceremony focused on what charges would be levied for i-mode email in the Netherlands; whether people would have to pay to receive it, whether you could get a refund on "spam" and what neat mobile phones would be available.

The board of KPN Mobile focused on "partner" providers of multimedia and digital information services in i-mode; the typical response by commentators was restricted to comments like: "Certified sites have been checked for quality, freshness, ease of use and customer service. "Open" sites also are available. These sites have not been certified by KPN. About 50 percent of content services will be free at launch, with the expectation they will be charged after an initial trial period," from people like rcrnews.com

But all this energetic provision of services that look like 3G can only be worth doing if the real UMTS service is some time away - otherwise, the investment would be wasted. So it was left to the Financial Times to get KPN Mobile to admit that yes, their original plans had been for a 2002 launch, that this had been pushed to 2003, and that even in 2003, only one city would be covered.

And when it comes to neat phones, when the service launches in two weeks (April 18th) the NEC N21i will be the first handset sold. The Toshiba TS21i won't be available until the second half of the year.