Europe follows Japan to 3G

Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo's launch of a third-generation (3G) mobile network should provide a model for the technology in Europe, according to analyst group Frost & Sullivan.

Meanwhile, UK licence holders are collaborating with developers to devise applications for forthcoming 3G Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) networks.

DoCoMo is currently working closely with Dutch carrier KPN Mobile to roll out 3G services in Europe, and it has a 20 per cent stake in Hutchison 3G UK.

DoCoMo launched the world's first 3G network in the Tokyo region earlier this month, where it uses the CHTML protocol to support its mobile services.

The firm will rely on Wap 2.0 in Europe.

Frost & Sullivan analyst Allison Webb predicted that the activity of DoCoMo is likely to intensify competition in Europe, and encourage use of Wap 2.0 technology.

DoCoMo does Europe

KPN Mobile is due to launch its 3G network in Holland, Belgium and Germany in early 2002. Webb said DoCoMo will probably repeat the success of its I-mode service in Japan, and estimated it will have over 30 million subscribers across Europe by 2006.

"DoCoMo has the advantage of experience that it will bring to the European market, and I also expect the much-maligned and over-hyped Wap technology will finally come into its own," said Webb.

"Wap services have been poorly marketed in Europe. The mobile internet won't deliver the same experience as the fixed infrastructure - the types of services that will be popular and practical over wireless will be different."

Hitching up with Hutchison

DoCoMo owns a fifth of Hutchison 3G UK, a new-entrant 3G licence holder, and could influence the services that Hutchison offers in the UK. Hutchison announced recently that it will team up with Cambridge-based mobile applications specialist 3GLab to develop new applications for the rollout of its UMTS network in the second half of next year, launching its service to cover several - as yet undisclosed - urban areas and main transport arteries.

Colin Tucker, managing director of Hutchison 3G, said: "The increased bandwidth with UMTS opens up new opportunities to deliver data-rich products and services to our customers."

Hutchison's handsets will be produced by Motorola and NEC. NEC already develops handsets for DoCoMo, and the companies could work together to provide similar business services here, including multimedia and videoconferencing capabilities.

But IT managers are likely to be more interested in third-party applications that provide email, scheduling capability and database access to corporate networks.

Webb welcomed moves to develop applications ahead of the network launch. She suggested that mobile internet appliances would probably not play a key role for most firms, but would be useful nonetheless.

www.3glab.com
www.hutchison3g.com

DOCOMO OFFERS 3G MODEL

• Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has launched a third-generation (3G) mobile network in Japan, and is now working with European partners to launch similar services here.
• This could increase competition and speed the rollout and development of 3G services and applications.
• Analysts expect Wap 2.0 to emerge as a major protocol for the delivery of mobile internet content.