Third-generation mobile data services will be able to offer
companies high bandwidth on the move, but is there a business case
for upgrading from GPRS?
As the mobile industry gathers in Cannes to stage the annual 3GSM
World Congress next week, the burning question is, when will
third-generation mobile services be ready for business?
The delivery of 3G data services has been a key topic at the
congress for the past five years, although the "3" was only added
to the show's name a year ago when the first commercial 3G networks
appeared.
Hutchison's 3 is still the only 3G network available in the UK. The
3GSM organisers have to stage an event that speaks both to the
consumer and business mobile data market, although in the case of
3G, it could be argued that neither market has been properly
addressed yet in the UK.
This is reflected by the fact that Hutchison concentrates its
marketing on low-cost voice-call packages and video clips of
football matches people can see on ITV on Saturday night, Sunday
morning and Monday night.
If the bandwidth that 3G can offer (theoretically up to 2mbps, but
more realistically 384kbps) becomes available to business, one
would assume that someone will use it, but analysts are unsure
about the demand. Mark Blowers, senior research analyst at Butler
Group, said, "There is very slow progress in convincing businesses
about the need to upgrade to 3G. Companies do not just want a new
technology, they want a competitive edge."
The telco industry appears to be at odds with the requirements of
business users, according to Blowers. "There is a lot of talk about
the requirement for more quality content for 3G, but for business
this is not an issue." He said business users require connectivity
and applications. If 3G is going to be a meaningful stepping-stone
for business from the GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) or
"2.5G" services already available, Blowers believes 3G will have to
offer high speeds to deliver services such as videoconferencing.
Operators are still ironing out coverage problems and seamless
roaming between 3G and GPRS to offer data services when a 3G
service is not available. "I would say that there will not be a
comprehensive and fully developed 3G service in the UK for about
five years, so I do not see imminent widespread adoption of 3G
among businesses," Blowers said.
Among the problems 3G faces in the business community is the
popularity of devices such as Research In Motion's Blackberry,
which relies on GPRS networks. This became commercially available
in the US about five years ago but struggled to find a UK operator
to support it until O2 took it up two years ago. Offering instant
e-mail, calendar, and contact synchronisation with corporate mail
servers, it has become a popular communications tool for companies
with employees who prefer a simple handheld e-mail access device to
a heavy laptop.
By last November, RIM said it had sold 17,000 Blackberry Enterprise
Servers globally, 20% outside the US. The company said the reason
for this popularity was the Blackberry's basic function. Richard
Harvey, a partner at City law firm Richards Butler and a Blackberry
user, said, "The Blackberry brings together all the diary and
laptop functionality I need on the move.
"Working as a shipping lawyer in maritime casualties, I find myself
in situations where circumstances are changing globally minute by
minute. The Blackberry provides a way to receive e-mails in
real-time and I can respond to them wherever I am," he said.
The success of the Blackberry, along with more modest take-up of
other GPRS-based devices such as the XDA personal digital assistant
with integrated phone, will tempt operators to continue to promote
GPRS over 3G for some time to come.
Vodafone, although enjoying an increase in data revenues through
its Vodafone Live GPRS service, is starting trials of a data-only
3G service for laptops, which it claims could serve 30% of the
population.
A commercial launch for Vodafone's service is promised in the
spring. It will enable users in London, Manchester, Birmingham and
other built-up areas to access a 3G network using a laptop card for
data services.
The speed offered will be about 384kbps, and when users cannot
access 3G, they will be able to get GPRS access instead, probably
at anything between 20kbps and 40kbps.
But corporates do not appear to be demanding 3G services. Jaye
Isherwood, product manager for mobile solutions at Cap Gemini Ernst
& Young, said, "GPRS is delivering all our requirements in the
products we offer." She said Cap Gemini's 70 mobile references in
Europe all relied on GPRS, but that 3G may find a niche within
healthcare. "The only applications that may need 3G in the business
world are probably in the health sector, where users may need to
send and receive high resolution images such as x-rays," she
said.
As well as GPRS, 3G had to provide a viable alternative to Wi-Fi
based on the 802.11b wireless Lan standard. Such networks were
increasingly being built outside campus areas to allow users to
connect pervasively to the internet in built-up areas. For
instance, Cap Gemini has built such a Wi-Fi network from the Gare
Du Nord train station in Paris along a route taking in cafes,
restaurants and other buildings offering public access.
Given that 3G is basically mobile broadband, Michelle de Lussanet,
senior analyst for Forrester Europe, mobile telecoms, said not all
applications need 3G. "You do not need the same level of bandwidth
for mobile applications as you do with fixed applications," she
said.
However, there are some applications that could use 3G, such as
security cameras linked to mobile phones and telematics, which
involve machines talking to each other over a mobile network. "But
we will not see much demand for 3G until the end of the decade,"
said de Lussanet.
Forrester has predicted that only 1% of all European users will
have a 3G handset this year, and it will take until 2008 before 20%
of European mobile users are running 3G. By this time, 75% of the
population will be established GPRS users.