Businesses should not hold out for 3G mobile networks and
neglect other technologies that they may find just as commercially
beneficial. According to analysts Ovum, firms waiting for 3G as the
answer to their dreams could be missing out. Such firms, says Ovum,
should be exploiting the technology currently at their disposal,
especially General Packet Radio Services (GPRS).
Neil Ward-Dutton, Ovum’s research director advised that firms
should explore the potential of GPRS, which he says, “will enable
downloads of about 28 kilobits per second” by the time 3G services
become viable. According to Ovum, Wireless Application Protocol
(WAP), despite being the subject of considerable criticism, also
has much potential for business. “Companies that ignore WAP as a
business tool are missing the point…you can now access many
corporate applications using WAP.”
The 3G infrastructure has faced further scrutiny in research by
PricewaterhouseCoopers. According to one of the firm’s consultants,
Phil Irvine, incumbent mobile operators have little to gain from
sharing 3G infrastructure. Businesses that do so, says Irvine, are
“giving a hand-up to somebody else.”
Irvine said that research carried out by PwC indicated that
incumbent mobile operators would be well advised to ensure that
they meet the minimum coverage requirements of their UMTS licenses
but to avoid network sharing.
