Europe UK : After the mixed fortunes of 3G mobile phones, the mobile phone industry is facing a tough choice on which technology to adopt for the next generation of internet-enabled handsets, according to a new short report from ReportBuyer.com. New developments for giving mobile phone users internet access and ‘data throughput’ are following two conflicting routes. The Wi-Fi concept, WiMAX, originally made for computers is super fast at 70 Mbps while HSPDA (high speed downlink packet access), based on cellular phone technology, only offers 3.6 Mbps at best. Mobiles using HSPDA reach the market next year. But the WiMAX method will require huge investment in network infrastructure to achieve its target speeds on a widespread basis.

The costs for both the new networks and phones could be prohibitive and yet the consumer’s appetite for multimode phones is uncertain, witness Hutchison’s 3G operator’s HK$ 34.6 billion loss in 2005. What is certain, says the report is that the consumer will expect the best service and not be concerned how the industry got there. It is anticipated that the largest revenue generators in the future will be voice, personalised access to ‘infotainment’, mobile access to the internet at high speed and MMS (multimedia messaging service). Business usage would also increase if phone emails were not restricted to text.

‘Beyond 3G Mobile’ by Marilyn Saliba, a telecom engineer, gives an overview of the different technologies and whether they might co-exist rather than compete, and considers the other influences on the mobile industry’s development such as the regulation by different countries of radio frequency allocation, and the future plans of the telecom industry.

‘Beyond 3G Mobile’ 20 pps, is part of a series of industry reports available as free downloads from new business information provider, ReportBuyer.com launching on 17 January, 2007.

http://www.reportbuyer.com/telecoms/mobile/beyond_3g_mobile.html