3G Coming To T-Mobile

The big day will arrive in the third quarter of 2003: the first T-Mobile Deutschland customers will then be able to use the third generation mobile communications network in roughly 200 towns. At CeBIT, T-Mobile is already exhibiting a wide variety of applications based on UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), including services that will already be available when the network starts up. Selected private and business customers will be able to gain a first glimpse of the capability of the third mobile communications generation as of May this year: T-Mobile is starting its Friendly User phase for UMTS then.

Using -zones, T-Mobile’s mobile online services that have been optimized for UMTS, it will be demonstrated how it will be possible to use mobile content even faster and with improved graphics quality in the future, on the basis of UMTS’ broadband capability. T-Mobile is presenting products in the individual areas of the data portal for this, which will be enhanced with high-quality video streams. In the t-news unit, for example, a live streaming of TV pictures from news broadcaster n-tv is being shown. In t-movies, trailers of current films are being provided as video sequences using UMTS. Also available is content provided on a multimedia basis, such as film reviews, a visit to the cinema and news about stars and films. Up-to-date multimedia content from the world of sport can be seen in the area of t-sports.

In the t-music unit, the "Popfile.de" service, known from the internet, is being demonstrated as a showcase. The download service enables registered users to download tracks to their own PC. With the CeBIT showcase, called "mobile popfile", users can also search for songs using a mobile handset, then play them and buy them if desired. The music files acquired in this way are then stored in a personal folder on the network and can be downloaded to the mobile handset, either as a download or stream, and can be played as often as desired or even burnt to CD. The showcase is a joint project between T-Mobile, T-Com and Universal Music.

In another showcase, T-Mobile is demonstrating the extensive multimedia potential of broadband connections: for the first time in Germany, video telephony between two UMTS mobiles is being demonstrated. The handset being used for this is the SGH-Z100, which cooperation partner Samsung has provided exclusively for this demonstration. The digital camera integrated into the mobile phone supplies the live picture of the conversation partner, while voice data is transmitted through a headset.

Adventurous T-Mobile customers can find a large amount of useful information about culture and socializing in foreign cities with the "MAX City Guide" service. The CeBIT demonstration based on UMTS technology shows content about leisure activities, including the option of searching for hotels, restaurants, cinemas and places of interest, watching video streams for this or displaying maps and routes.

The "Ticketing in the City Guide" application is particularly sophisticated. It involves ordering and paying for tickets for events, like concerts or sporting events, easily from the MAX City Guide, using mobile communications. The ordered ticket is then sent to the mobile phone by SMS, in the form of a barcode. The barcode can then be read using a scanner at the venue of the event, and checked to see if it is valid. In the CeBIT showcase, a paper ticket is being printed using a connected printer.

It is also being demonstrated at CeBIT how UMTS will have advantages for sending emails in the future: it will be possible to send and receive large emails in a short space of time. From commercials to MP3 files - T-Mobile will make access to t-email, for example, even more user-friendly with UMTS. Customers who already have an email account with T-Online will profit from faster transmission via UMTS in the future with T-Mobile, so they will be able to use their existing T-Online address via UMTS when they are on the move.