3G Genie Is Out of the Bottle

A leading wireless expert has criticised Datamonitor analyst Nick Greenway for urging mobile operators to abandon their 3G plans.

Picture shows Björn Krylander CEO UbiNetics.

Greenway made this advice in a note entitled 'Death bell tolls - 3G RIP'. He urges licence holders to: "Give it (the licence) away now - there's more sense in abandoning the market altogether than rolling out a service on top of giant sunk costs."

Former Ericsson director and UbiNetics CEO, Björn Krylander, claims Greenway's advice is damaging, wrong and a cheap shot from someone who demonstrates little understanding of the industry.

Krylander bases his views on the coal-face work PA Consulting spin-off, UbiNetics, is doing for most of the world's 3G operators. The Cambridgeshire-based company provides test, measurement and chip-set solutions to operators and handset manufacturers across the world.

Click here

Krylander said: "To call on mobile operators to abandon their licence obligations and get out of 3G altogether is an overreaction. The fact of the matter is that the 3G genie is out of the bottle - this technology is here to stay whether we like it or not. With voice revenues expected to peak and then fall within the next year, operators urgently need to find a way to make up for these losses. High-value data services are already helping some operators increase average revenue per user, or ARPU. For example, MMO2 recorded 50% growth in receipts from its data offering in the company's latest earnings announcement."

"The huge short term investment required to build-out the networks will inevitably precipitate some consolidation amongst operators - but that is no reason to write-off 3G as a whole. The operators' problem is not new technology, but too much competition and a basic voice service rapidly turning into a commodity. New services like 3G will be one of the best ways of differentiating from the competition and therby increasing consumer value. There will be rich rewards for those operators that play the long game and successfully launch commercial third-generation phone services, the alternative is a rapidly contracting industry," added Krylander.