Hands0n
28th September 2005, 12:38 PM
Yet another (old) article from BBC News website. It makes interesting reading as we approach 4Q/2005 and the anticipated "Big Push" by the mobile operators for 3G handsets - even if they downplay the infrastructure behind it (and rightly so imo).
The full article is here --> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4540595.stm
And some appropriate excerpts;
Third generation mobile technology, 3G, came off the worst in a report into people's understanding and take-up of technologies.
Seventy-six percent either do not know, are misinformed or cannot explain 3G.
.................
The report also found that even though knowledge of 3G was generally low, those with lower incomes tended to live in households with mobile phones, rather than landline connections.
They are paying proportionately more than higher income households for their phone bills through pre-pay deals though.
..............
A survey earlier this year found that only 4% of those questioned said they were considering swapping their existing mobile for a new 3G handset.
Many cited the bewildering number of features on 3G handsets as the reason they were put off. But others think people just do not know what they can offer them
So has anything [much] changed since the article was published in May 2005? Have any lessons been learned by the Mobile Operators as they prepare for the Christmas season onslaught? There is lots of news that the Ops are lining up a mouthwatering array of 3G handsets to tantalise us with. Is this the right approach and is it enough to address the issues brought up in the above article?
Content appears to be the strategy that the Mobile Ops have adopted to address the "Why 3G" question when buying a new handset. Some (like Vodafone) have made the transition merely a matter of transferring the exising SIM into the new 3G handset. Others have made it a whole lot more cumbersome. Yet others have heavily plugged pure content via their national TV advertising, telling us that they "like music" and hoping that we'll get the subliminal message. All good stuff, perhaps. But for sure, in the handset stakes, I'm not convinced that my ageing in-laws will either get the message or be able to handle the new 3G handsets, nor possible even be able to afford them on their pensions.
More work needed by the Mobile Ops to address this [apparently] huge latent market?
The full article is here --> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4540595.stm
And some appropriate excerpts;
Third generation mobile technology, 3G, came off the worst in a report into people's understanding and take-up of technologies.
Seventy-six percent either do not know, are misinformed or cannot explain 3G.
.................
The report also found that even though knowledge of 3G was generally low, those with lower incomes tended to live in households with mobile phones, rather than landline connections.
They are paying proportionately more than higher income households for their phone bills through pre-pay deals though.
..............
A survey earlier this year found that only 4% of those questioned said they were considering swapping their existing mobile for a new 3G handset.
Many cited the bewildering number of features on 3G handsets as the reason they were put off. But others think people just do not know what they can offer them
So has anything [much] changed since the article was published in May 2005? Have any lessons been learned by the Mobile Operators as they prepare for the Christmas season onslaught? There is lots of news that the Ops are lining up a mouthwatering array of 3G handsets to tantalise us with. Is this the right approach and is it enough to address the issues brought up in the above article?
Content appears to be the strategy that the Mobile Ops have adopted to address the "Why 3G" question when buying a new handset. Some (like Vodafone) have made the transition merely a matter of transferring the exising SIM into the new 3G handset. Others have made it a whole lot more cumbersome. Yet others have heavily plugged pure content via their national TV advertising, telling us that they "like music" and hoping that we'll get the subliminal message. All good stuff, perhaps. But for sure, in the handset stakes, I'm not convinced that my ageing in-laws will either get the message or be able to handle the new 3G handsets, nor possible even be able to afford them on their pensions.
More work needed by the Mobile Ops to address this [apparently] huge latent market?