[Ben]

http://www.bwcs.com/g3klat/../index.html?p=25

Very interesting reading indeed! Click "UK" at the bottom. For a start, did you know that the UK networks paid £377.60 per head of the UK population for their 3G licences?! How are they ever going to make that back?

[Jon3G]

I think when they bought them it was "the next big thing" but that was then when phones were just taking off nd the thought of vid msg and such like was very appealing.

I dont think they will make they money back by then

[@NickyColman]

"BT 3G - BT Cellnet, now trading as mmo2 - the spun-off mobile wing of BT. Amount paid: £4.03 billion (US$6.35 billion). 3G infrastructure partners - To the surprise of many BT Cellnet picked Nortel Networks as its principal supplier of 3G network equipment. The deal marked Nortel's first 3G success. BT Cellnet has said it plans to see 3G mobiles on sale at the end of 2001."


Ha ha, wishfull thinking it would seem! Its ironic that BT Cellnet were steaming ahead of the other networks. Now, as O2, they are somewhat limping to the finish line!

[3GScottishUser]

Maybe..... but maybe not!!!

Remember they have been growing as of late and have some very substantial deals that will offer customers new services as well as 3G. 02 will soon have i-mode handsets on offer in the UK and those should prove attractive as they have sold very well in Japan and elsewhere.

Why have 02 been slow to establish 3G? Maybe because they dont feel the market is ready and perhaps because they intend to leapfrog others by offering HSPDA faster than any other network.

My guess is that 02 will develop 3G over the next year or so but will also concentrate on their GSM and i-mode products which seem to be happily competing and in some cases beating some of the new entrants price plans.

[Ben]

While I'm sure O2 have their reasons, HSDPA wont work unless they have the 3G coverage in the first place. They have a GSM network that uses a frequency renowned for excellent reception and so significant work needs to be done to build enough extra cell sites for 3G coverage. I'm fine with O2 not being particularly 'into' 3G at the moment, but I'm starting to find it hard to believe they're going to be able to make a comeback. Perhaps if they could deploy complete EDGE coverage or something then we'd be talking, but there hasn't been any word AFAIK.

Luckily for O2, GSM is 'where it's at' - but if they can't come up with something soon then they're going to miss out when the consumer base finally goes datacentric and the other networks 3G services become the 'in' thing.