[3gman]

I think 3g is still only a hype, companies more less trying to figure out how to make money on it, before signing big PO and 3g roll-outs will not be rolled out as fast as 2g networks...or that is not true...

[Ben]

Fortunately we have seen some rather significant 3G network rollouts now, but I think vast improvements in coverage outside of cities will only be seen once the networks reuse 900/1800MHz bands for WCDMA. I just hope it happens. It'll screw Three, though - it's likely there will have to be allocation shifting to make things fair, and I think that this is, indeed, the route France might be taking.

Voice will always be the killer application of a phone, but with manufacturers increasingly making their devices into communication terminals I think it's only a matter of time before voice is toppled. Just how long that period of time will be, however, will depend largely on the innovation of manufacturers and the pricing policies of the networks.

Data pricing is crippling.

[Hands0n]

The mobile operators are terrified that they are getting this entirely wrong - and so they are!

Voice and SMS text are the "core" applications - and any operator ignores those at their peril.

The search for the 3G (or any other "G") Killer App is futile - it is a changing landscape. And until sensible and reasonably priced Mobile Data arrives the scene will be distorted for time to come.

T-Mobile have quite possibly broken the mold - and it remains to be seen if cheap(er) Mobile Data is going to be the enabler for any number of Killer Apps to arrive on the scene. Instant Messaging (IM) was thought to be one - but the mobile operators seemed to have screwed that one up, no surprises there then.

Really, the Mobile Ops should get Mobile Data going mainstream - and to do that they are going to have to reduce the prices radically, commoditise the product and sell it by the shed-load. That is their forte. That, I believe, the the elusive Killer App they are seeking, but can't see for their own shortsightedness.

[3gman]

But the problem is I guess once we'll have the "mobile data/internet" whom the voice will belong...? carriers or companies like skype, that offer it for free or very cheap...;)

[Hands0n]

An interesting point 3gman - I rather fancy that VoIP will take some time yet to solidify in the minds of the buying public. It has not been taken up en' masse by the buying public on landline Internet so I cannot see any reason why it will revolutionise the mobile handset.

For example, I have been making a lot of use of Truphone of late (Nokia N80, SIP client, Truphone software). While the functionality within the N80 to use SIP courtesy of the Truphone software takes VoIP into a more practical easy to use feature set, it is the variable voice quality that will be its undoer.

I have made many calls to associates, friends and family with VoIP and it is quite good quality. However, that quality is variable. This is acceptable, to a point, when making such social call. But the other day I used the VoIP for a practical business call and, while we were both impressed with it, the quality fell off too many times - often at critical moments - to make it something I could use for my business generally. The call was VoIP breaking out into the PSTN to a landline at the far end.

For sure, VoIP will cut into Mobile as it has done so for landlines - that has to be anticipated. But that is no reason to run scared from it. Folk will, of course, use it and many will, I believe, go back to the plain and simple voicecall methods.

But I do believe that the mobile networks are distracting themselves from what is plainly staring them in the face as they look around for this "killer app". They could be making good money from Data as a means to fill in the already apparent erosion of their voice revenues. But all the while they are missing that particular boat while T-Mobile, for instance, are scooping the cream.

Who wants to be last in this game?

[3gman]

I think 2g is here to stay for a long time, as it has been seven years of 3g hype, but in terms of commercial success and deployments it is where it was...the analogy is probably the same as when companies started to build passenger airplanes, there was a talk that car companies would go out of business... ;)

[Ben]

Spectrum reuse, if permitted by regulators, could be the nail in 2G's coffin. Ok, so it's going to be years before any 2G networks are switched off in this country, but I can't see the operators wanting to maintain both networks indefinitely - not when 3G has better capacity for even basics like voice.