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3g-g
18th August 2005, 12:52 AM
All I seem to read are reports of 3G expanding and expanding beyond our wildest dreams. Millions of subs taking up this vast capacity. I can only hope for the networks that have paid the billions for licences worldwide that these growth projections are correct. Obtaining 270 million subs worldwide in 5 years will not be easy, I can only presume a lot of these will be migrations from GSM.

From digital media asia. (http://www.digitalmediaasia.com/default.asp?ArticleID=9705)



As 3G begins to take off, power has shifted to a more discerning user community that is spoilt for choice, argues a report from market analysts Juniper Research, and yet one that appears fazed by the complexity of mobile phones and the plethora of services on offer.

The researchers estimate that the total mobile subscriber market will reach €3.95 by 2010 and that shipments of handsets will break the €1.5bn mark by 2009 on the back of emerging Asia Pacific markets and increasing replacement rates in mature markets.

Furthermore, 3G subscribers are predicted to grow from 30m in 2004 to over 300m by 2010. However, whilst representing a step-jump in technology for delivering current services with better quality, 3G’s benefits derive more from its ability to accommodate greater numbers of users and network traffic, especially voice, than its support of advanced services delivery.

The industry is still too preoccupied with technology advances and not focused enough on what makes users tick, argue the analysts. Vendors and operators must stop filling mobiles with catch-all baskets of features. In a high-demand environment where the user is king, the way forward is to adopt a more sophisticated.

Moreover, there is a pressing industry-wide need for more empathetic customer care. Service providers need to review how services are presented and take greater control of their relationships with customers, ensuring, especially, that they are set up with what they need as part of the provisioning process.

‘Better still,’ says Trevor Howell, author of the report, ‘why not learn from the automotive and personal computer industries and offer full-blown customisation?’

‘Most consumers are turned off by hi-tech acronyms, brand battles or technology for technology’s sake,’ he adds. ‘They want useful services tailored to their needs that can be accessed at the push of a button, at a price they can afford, and on a tariff structure they can understand, and they want someone to set it all up for them before they switch on.’