3G Showing Regained Promise - Report

Published on: 12th February 2004

As WCDMA networks grow, WCDMA's role becomes defined, according to a new Visant Strategies Report. Although off to a slower start than originally expected WCDMA is showing regained promise, according to a new study from Visant Strategies. Although current WCDMA deployments have no more than small parts of nations covered, albeit some very atypical rollouts exist, the need for voice capacity and a data niche offering will allow WCDMA to do well.

According to findings in "WCDMA: Promise of Success 2004," close to 80,000 WCDMA base stations are live as of 1Q 2004 and shipments of WCDMA infrastructure will continue to rise, driven by coverage requirements in Europe and market developments in Japan.

"WCDMA is expected to enjoy greater than sixty percent penetration in both Japan and Western Europe in 2009," said report author Andy Fuertes, a Visant senior analyst. "WCDMA will play a lesser role outside of these areas, although it will do well in North America, due to increasing competition from other air interfaces and a limited demand for enhancements in voice capacity in the short-term and the mid-term."

One critical assumption made in the study is the ability for the wireless industry to produce a capable and cheap WCDMA phone during the 2005 to 2007 timeframe, allowing unknowing 2G and 2.5G users to be ported over to WCDMA seamlessly. Cost-effective improvements in content, applications, input/output, and screen technology must be satisfied in order to drive broad interest in mobile Internet services.

Also, although currently ARPU to WCDMA services is 30% higher than that of 2G services, such increases are unsustainable within mass-market acceptance. Today the WCDMA user is defined by price conscious, prepaid consumers in most of the markets it has been deployed."

 

Tags: [visant strategies] 

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