SingTel Delays 3G Infrastructure Contracts

SingTel Mobile has said that it is to postpone the award of the contract for the construction of its 3G network.SingTel Mobile's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Lucas Chow, said that the company has no compelling reason to rush into awarding the contract at the moment. "We are adopting a cautious approach towards 3G and have decided not to award the contract at this point in time. The technology is still new and very much evolving, while the mass rollout of 3G handsets remains uncertain. Furthermore, the development of 3G applications around the world has not taken off as rapidly as expected."

Notwithstanding this, SingTel Mobile has been conducting 3G technology trials with vendors over the last 18 months. Three groups have been shortlisted to participate in the 3G tender. They are Ericsson, Nokia and a consortium consisting of Siemens IC Mobile, NEC Corporation and ITOCHU Corporation. SingTel Mobile is currently evaluating the tender and making sure that its new 3G system will be compatible with its existing GSM networks. It expects to be able to offer 3G services on a selective basis in 2003 and meet the deadline of end 2004 set by the telecoms regulator, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) for nationwide rollout of its 3G network.

Mr Chow said: "Mobile operators have learnt valuable lessons over the past years from introducing new mobile technologies such as WAP and GPRS to customers. The main learning point has been that the introduction of new services should be driven not by the availability of technology, but by market demand and consumer benefit."'"

Posted to the site on 17th June 2002