Flash new phone services threaten 3G
Flash new phone services threaten 3G
New mobile phone services that offer cheaper and faster Web connections and better video quality, costing U.S.$123 billion of investment, look set to challenge 3G's hopes and dreams for wireless capabilities.
Service providers such as Nextel in the U.S., and Vodafone in Britain are experimenting with Flash-OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), new wireless technology, which claims to carry data 10 times faster and cheaper than 3G networks.
Flash-OFDM will be first used on laptop computers, offering non-stop high-speed connections, allowing employees to access company networks as if they were in an office.
3G networks are let down for many operators, having failed to fulfil promises of incorporating high speeds capable of playing high-quality video. The networks are also two years behind schedule.
Operators bought radio licences under the condition that they would use them only on 3Gs cell networks.
But now, these operators are testing in secret. For instance, Vodafone is experimenting with Flarion's OFDM technology in Japan.
Flarion claims that Flash-OFDM is the first truly IP-based broadband cellular network designed for data.
Radio-router technology uses a radio-transmission framework for packet-based, broadband, IP wireless communications. Radio-router technology is designed to make links in an IP network mobile.
Proponents of Flash-OFDM hope that since IP network technology is well developed and quite cheap, radio-router systems will be easy, quick and economical to implement.
Flarion recently also expanded its Asia-Pacific operations with the appointment of Martin Christmas as general manager of Australia, New Zealand and South Asia.
Mike Gallagher, president of Flarion Technologies, said." As affordable mobile broadband communications becomes increasingly pervasive, and as Flarion's technology is establishing itself as a leading alternative for global operators, the launch of Flarion's operations in Australia is a strategic investment in a region poised growth."
But, IDC analyst for wireless and mobility in Australia, Warren Chaisatine, believes that the market is too fragmented at the moment, and mobile phone operators are getting ahead of themselves. "There are too many different companies offering this kind of technology. Other players include iBurst, Hutchinson and WiMAX. None of these systems are interoperable, so that is going to cause problems. I cannot see the market settling down until the end of the decade. Then, hopefully we will have one system that can work all different networks.
"We also conducted a survey with 300 business leaders recently. 80 percent said that they did not need this kind of technology at the moment to help with their businesses. They were very neutral about the effectiveness of having this technology available."
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