Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Twelve leading mobile operators spanning six continents and representing between them 620 million subscribers are backing the GSM Association's '3G for All' campaign, which aims to make third-generation mobile services accessible to a much wider user base.
The GSMA, the global trade association for mobile operators, has invited handset makers to submit proposals for a 3G mobile phone that can support advanced services, such as high-speed Internet browsing, mobile TV and instant messaging but costing significantly less than a low-end 3G handset today. Their proposals will be evaluated by the 12 operators - Cingular Wireless, Globe Telecom, Hutchison 3G, KTF, MTN, Orange, Smart, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor, T-Mobile and Vodafone.
The GSMA says it believes the endorsement of the 12 operators will help the winning handset vendor achieve the economies of scale in manufacturing, logistics and marketing necessary to make 3G phones much more affordable. However once the GSMA has selected a supplier the resulting ‘3G for All’ handset will be made available to all GSMA operators.
“We want 3G handsets, offering access to a rich suite of services, to become the default choice for people buying a new phone,” said Craig Ehrlich, chairman of the GSMA and a board member of Hutchison Mobile Communications, which is sponsoring the project.
Over the next few months, the 12 operators will evaluate and score the proposals submitted by handset vendors against a number of criteria: functionality, usability, logistics, market acceptance, target price, service and support, strategic commitment and form factor. The handset with the highest score will be endorsed as the official ‘3G for All’ phone by the GSMA. The winning handset will be announced at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona in February 2007.
David Bass
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