Ben
5th April 2003, 03:55 AM
Some of you are by now getting to grips with the idea of a fifth major UK mobile network. No silly, I'm talking about Three, not Virgin or any of those other virtual ones....
Three is based on a standard called W-CDMA - and it looks like all 3G in this country will probably be the same. However, what most of us use at the moment is GSM. Now we've got that cleared up, on to part 2...
...with the UK's first 3G service launched, stealing the high value early-adoption market, Orange, O2, Vodafone and T-Mobile will be hot on the heels of Three - wanting to get their 3G networks ready for around a years time, hopefully less.
So, if you're looking for a new phone right now, you're faced with a dilema. Do you:
a) Buy that lovely new shiney small phone on Orange/O2/Tmob/Voda
OR
b) Buy a larger and quite expensive 3G phone on Three
Sticking with your conventional GSM phone range is great for now, and less expensive, but you can kiss video calling and other advanced features goodbye. However, adopting a 3G phone on Three is quite expensive, and the handsets are quite large with short battery life.
As Three's services improve, the old UK networks are going to need to keep sales up in the vacuum created before their 3G launches. Could there be a spot of bargain GSM handset shopping not too far around the corner?
On the other hand, the old UK networks may launch brand new 3G services at much lower prices in order to gain market share quickly. As 3G will have already been in the UK for a few months, thanks to Three, there may well be better handsets available. Perhaps you should hold out and not buy anything for as long as possible?
Alternatively, get a handset on Three and be ultra-cool with video calling - if you can find anyone else with Three to call! Oh, and you get to be the one with the brick in your back pocket while everyone flashes their shiney new Nokias!
What do you think? Is now a good time to buy a new mobile?
My vote goes for No. If you definately need a new phone, then I suppose you'd better get one now, because you'll only want another new one when the main networks launch their 3G services.
Three is based on a standard called W-CDMA - and it looks like all 3G in this country will probably be the same. However, what most of us use at the moment is GSM. Now we've got that cleared up, on to part 2...
...with the UK's first 3G service launched, stealing the high value early-adoption market, Orange, O2, Vodafone and T-Mobile will be hot on the heels of Three - wanting to get their 3G networks ready for around a years time, hopefully less.
So, if you're looking for a new phone right now, you're faced with a dilema. Do you:
a) Buy that lovely new shiney small phone on Orange/O2/Tmob/Voda
OR
b) Buy a larger and quite expensive 3G phone on Three
Sticking with your conventional GSM phone range is great for now, and less expensive, but you can kiss video calling and other advanced features goodbye. However, adopting a 3G phone on Three is quite expensive, and the handsets are quite large with short battery life.
As Three's services improve, the old UK networks are going to need to keep sales up in the vacuum created before their 3G launches. Could there be a spot of bargain GSM handset shopping not too far around the corner?
On the other hand, the old UK networks may launch brand new 3G services at much lower prices in order to gain market share quickly. As 3G will have already been in the UK for a few months, thanks to Three, there may well be better handsets available. Perhaps you should hold out and not buy anything for as long as possible?
Alternatively, get a handset on Three and be ultra-cool with video calling - if you can find anyone else with Three to call! Oh, and you get to be the one with the brick in your back pocket while everyone flashes their shiney new Nokias!
What do you think? Is now a good time to buy a new mobile?
My vote goes for No. If you definately need a new phone, then I suppose you'd better get one now, because you'll only want another new one when the main networks launch their 3G services.