When 3G was first launched, there was so much expectation from it. The Europeans end up giving the spectrum to the highest bidder. As we all know, things didn't turn out well as planned. Other countries like Singapore did not go through the same expensive process but still no success. The Philippines did not follow the same process but some legislators are pushing for that. This raises a lot of of fear especially if existing licenses are revoked as it may bankrupt carriers. Carriers also express that the removal of incentives to 3G licensees will cause more harm than good.
In the Philippines, 3G is being embraced with the entry of High Speed Downlink Packet Access(HSDPA) in the country. As a result, our country is now the leader in this area in terms of deployment. Handset makers like Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, among others are marketing their 3G wares actively. We are now seeing telecomm providers from China actively offering their services here too.
Smart launched its 3G service last February 14. As of our last count, Smart rolled out its 3G infrastructure in 60 cities and 20 municipalities in the country. The Smart 3G infrastructure is powered by Nokia.
Globe on the other hand took the notch higher as it launched 3.5G that uses HSDPA. Although company admits that whether the application will be a success or not is still uncertain.
Mostly, the reason for this is the lack of a killer application. Perhaps, video phone calls are only attractive for people who are far away from each other. But since you can enable web cam capabilities in most instant messaging tools today, with bandwith far more cheaper than 3G. On-demand TV and Internet radio are seen as possible applications that may click. Telecom groups are also encouraging the media to explore this and build content demand for 3G. However, if it is a luxury, rather than necessity, that may still not be true.
3G is here and there a lot of discussion happening right now as to which one is better. What's your take? Have you tried it? Will you upgrade to it soon? Do you think that the 3G phones available today stinks?
