[Wolves] 3G phones - my decision

[Chris Procter]

> The thing is, they've spent billions of pounds, just
> on the licenses.  Video calling seems like a non
> starter, and I can't see the mass populus needing fast
> data on the  move that badly... maybe I'll look back
> on these comments and laugh as 3g makes trillions a
> year, but I just can't see it...
> 
> fizz

I was at BT while the auctions were going on and there was a fair amount of
doubt even there and then that it was a goer, esp. because they are 20 year
licenses and its taken 5 years to get the technology to a stage that it
could be rolled out leaving 15 years to recoup the investment before the
next round of licenses.

However the counter view from BT management was that once upon a time 640k
of ram was loads but once we got more then we invented uses for it (where
would we be now without our beloved bloat!), similarly no-one currently
really needs 3G data rates but once it becomes available then we will find
uses for it and wonder how we ever lived without. 20 years ago if you had
asked why we needed 1mb broadband video phones would have been at the top of
the list, but now we have it we still dont have videophones but we do have
software development by groups spread across the wold (hello Linux! back on
topic!), no one would have thought of that but once you have the bandwidth
it seems an obvious way to use it. Basically, if you build it they will
come.

It also seemed (to me at least) that part of BT's strategy for the auction
was to try and bleed the other companies dry by biding up the licenses in
the hope that their core business would allow them to recover faster and get
a advantage over Vodaphone et al. in the whole business not just 3G. Not all
uses are obvious.

And the auctions kept me and my friends entertained for several weeks, so
well worth the £4billion BT spent :-)

chris


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