Several third-generation commercial launches were announced in markets across Western Europe this week, with market leaders Vodafone Group plc, Telefonica Moviles and Telecom Italia Mobile all beginning services in various countries.
In Italy, Telecom Italia Mobile launched its EDGE and UMTS services Monday. The carrier, which is the largest wireless operator in Europe, said it would offer EDGE services by June in all regional and provincial capitals, with nationwide coverage by the end of the year. TIM is one of the first Western European carriers to offer EDGE services. It said it will offer 6230 and 3200 EDGE phones from Nokia, and its UMTS devices will include the Sony Ericsson Z1010 and the Samsung Z105 U.
TIM said its UMTS coverage will exceed its license requirements by the end of June, but the full UMTS network will take several years to be completed. The carrier is calling its combined EDGE and UMTS services “TIM Turbo.” It noted that all its current GPRS data services, such as Mobile TV, will work on the new networks at higher speeds.
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. has offered W-CDMA services in Italy for more than a year.
Telefonica Moviles’ began its 3G rollout Monday in Spain. Telefonica Moviles, the country’s largest wireless operator, will offer handsets from Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications and Motorola Inc., according to press reports.
Vodafone, which launched W-CDMA services in Germany and Portugal earlier this month, countered the Italian and Spanish operators with its own 3G service launches in Spain and Italy Tuesday. The carrier plans its Europewide launch later this year.
Research firm ABI Research said the deployment of UMTS services in Europe will help boost global sales of UMTS handsets from a 2003 level of 4 million units to more than 15 million by the end of 2004. Pricing will also decrease as chipset costs decrease and functionality improves to allow for longer talk and standby times.
