3G mobiles set for kick-off

A world of portable video conferencing and premiership goals delivered to your mobile will kick off next week as a new generation of handsets is offered to Irish consumers for the first time.

Vodafone Ireland, the biggest mobile operator in the State, will also launch its new suite of multimedia services delivered using third-generation (3G) technology on November 10th. The firm has remained tight-lipped about the type of services it will offer using the technology, which enables internet data and video images to be transferred to a mobile faster than currently possible.

"It is the same as moving from a fixed dial-up internet connection to a broadband connection," says Mr Darragh Stokes, a director of Hardiman Telecommunications, which designs 3G networks in the Middle East. "In theory, 3G can offer download speeds of half a megabyte, although it is more likely to offer consumers about half of this."

The higher speeds provided by 3G mean a range of multimedia services will be available to consumers willing to pay a premium for the service. So what will punters use 3G handsets for ?

Two content deals signed recently by Vodafone Ireland with the FA Premier League and Access Music show that the company believes sport and music will be "killer 3G applications".

Vodafone customers in Ireland will be able to access video previews of every premiership game along with archive and review packages. They will also be able to view goals from premiership games 25 minutes after full time, according to a statement by Mr Martin Wells, head of Vodafone content services.

The extra bandwidth provided by Vodafone Ireland's new €1 billion 3G network will enable a two-minute video clip of premiership goals to be downloaded onto one of the 3G multimedia handsets. Similarly, the extra speed provided by 3G will enable punters to download music tracks much faster to their mobile handsets.

Ringtone downloads are a phenomenal success for mobile operators, and the availability of faster download speeds opens up the prospect of transforming handsets into music players. Vodafone Ireland has signed a content deal with Access Music, which will give it access to Irish music from Paddy Casey, Mundy and The Devlins.

Video cameras built into 3G handsets will also enable people to make video calls to other Vodafone 3G subscribers. This service is already available in Portugal (through Vodafone) and Britain (through the rival 3G operator 3).

"Video-calling use is growing all the time, but our most popular 3G service is the content," says Mr Ed Brewster, head of external relations at 3, who believes video calling use will increase as more people sign up for 3G and have the right handsets to receive video calls.

But analysts remain divided over the potential of video calls becoming a real killer application the way text messaging drove revenues for 2G mobile operators.

"If video calls were a killer application then why wouldn't every office worker have a video camera connected to their office computers?" asks Mr Stokes. "As in the internet world, sex, music and gambling will be the drivers of revenue in the mobile world."

In fact, pornography is already a big seller on 2.5G networks.

Any owner of a 2.5G handset can connect to the Web using their mobile and access a range of hardcore pornographic images. However, more technically competent handsets and faster connection speeds could make adult content a big seller here like in Japan and the US with 3G.

A study by the US research consultancy Yankee group last week found that one US-based mobile operator generated more traffic from adult content provider PhoneErotica.com than the internet portal MSN. Its report, Child Protection Unlocks Wireless Adult Content Opportunity, predicts that US citizens will spend $80 million on mobile pornography by 2008 and the global market will be worth $1 billion.

"Carriers are terrified of the press and politicians learning about how they are profiting from this business," says Yankee analyst, Mr Adam Zawel, who compiled the Yankee report. But, he says, most US operators will enable their own billing systems to be used by adult content providers when blocks to prevent underage viewing are in place.

The Irish Cellular Industry Association (ICIA), which represents the mobile industry, says no operators have plans to offer pornographic content yet. But this position is likely to change when it completes work on filtering technologies that can prevent children viewing material.

RegTel, the regulator in charge of premium-rate phone services, recently set a target date of April 2005 for the launch of a host of new Irish-based adult services. It is setting up a new pin-code verification system to try to prevent children from accessing these types of services. But, in practice, adult services can be accessed from overseas content providers via SMS or the Web.

New 3G services based on global positioning system technology are also likely to be introduced to the Irish market shortly, although no operator will confirm exactly when it will launch.

Global position system chips will shortly be embedded in the new 3G handsets, enabling network operators to pinpoint a mobile user's location to within a matter of metres. This should enable operators to provide a suite of location-based services to subscribers and pave the way for people to use their mobiles as a type of 21st century digital compass to guide them in cities.

But most analysts warn against expecting 3G to deliver too much too fast, given the experience in other mobile phone markets. Britain's first 3G operator, 3, only generates 14 per cent of its revenues through data services, far less than Vodafone Ireland's 21 per cent. In Britain, 3 has competed aggressively by slashing the price of calls rather than on its data services.

But with only Vodafone Ireland launching services this side of Christmas, consumers will have to wait for new competition to enter the market before call costs fall further. And consumers should scrutinise the cost of 3G services closely next week at its launch. In the Republic, mobile services rarely come cheap.