Millicom Holdings Ltd’s application for a Public Telecommunications Operator licence has gone to a second period of public consultation, following the company’s request that it should be allowed to provide dial-up entertainment services. While the exact definition of dial-up entertainment has yet to be decided, Millicom says that its primary aim is to provide dial-up video libraries. Millicom says that the consultation period should be over by the end of March. It plans a fixed radio-based network offering voice, data and multi-media communications including video telephony. It is discussing production of network equipment with a number of manufacturers, and hopes to begin its roll-out in 1994. It will target small and medium sized businesses and residential customers. The service will use Broadband Code Division Multiple Access technology, which Millicom Inc’s subsidiary PCN America has been developing. This, says Millicom, enables it to share radio spectrum with a number of existing users (the company is currently in discussions with the government’s Radiocommunications Agency on the shared use of two by 84MHz with existing fixed services in the 3.7GHz to 4.2GHz band). As well as undercutting the competition, Millicom says its strategy will be to offer a wider range of services over the network, including the possibility of new broadband services offering data rates of up to 2Mbps. Colour fax, audiovisual services, telecommuting and high speed local network to local network and multimedia computer connections are also to be offered.
