Car phone subscriptions in France are expected to total 370,000 instead of the expected 400,000 by year-end, a shortfall some manufacturers say is caused by economic problems slowing business spending. Some industry observers, however, put it down to the public waiting for the new Groupe Speciale Mobile digital standard to emerge. It may be for that second reason that Alcatel NV says it intends soon to double its research and development spend on GSM alone, to UKP2.8m per year. From now until 1996, we’re betting on 8m to 10m GSM users, which would be double that of the existing networks, says Reinhart Scheller, director of the products group Communications Mobile D’Alcatel SEL. By 1995, the global market for terrestrial phone networks is expected to reach UKP3.5m, while that for mobile phone terminals should total UKP6.3m. Of that combined market, Alcatel hopes to hold a 25% share.
