The enterprising lead that the UK has taken in the development of the second generation of cordless telephones – the ones that are designed for use at public phone-points – could be eroded due to a rival standard being pushed by L M Ericsson AB. The UK Office of Telecommunications has put on hold all licences for development of network to the new UK-developed CT2 standard at least until August this year. The decision is especially disappointing for the partnership between Ferranti International Plc and newcomer Libera Developments Ltd (CI No 818): the pair have been canvassing owners of multiple addresses – hotel chains, British Rail, restaurant chains – for sites for its phone zones, and had hoped to go live before August. Little is known about the rival standard yet except that it is also a hybrid system using both frequency division multiple access and time division. Libera still hopes that the Office of Telecommunications can be persuaded to grant licences before August.
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