The company stated that the present rate of technological development would not allow them to launch at full capacity. The International Telecoms Union has set a standard of at least 144kbps in all domains, with requirement running as high as two Megabits in certain zones. Vodafone have confirmed that they will be able to supply a guaranteed minimum data speeds of 64,000 bits per second. This would drastically improve on the current facility for transferring information, but would fall a considerable way short of the mark needed to support the revolutionary multi-media platform that 3G was intended to deliver. The company states it is still several years away from offering these services to customers.
Vodafone has spent GBP13bn on a dozen 3G European licenses. City analysts believe the company will save around GBP500m in capital expenditure costs this year by not building infrastructure required for faster guaranteed speeds. Development of the ‘back end’ of the 3G market lags many years behind expectation. Vodafone’s announcement seems the only natural outcome of an impossible situation. The industry must steel itself for further announcements of this kind.
