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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)
said the Philippines’ 3G (third generation) technology
infrastructure roll out has been at a snail’s pace because of weak
consumer demand.
In its executive brief on the status of 3G
mobile services in the country, the NTC said the respective rollouts
of Globe Telecom Inc., Smart Communications Inc. and Sun Cellular of
Digital Telecommunications Phils. Inc. have been “very
slow.” The fourth licensee,
Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprises
(CURE), has yet to begin its rollout after more than a year of
winning the much-coveted government permit.
Earlier, Smart and Globe’s rollout of their 3G
infrastructure slowed down owing after the Board of Investments
recalled tax perks earlier awarded the telecom companies.
“Existing mobile operators are still
maximizing the capacities and returns from their GSM [Global System
for Mobile communications] networks as they have not yet recovered
their capital investments,” the NTC said.
The regulator noted that even in more developed
countries like Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Taiwan, the
number of existing 3G operators runs to no more than three.
“Presently, 3G handhelds are still very
limited and quite expensive,” the NTC said.
A 3G-capable handset sells for $300 to $400.
Video calls are one of the capabilities unique to these units. They
also include Internet browsing, downloading and video streaming,
among others
The NTC said voice and text still remain as
primary services as these can be served using the existing GSM or 2G
networks.
“Future demand for 3G maybe adequately served
by the initial four 3G licensees who were given sufficient spectrum
for their operations,” the NTC said.
A study done by the International Data
Corp. (IDC) said demand for 3G phones would increase this year,
although adoption will be faster in the devices space than in the
services space.
“Rising market interest, falling prices of
handsets and availability of more models catering to different
purchasing skews, will further drive 3G-phone ownership,” IDC
said.
Smart and Globe admitted 3G demand has yet to
pick up in the country since it was introduced early 2006.
With an estimated 250,000 3G phones on its
network, Globe said about 50,000 to 60,000 subscribers use the
service. For its part, Smart said its 3G users stood at more than
200,000 out of 500,000 3G-enabled handset users on its network.
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