Vodafone chief comes clean on 3G hold-ups

Vodafone CEO Sir Christopher Gent has followed up warnings from rivals at One2One by admitting to 3G hold-ups.

Speaking on a visit to Japan, Gent told reporters that delays were the results of problems with the handsets and said some operators had been too eager to launch premature services.

Gent said until handset makers developed phones which could support GSM and W-CDMA (wideband co-division multiple access) networks simultaneously, users would be faced with the cumbersome alternative of carrying two devices around with them.

As a result, he said, UK users will have to wait until 2003 before using a full functioning 3G network.

Yesterday, One2One refused to commit to a launch date for its GPRS service, renewing speculation that it was going to be late. GPRS is an important staging post on the way to 3G.
Simon Lunn, director of 3G evolution at One2One, told silicon.com: "The network is ready for a launch but we want to offer customers a total experience offering rather than simply looking to get a tick in the box."