Telecom raises mobile speeds

By PAUL BRISLEN


Telecom will launch its $40 million third generation cellphone network, called T3G, on Monday, promising faster speeds at lower cost.

The new network will initially be available in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, parts of the Coromandel, Taupo, Queenstown and Wanaka and at Dunedin Airport.

Sites will be added as demand dictates until the network matches the existing 027 network's footprint. Telecom plans to discontinue service on its 025 network by the end of 2007.

Telecom mobile general manager Kevin Kenrick said the service would bring speeds equivalent to the fixed-line network to the mobile world.

The new service is much faster than the existing 027 network - running at speeds of up to 2 mbps (megabits per second) with an average expected rate of 500 kbps (kilobits per second). The existing network peaks at 155 kbps.

Telecom will target the service at the business community, selling PC cards to enable laptops and handheld computers to connect wirelessly. Telecom will also launch the service with one cellphone, the Harrier, costing up to $999, including GST.

Kenrick said the company had learned a lot from its pricing of fixed-line broadband services and was using that experience in its mobile broadband offer.

"We've gone through all that learning on how to price it and so what you'll see from day one are those structures in place."

The plans also include access to Telecom's Wifi hotspot network.

Wifi, a separate wireless technology, offers much faster connection speeds but with a more limited range. Most of today's laptops are equipped with a Wifi card to allow users to connect wirelessly with the network.

"We'll offer ubiquitous access to broadband regardless of whether it's on the T3G network or Wifi network."

The Wifi network includes 200 hotspots in hotels, cafes and other high-traffic areas, and will eventually be twice that size.

Kenrick sees the Wifi network as a way of extending the reach of the T3G network and offering a different level of service for business customers.

Chief executive Theresa Gattung said the day was fast approaching where users would see the same level of connection speed and service on a mobile platform as they now got from a fixed-line platform.

"That's going to have huge benefits. It's going to make remote working come alive."

Gattung was upbeat about the company's quarterly earnings, up by almost 20 per cent, to $193 million. She said the result was "in line" with company expectations and it was "comfortable" with the results.

Telecom's share price dipped 8c to end the day on $5.83.

Gattung said the company would pay a fourth quarter dividend of 9.5c per share on December 10.

Telecom's Australian business, AAPT,was still clawing back ground it lost in the residential market.

"It's steady as she goes. We're increasing customers and we're also increasing the number of customers taking more than one product."

The business market in Australia remained a concern, however.

"We haven't yet got traction in the business market there but we knew that would take longer than the residential market."