The Hindu Business Line : 3G mobile handsets to be 30% cheaper

Advertisement

Barcelona Feb. 12 Prices of mobile handsets supporting third generation mobile services are all set to drop by 30 per cent by second quarter of this year.

Twelve leading mobile operators have selected a multimedia phone developed by LG Electronics as the winning handset to spearhead the GSM Association's `3G for All campaign,' which aims to make third-generation mobile services accessible to a much wider user base.

At present 3G mobile handsets are available for over Rs 15,000, which is a barrier for the adoption of service. Operators are banking on the uptake of 3G services for improving their revenue margins and quality of services.

Twelve of the largest mobile operators in the world selected the LG-KU250, which is only 15 mm thick, from among 19 handsets submitted by eight vendors. Interestingly, the chipset for this handset has been supplied by Qualcomm, the promoter of rival CDMA technology. "Qualcomm believes that one of our responsibilities is helping to make advanced wireless voice and Internet connectivity available to more people worldwide," said Dr Paul E. Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm.

"The 3G for All campaign has had a great response from both handset and chipset vendors demonstrating their commitment to work with operators to drive usage of 3G services," said Mr Craig Ehrlich, chairman of the GSMA at the 3GSM World Congress. Mr Ehrlich said that with LG offering low priced handsets, other handset makers would also bring about a reduction in the price levels to remain competitive in the market.

Dr Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company said, "Through this partnership, we will bring all people closer to new mobile capabilities and they will benefit from higher-quality wireless multimedia 3G services. LG will provide them with attractive and feature-rich 3G devices while at the same time breaking price barriers for subscribers in the global market."

The 3G for All campaign is the second programme designed by the GSMA to create economies of scale for handset makers and their component suppliers.