Following Sun Cellular’s 3G announcement, Smart and Globe have applied for 3G licenses. So has Next Mobile – formerly Nextel.
We may wait up to three years for this, as they complete the requirements.
[NTC Deputy Commissioner Jorge] Sarmiento said that all applications for 3G will be evaluated for 60 days, after which NTC will assign five 3G frequencies to qualified applicants.
Holders of 3G licenses will then be required to put up 3G infrastructure by 2007 and offer 3G services by 2008.
He said 3G applicants will also be required to draft a five-year plan to roll out 3G services to 80% of provincial capitals and major towns and 80% of chartered cities in the country.
They will also be asked to negotiate for interconnection, sharing, and roaming agreements with other 3G and other cellular operators, local exchange carriers, and other public networks both here and abroad.
According to many players in the industry, 3G will make mobile gaming more viable. Given the market trends, it may even surpass PC-based gaming.
For the 3G versus WiFi/WiMax debate, 3G now has support from the major cellular telcos.
4 comments
I don’t think mobile gaming will surpass PC gaming, even in a market like the Philippines where the disparity between rates of mobile penetration and PC/internet penetration is very large.
I foresee 3G-based mobile penetration to be quite small, given the likely sky-high prices of end-user 3G equipment. Even today, most Pinoys can only afford entry-level/basic mobile units!
As for the WiFi/WiMax – 3G debate, I think it will be best if we get synced with whatever will eventually emerge as the dominant standard. GSM won over CDMA (which is arguably the better technology). America was a late-adopter of the GSM technology, and was left behind by Europe and Asia in terms of GSM standard adoption. But the Internet realm is altogether a different playing field. And in this case, I foresee that the 802.11-based standards are more likely to emerge as the more dominant technology.
Aha! My 3-to-5-year prediction looks to be accurate. 😛
And I’m still a firm believer in WiFi-based technologies (WiMax and its direct competition).
They got it, they offered services, and … here we are today!
oi mga taga sun cellular..hehehe..maglagay naman kayo ng sun cellular cell site d2 sa amin..d2 sa BORONGAN CITY, Eastern SAMAR… im sure madami gagamit ng sun cellular dahil sa pang-gagagong ginawa ng globe!!! bilisan niu nah,…mag-construct na agad kau d2..hehe..mag aantay kami..PEOPLE OF BORONGAN CITY