Motorola Unveils High-Speed Data Phones

C A N N E S, France, Feb. 20 -- Motorola todaydismissed concern that the mobile Internet will not take off andsaid it would increase its high-speed data handset models inmid-2001 from the present solitary offering.

This is likely to be music to the ears of promoters of thenew technology General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), especiallyafter its forerunnner WAP, which offers slow and restrictedmobile data services in Europe, failed to live up to consumerexpectations. "We're saying GPRS is coming to life. It's no more babieswith nappies," Fred Kuznik, president of Motorola's operationsin Europe, Middle East and Africa, told Reuters in an interviewat the GSM World Congress, an industry trade show in Cannes.

Europe Skittish About GPRS

Motorola, the world's second largest mobile phone makerafter Nokia, is currently the only company selling aGPRS handset, called Timeport 260, that aims to give customersin Europe "always-on" Web access instead of repeated dialing. U.S. Motorola Inc, which said some 35 operators were buyingits GPRS phone, will launch four new GPRS phones in the secondand third quarter of this year. Concern about the full launch of this new technology acrossEurope was reinforced last month when Nokia delayed plans forshipping GPRS phones in volume unit until the fourth quarter of2001. If GPRS, which is only up-and-running in limited volumes insome European countries, proves problematic, investors maycontinue to shun a sector that has become one of the biggestfinancial bets in history due to heavy up-front investments. European telecoms operators — who are promoting the mobileWeb at the world's biggest wireless conference in Cannes — have paidsome $100 billion for new generation cellphone licences — andfuture returns hinge in part on the success of GPRS.

GPRS Operators Buy Phones

Kuznik, former president of Motorola's personalcommunications division which includes handsets, said 35operators had approved Motorola's GPRS phone for use on theirmobile networks and were placing unspecified orders.