Three cheers
The impact of a low public perception of 3G
What is the real, current public perception of 3G? Not the industry insider view --- what does the averagely informed consumer currently know about 3G? It will, of course, differ from country to country. In those countries where Hutchison 3G has already launched services there will be awareness of the big letter 3, and the fact that your friend who has a 3 phone says apparently you can watch TV clips on it, only he hasn't been able to get the video to work yet. I think most current mobile consumers who download ring tones, play the occasional game, take pictures, send the odd MMS will be aware that 3G is supposed to take that to a new level. The phones are getting smarter, and more and more people are getting MMS capable handsets.
But let's remind ourselves that the public perception of 3G in most markets, and I hope the people at Hutch will forgive me for this, is still barely formed. And if saying that hasn't annoyed our friends at Hutch then this will --- it's a good thing that the public has not formed an impression of 3G based on Hutchison 3G. Now, this is not just another Hutchison bashing article. I think everyone in the industry understands why, as new entrant, it had to take the first to market approach. Otherwise there would have been precious little market left for it to address.
One reason for this lack of impression on the public mind of this great coming 3G thing is that we are already aware of being able to do some pretty cool things on GPRS. I believe that operators will feel obliged to trumpet their 3G launches, but really the step up to 3G services will be much more of an incremental step than first envisaged. Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange --- the operators already have their brands in place for what you might loosely term value added data services. If you'd spent that much money on getting the client, the user interface, the brand and the content in place you would rather launch the services 3G lets you offer under the Vodafone Live! (or its equivalent) banner than create a whole new "3G" image.
So, yes it was a relief in the industry to be in Cannes in February and see confidence returned to the industry. But the importance attached within the industry to the sheer existence of 3G networks will not be matched by its customers. The industry will not be met with a round of applause and letters of thanks for this pretty amazing technical feat. Instead, where 3G is available people will be able to do some of the things they have been doing, but faster. And perhaps in the case of video telephony, if it takes off, something new entirely. This is good news. It doesn't make for great launch parties, big speeches or large air time for industry pundits to sound off about 3G. But it does mean that although some are saying 3G is already four years late, the industry has not re-inflated a bubble for us in the media to burst. The low public perception of 3G as a step change in the industry is a good thing. Now, you didn't expect that conclusion when you started reading this, did you?
If you want to add your own cheer please mail keith.dyer@nexusmedia.com
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