What's The Future For 3G?

3G's reputation certainly isn't what it used to be. So far, there are plenty of stories about failed or delayed 3G launches, and it's making plenty of carriers wonder if 3G is going to be the big deal that everyone hoped. In fact, some are wondering if carriers will increasingly focus on other options like WLAN. This seems unlikely. WLAN is useful for some things, but it's not helpful for the carriers core business: voice communications. Besides, the upgrades need to happen for the sake of voice, so adding data abilities will get dragged along. The problem is, just like with many technologies, the hype has far out-sparkled the reality. These things don't happen over night - but a few years from now, when everyone is using 3G services, people will wonder what all the worrying was about. The article here says that the providers need to worry about what applications they're providing. This seems backwards. The carriers should focus on the bandwidth, and let others build the applications which drive demand for more bandwidth.

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