Dutch cap 3G growth

The development of third-generation (3G) services is set to slow further after Dutch telco KPN delayed its launch of the new technology.

The company maintained that 3G was unlikely to happen in any significant way this year, and that it would only launch when there were enough i-Mode subscribers and content providers to prove that it could be supported.

Ludolf Rasterhoff, a senior executive at the Dutch group's mobile division, explained that the new timetable would see 3G services in a Dutch city by 2004 and a commercial launch "in the second half of 2003".

Rasterhoff yesterday launched KPN's i-Mode service, a high-speed internet-enabled system, which is seen as a critical test of European consumer interest in web-based mobile services.

He said that, if i-Mode proves unpopular, then it will rethink its 3G timetable. The company hopes that i-Mode customers will migrate to 3G even if they have to upgrade their phones.

KPN was in no rush to launch 3G because most of its killer applications were available on i-Mode, said Rasterhoff, adding that KPN was less interested in the applications that 3G could offer and had bought the expensive licences to provide extra capacity.

"The licences are for 15 to 20 years during which time our GPRS network will be full," he explained.

A KPN spokesman said that it had always been the intention to begin a slow roll-out "by the end of 2003".