SINGAPORE MAY TAKE considerable pride in being Southeast Asia's most high-technology country, but the city-state also offers a handy case study in the problems that have dogged the successful roll-out of third-generation (3G) mobile services.
Last year's spectrum sale was a flop as an auction was cancelled because of lack of interest. The three parcels on offer were sold at a reduced reserve price of S$100 million (about HK$449.73 million) to the three existing competitors Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), StarHub and MobileOne Asia.
A little more than a year later, two of those three potential providers are showing growing signs of unease over consumers' readiness to fork out big bucks for the technology. And all that may mean the regulator's deadline for nationwide 3G start-up could slip beyond the end of 2004.
The latest bump in the road came on June 14 when SingTel Mobile said it was delaying the awarding of a contract to build out its 3G system. 'We are adopting a cautious approach towards 3G . . .' SingTel Mobile chief executive Lucas Chow said.
'The technology is still new and very much evolving, while the mass roll-out of handsets remains uncertain. Furthermore, the development of 3G applications around the world has not taken off as rapidly as expected.'
Mr Chow added, however, that SingTel remained committed to meeting the end-2004 target for full 3G implementation.
Analysts said the decision was prudent and not entirely unexpected.