It will be difficult to convince consumers as ill informed comment drums up further anti-mobile sentiment. The consumer will take time to convince that watching TV on their phone is worth the perceived risk of cancer. UMTS will be late in Europe as GSM, WAP and GPRS were delayed. These are huge technical and social challenges which could have far reaching effects on society. Little has been discussed on the incredible bandwidth that UMTS could bring to rural communities using it as a form of fixed broadband wireless.
More work is needed on real applications.
The current depression in the IT world will inevitably slow Venture Capital and consequent innovation in this sector. The Japanese may be the saviours of the European operators and bankers. Asian innovators seem poised to dominate cellular infrastructure and appliances in the second half of this decade. Microsoft will also be a big player as we move to an IP-centric world. The cellular community in Europe would do well to wake from its arrogance and see that our alleged lead is fictional.