New fast internet access comes at a cost

By PETER GRIFFIN

Telecom has made its next play in the mobile market with a network offering fast internet access on the move, but steep pricing and new technology requirements are unlikely to have customers flocking to sign up.

From next Monday, Telecom will make available a new service dubbed "Mobile Jetstream", offering data speeds up to 153kbps (kilobits per second), or slightly faster than its cousin Jetstream Starter - which requires you to be connected to a phone line and offers speeds of up to 128kbps.

The move puts Telecom among a handful of Asian network operators offering what could arguably be called 3G (third generation) mobile services over CDMA-based networks.

Aimed largely at businesses, subscribers will use Mobile Jetstream to access the web on the move, pick up email and connect to company networks via Telecom's IP (internet protocol) network, accessing files on desktop computers or databases.

Other services are geared towards mobile sales forces while Picture Messaging, which allows digital pictures to be emailed from mobile phones, is being introduced to compete with Vodafone's "PXT" service.

Telecom Mobile's head of business and corporate, Warwick Beban, said Telecom was seeking to attract 15,000 business users to the high-speed network.

It was harder to tell what interest there would be from consumers, but Beban believed the faster network would win Telecom new customers.

"We're expecting a lot of people to join us who otherwise wouldn't have a reason to," he said.

But with Telecom's hefty pricing, which is the same as for the slower-speed CDMA1 handsets, and a dearth of exciting applications available for the consumer market, Mobile Jetstream is unlikely to prove the hit with the masses that similar high-speed services have in Asia.

On a casual data plan with no fixed monthly fee, sending a 10kb email via Mobile JetStream would cost 8c. At the other end of the spectrum, on a 70MB account costing $100 a month, the same email would cost 2c to send.

Surfing the wireless web is where the real expense will come for new users. On the casual plan opening a 100kb web page will cost 80c, something that costs virtually nothing on a dial-up internet account.

Beban said big names in the business world such as Turners Auctions, MasterPet, Green Acres and Ubix were interested in the service, which could save them money.

"Some businessmen might be spending $150 a month downloading things and checking their email at hotels. Those people will save money," he said.

Data charges aside, Telecom customers would have to cast off their mobile handsets in favour of new high-speed models.

Manufacturers such as Ericsson and Kyocera are launching new models priced between $400 and $500 when bought independently of contracts.

GTran wireless cards for laptops and handheld computers are selling for $1150.

Beban said that with 60 per cent of business travellers heading for Australia, ironing out data roaming issues was a priority so customers could start using mobile email and internet applications overseas.

"We want seamless interoperability with Australia. Telstra is a nice fit because they're using the same technology as us."