By silicon.com, 12 August 1998 06:15
NEWS French mobile phone services are in severe danger of reaching saturation point according to reports in the French national press. A survey conducted by GFK revealed the number of subscribers will reach 10 million by the end of 1998 and the figures show a growth of 70 per cent compared to 1997. Mobile services have become so congested that users in business areas in French cities are starting to have difficulty making calls. In Paris it has become commonplace for mobile phones to deny transfer or inbound calls. The main factors behind the crisis appear to be the distribution channel being opened up, allowing greater consumer access, and the market being deregulated, which lead to a spate of discount offers. ART - the French telephony regulator - remained philosophical, saying: "There is nothing we can do, except allocate more frequencies to the three operators in January 1999." However, GFK says efforts will have to come from operators by investing in infrastructure to ensure better connectivity. Eventually, the short-term answer could come from Biband - a new product which switches from 900Mhz to 1800Mhz, optimising the connection. This assumes that existing subscribers will be ready to invest in new handsets.
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