Businesses could foot bill for 3G bidding frenzy

NEWS Businesses fear they will pay dearly for the high UMTS mobile licence prices that were finalised last week. Many corporate users of mobile networks already pay more for calls than consumers, and some expect that trend to continue once third generation services are introduced - a charge denied by the operators themselves. But with over £22.5bn pledged for the five licences - a figure which doesn't include the costs of rolling out the networks - many in the industry think that the auction winners will have to pass on the costs, with business customers the likeliest target. UMTS will enable more efficient mobile working and quicker remote access to the corporate LAN from laptops, PDA's or mobile handsets. However, adding Internet access to already high mobile phone bills could dramatically increase both the cost and the complexity of network management. John Matthews, analyst at Ovum, believes network managers will have to start quantifying the benefits of giving employees access to UMTS services so it can be justified against in what will become a spiralling bill. The biggest problem for network mangers will be the pricing structure. , Matthews said: "Currently operators charge on a per-minute basis, but operators will start to change their tariff options to charge by data packets. It will become more difficult for managers to measure." John Lane, director at Pagoda Consulting, said: "Businesses are already paying for mobile phone networks. Mobile operators are extracting large amounts of money from the business manager, who is unable to control costs, to subsidise the consumer." Andrew Peck, marketing director for ebusiness consultancy, The Smith Group, added: "Corporate users will pay, but at the same time they will get a very high quality of service." Lane admitted he will have no choice when it comes to using third generation mobile services. "It is necessary to provide all our employees with a mobile phone to operate in a normal business manner. It's an expectation of our customers and clients."