Me and my 3G

Telecom Asia, May, 2004 by John C. Tanner

I have spent the last month on the vanguard of the 3G revolution, thanks to W-CDMA operator 3 HK supplying the Telecom Asia office with two NEC 616 handsets, separate 3G service accounts and the instructions: "Go play." I, for one, was more than happy to comply.

One reason, of course, is the mobile video factor--which is, after all, the primary difference between 2.5G and 3G. More to the point, I wanted to compare 3 HK's mobile video device to my existing mobile video device.

Ah yes--I have been a mobile video user for several years now. Ever since the 2002 World Cup football tournament, in fact. I was able to keep up the latest goals and game updates in real time no matter where I was. It worked, and it was addictive, and I knew right then that there was a future in mobile video.

My mobile video terminal? A Casio JY-70--a portable TV set with an analog tuner and a 2.3" screen. The reception varied greatly depending on where I happened to be (outdoors = good/fair, indoors = average/rubbish) and how fast I was moving at the time (stationary = stable, on the top deck of a cross-harbor bus = dodgy, anywhere in the subway = forget it), but overall it worked. I never missed a game or a goal.

So how does W-CDMA compare to that?

Not bad, actually.

At least it was better than I expected, though what I was expecting was not, on the whole, good. W-CDMA's reputation in other markets is well known and possibly well-earned.

But 3 HK seems to have learned an engineering trick or two from its sister operators in Europe. Performance-wise, the streaming video quality is pretty good. The time between clicking a video stream link and the video starting to play is a consistent 10 seconds. The streaming quality isn't bad either--it's not DVD-quality, but it's a reasonably smooth play at somewhere between 15 and 20 fps, and the resolution is reasonably clear (unless you're watching a movie trailer with subtitles, in which case resolution becomes a definite issue). Download times for video files are also pretty decent--less than a minute for a 2.5-minute movie trailer.

The videophone feature is a bit rougher in terms of resolution and quality, which seems to be as much to do with the in-built camera and the fact that it's difficult to hold the handset steady enough for a clear shot of the caller as the actual link. That aside, I didn't get any particular value-add out of being able to see the caller. Maybe this depends on who you call--family, sweetheart, the boss, the tax department, Faye Wong, etc.

3G is hard

The service overall does have its downsides. Initial video connections sometimes fail, though this is the exception to the rule. I've only lost video mid-stream when going into a tunnel or otherwise being handed off to the 2G network, though coverage seems pretty vast, so it's not a constant problem.

For all that, contrary to what some of the more enthusiastic CDMA mavens insist, network performance is the least of W-CDMA's problems.

More of a problem is the handset, which has two essential flaws. One is battery life--a mere half-hour's worth of video trolling will cut the NEC 616% battery life in half. I've had to recharge it almost every day.

The other is user-friendliness--at least for the NEC 616, which is like learning how to use a phone all over again, with its non-intuitive (if not illogical) navigation, endless menus and mysterious icons. The fact that 3 HK recommends training sessions for new users says it all.

That can be pegged to a particular model, perhaps--newer 3G handsets may be easier to use. However, there's also the content pricing issue. Most of the content costs money, and it adds up fast. As a trial user, I get unlimited downloads, but I know paying 3G users that ran up outrageous bills during their first month, which resulted in far less usage afterwards.

My JY-70 doesn't have such problems. The user interface is as simple and familiar as can be, and the content is free (albeit mostly rubbish). I can't download stuff or make a video call on it--or indeed any call at all--but that's what my 2.5G mobile phone is for.

Of course, these are unfair comparisons. TV is top-down old-school broadcasting. 3G is personalized, on-demand video selection that anyone can use if they put a little effort into learning how to use it, and that's worth paying for. Everyone knows that. Sure, Nokia, Samsung and Toshiba are integrating analog TV tuners into cellphones, but so what? That's just a coincidence. Right?