3G is set to be a major driver of the local and international telecommunications industry in 2006 and will remain part of Prism Holdings’ technology blueprint.
"There is no doubt that 3G is set to significantly transform the telecoms industry and there are certainly exciting times ahead," says Prism's Chip and Wireless divisional director, Graham McKay. "3G allows for data to be transmitted faster and in greater quantities over networks and enables a host of value-added-services such as video conferencing, music and game downloads, high-speed connectivity and more."
Prism introduced its 3G USIM product into the market in 2005, following an intensive R&D effort. "Although we believe that the 3G subscriber base will take a number of years to mature, 2G and 2/3G mobile operators are preparing for this by supplying 3G ready USIM technology into the market to facilitate migration of their current 2G subscriber base. As such, much of our effort will focus around USIM and related technologies such as JavaCard and SmartTrust WIB," he explains.
McKay is optimistic that for the medium-term, 3G USIM cards will play an increasingly significant role in 3G data and content services.
Prism actively participates in SIM Alliance (www.simalliance.org) and the SIM Sentry specification for providing SIM-based DRM.
"By providing operators with the technology and capability to offer content providers with a secure and sustainable business model for content distribution and usage, 3G wireless bandwidth becomes 'secure' bandwidth. Media portals companies and mobile operators do not want a repeat of Napster/Grokster in the mobile market," explains McKay.
He points out that mobile payment is still relatively immature and has not yet yielded a satisfactory business case for most early adopters of 2 and 2,5 G.
"On its own 3G will not address this. However, as with the wired Internet, increased bandwidth on the wireless Internet, coupled with a critical mass of subscribers will allow a multitude of services to flourish. This will primarily be driven by independent service and content providers," says McKay.
He adds that these service providers require payment as an integral part of the mobile service package. Furthermore, with the trend in most markets leaning predominantly towards the pre-paid subscriber billing model, secure electronic payment capability will have to be offered as part of a 3G mobile service package to third party and content providers.
"Our 3G technology blueprint now incorporates back-end server and USIM/J2ME client technologies which will continue to evolve to facilitate the securing of both mobile content and mobile payment," concludes McKay.
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