New-wave cell phones arriving in Europe
Now that a new wave of "3G" cell phones equipped for streaming video and multimedia content is finally arriving in Europe, the industry is focusing on the next big unknown: what services users will pay for, and how.
The mobile phone services on display this week at the 3GSM World Congress industry show in this French Riviera town has ranged from video games to tennis to the hit reality TV show, "Big Brother."
Alcatel SA, the French producer of telecommunications equipment, announced a deal with cable channel Eurosport to develop sports TV for mobiles and offer it to wireless operators later this year. Eurosport already broadcasts in 18 languages, and business development director Arjan Hoekstra said it was well placed to pipe sports coverage to mobile phones around the world.
"It's a question of whether the consumer's ready to pay for it," said Hoekstra. "Nobody really knows -- but we certainly hope so."
