Whither 3G pricing?

摘要

Pricing of 3G illustrates the challenges that operators face in pricing a new service, setting prices for content, and applying volume pricing. The approach to these pricing issues taken by Hutchison in different markets shows how operators are struggling to get pricing right Third generation (3G) mobile services are is in their infancy and the demand looks underwhelming, even allowing for handset shortages. When Hutchison launched its first 3G services in the UK and Italy in March 2003, it forecast one million customers in each of those markets by Christmas but achieved less than half of that in both cases. This has been attributed to the lack of handsets but this seems hard to believe when handsets have been offered at heavily subsidised prices.