Alcatel to launch Bluetooth phone
Telecoms equipment firm Alcatel hopes to sell more than 1.5m handsets by the end of the year as it unveils its new range of mobile phones Monday.
The One Touch series will start with the launch of a WAP-enabled phone in June and by the end of the year, Alcatel will launch its top of the range One Touch 700 which will have a PC-synchronised organiser and Bluetooth connection.
Alcatel currently has an eight percent market share in mobiles and hopes to increase this to 10 percent by the end of 2000. Analysts predict that all phones will be Internet-enabled by 2005 and eagerly await the introduction of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) which will enable users to download 2 minutes of music in eight seconds -- with current technology it takes half an hour.
The independent Stewart report which reported to government last week on mobile phone health risks, recommends tough new planning restraints on where mobile operators can put base stations. Alcatel UK's CEO Peter Radley is not too concerned. "The planning constraints are overall a good thing," he says. "It is our job to educate local authorities which often need explanations about the hazards."
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