HELSINKI, Finland-Sonera Corp. has delayed the commercial launch of its third-generation network in Finland until 2003 from the initial Sept. 26 launch plan due to a “technological delay,” but said it will still offer 3G services on its current GSM/GPRS network.
Sonera said it will launch Java and multimedia messaging services in September, and a limited commercial pilot of its UMTS network is planned for the first quarter of next year. “Commercial UMTS mobile communications will be started on Sonera’s network in 2003 as soon as there is a sufficient number of UMTS-enabled terminals available and this is feasible in view of the maturity of the network technology,” the company said.
Sonera’s 3G launch was planned to coincide with the launch of Nokia Corp.’s first 3G handset, but the Finnish vendor has also delayed its 3G handset rollout until 2003. Sonera’s UMTS network has been operational since January in limited areas within Helsinki, Tampere, Turku and Oulu, but without handsets, the operator cannot yet offer UMTS service.
