Mobile phone shops do not, traditionally, have a reputation for being theatres of conflict. But I must report that I witnessed a rather undignified scuffle in a Carphone Warehouse last week.
The problem revolved around the fact that the store had just one Nokia 7600 mobile phone in stock, and two punters desperate to buy it. Mercifully, the incident didn't quite reach fisticuffs. But it did encompass a rather heated debate when the lucky owner of the new phone refused to sell it to his rival, even for double the price.
So why the enthusiasm for the phone? Well the Nokia 7600 is the company's first 3G to go on sale in the UK. Although it was offered to the only UK 3G network, Three, it was initially turned down as the handset doesn't sport the company's signature feature - the ability to make video calls.
Enter Carphone Warehouse (CW) which - sensing that the phone's unusual tear-shaped design, line up of facilities and intuitive Nokia interface - would ensure its success, decided to offer an exclusive deal on the handsets.
Bizarrely an agreement was then reached with Three and there are now a limited number of 7600s available from CW with a Three SIM card.
Ironically the 7600 might be a 3G phone, but the version available via CW uses very few of the technology's advanced features.
Up until its launch two weeks ago CW were promising that the 7600 would access the internet, download a person's POP3 email and hook up to a laptop to allow web surfing, all at blazingly fast 3G speeds. Sadly when the phone arrived things were very different.
The phone does run on the Three network, so users can take advantage of Three's ultra cheap voice calls. They can also download or stream news and weather videos. However, just like every other Three phone, the phone can only access the handful of web and wap sites Three has partner deals with. Also owners can't use the POP3 email client on the phone and as for surfing on laptop at 3G speeds - well for Three customers that remains a distant dream.
The Nokia 7600 is undeniably cute though, and even within the limitations of the Three network, it has plenty of features. It seems though that Three has missed a trick in not ordering large numbers of the handset and selling it through its own stores.
Pay as you go 3G
The next rabbit Three is likely to pull from the hat is an ultra cheap pay as you go service, the theory being that once you?ve hooked punters in on cheap voice calls you then might get them using your premium services like video calling and downloads.
It might work, but I fear that when it comes to attracting customers for premium data services, the type of applications for which 3G is optimised for, Three will get left behind. This is largely because early adopters and gadget fans simply won't go near the network any more.
Three made a fundamental error back in Autumn 2003 by limiting the functionality of the Motorola A920 mobile phone. The A920 could have become the most coveted high-end phones available. I had a play with one that hadn't yet been locked into the Three network and was knocked out by its ultra quick 3G web surfing capabilities as well as the video calling and GPS applications.
By not allowing users to harness 3G speeds to surf the net, download large e-mail files or even add extra features to the phone via its Symbian operating system, Three sacrificed all its credibility within the phone community.
There was even an online petition with several thousand signatures begging Three to open up the handset. It fell on deaf ears. To rub a huge amount of salt in the wound Three networks in other parts of Europe haven't locked the handset in this way.
The standard line trotted out whenever the company is asked about these issues is that Three is constantly reviewing them. Make of that what you will.
Whatever, there is nothing more annoying to gadget lovers than being offered an incredible product only to find that half its key features don't work.
Three is running out of time. Vodafone has already unveiled a 3G PC card for business laptop users and is expected to announce a full consumer launch for 3G very shortly. Both Orange and O2 could also make similar announcements at the annual industry bunfight 3GSM in Cannes, France next week.
Part of me would love Three to succeed for having the balls to launch 3G first. Sadly, I think that it might end up as a company whose major use of all that wonderful 3G bandwidth is to let its subscribers make some cheap voice calls.
