The Isle of Man is set to start third-generation (3G) mobile phone services ahead of the rest of the world after Japan's NTT DoCoMo today postponed its commercial launch by four months.
British Telecom's subsidiary Manx Telecom has been running neck-and-neck with DoCoMo, the world's largest mobile Internet operator, to start 3G by the end of May.
Mr Mark Briers, head of 3G at Manx Telecom, said today. "We've always had this ambition to be first but not at the expense of launching something that demonstrates 3G is slightly flaky. It's tight, but it's looking like we could achieve it."
He said the handsets have only just arrived from Japan and the foot-and-mouth epidemic has delayed things, but the engineers are working around the clock to meet the deadline.
If all goes well, Manx bankers and farmers will be able to hold video conferences, check weather forecasts and download games on mobile phones before the technology hits Tokyo. BT decided in April 1999 to use the island as a test bed for the technology it will roll out in Britain and Europe from next year.
With no competition and a free licence from the Manx government, the company was able to start work on the project a year before the rest of the world even began auctioning the licences that have smothered the industry in debt.
Games could be one of the most popular 3G applications. Online games company Gameplay will overlook the island's conservative traditions and invite users to mate penguins in the game "Arctic Love".