The website of Alex Kinch, live from London
Posts tagged Operators
Skype launch mobile with 3
Oct 29th
Although not officially unveiled until later today, we’ve got all the details of the new Skype mobile – launched in conjunction with mobile operator 3. Ewan will be at the press launch later, so expect pictures soon!
The 3 Skypephone is a fully-featured 3G Internet phone with Skype built-in. In addition to Skype calls the phone makes conventional calls and can be used to access 3′s broad range of other internet services.
The handset was developed by Skype and 3 in partnership with Qualcomm, using Qualcomm’s BREW platform to enable Skype to work with core handset features such as address book and messaging. It’s got 3G, a 2-megapixel camera, mp3 player, mobile TV and internet access.
According to the information available, it’s a “small and shiny” handset, weighing in at a tiny 86 grams, and comes in black or white, with a blue or pink trim. Standby time is 320 hours, with a talk time of 270 minutes or 170 minutes of video calling. The screen is a 176 x 220 2.0″ QCIF 262K colour display, and the handset itself has 16MB of external memory plus room for up to 1GB of microSD memory card (it comes with a 256M card as standard).
Price-wise, the 3 Skypephone will be available from 3Stores or on the web from 2nd November, at £49.99 on pay-as-you-go or free with a contract. You get free Skype to Skype calls included (as expected) as long as you’re on a contract or you top up your credit monthly.
More news as it comes in..
Carphone launch yet another MVNO
Oct 24th
Link: BBC NEWS | Business | Carphone enters Vodafone tie-up
Just when you thought it was safe to venture out onto the High Street.. Carphone Warehouse (who neither sell carphones nor demand customers visit their warehouse) have just launched yet another MVNO.
According to the BBC, this one is going to be called Talkmobile, and will run alongside their existing Fresh and TalkTalk Mobile services. This time they’ve partnered with Vodafone – the previous two efforts have been with T-Mobile.
The service will apparently be a post-pay (contract) service, based around a nine month tie-in.
Details are sketchy at the moment, but Carphone have made it clear they’ll continue not to offer Vodafone deals in their stores.
Huwaei to build GSM on top of the world
Oct 4th
Next generation telecommunications network solutions provider Huawei has has been selected by China Mobile to install a new generation GSM Base Station on Mount Everest. The base station will provide mobile network coverage for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay Team that plans to reach the summit in time for the Olympic Games.The base station will be positioned at an altitude of 6,500 meters creating a mobile telecommunications network that will cover the base camp on Everest and the main route to the mountain’s summit. In addition to benefiting the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay Team the base station is expected to benefit Natural Extreme Challenge Events, one of China Mobile’s partners, and other mountaineers wishing to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain.
China Mobile selected Huawei’s new generation GSM Base Station, because it is built on 3G and IP technologies, and is equipped with many advanced capabilities such as a solar power supply, satellite communications system and Ethernet fiber transmission.
The equipment complies with the European ROHS (The Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) environment protection standard which means it is able to adapt to the extreme environment and weather conditions on Mount Everest.
‘We are delighted to cooperate with China Mobile to build the highest mobile telecommunication network in the world and to help the 2008 Beijing Olympic Torch Relay Team reach the summit of Everest safely,” stated Mr. Yu Chengdong, President of Huawei Mobile Networks. ”As an industry-leading mobile network equipment supplier, Huawei has a lot of experience in network construction, and the company remains committed to taking mobile networks to ALL-IP FMC.”
Mobitai go supersonic with MACH
Oct 2nd
Asian operator Mobitai has announced a deal with mobile billing and settlement specialists MACH, which will help them maintain a competitive position in the roaming market.
Mobitai has been providing the central regions of Taiwan with key international roaming services since 1997. These services now include mobile voice and value added services, GPRS, enterprise solutions, WLAN and ISR. Mobitai was acquired by Taiwan Mobile Co. Ltd. in September 2004 and the Group is now a new member of MACH’s growing client base.
With approximately 20 million people owning mobile phones in Taiwan, the market penetration rate is close to 90% . Being in an almost mature mobile market, it is crucial for Mobitai to remain competitive, minimise operational costs and avoid roaming revenue losses if exchange flows are not managed in a reliable and secure manner.
Mobitai chose MACH for their advanced solutions and reporting capabilities and their excellent client support levels. In selecting MACH, Mobitai has chosen a partner who provides more value beyond the standard data exchange and financial clearing processing, giving them the valuable assurance and peace of mind to focus on increasing their revenue streams.
Terence Ledger, Chief Commercial Officer at MACH states, “The deal with Mobitai further solidifies MACH’s position in the data clearing and financial clearing market. We are very pleased to have signed the contract and look forward to a long and successful relationship with Mobitai.”
Telefonica bring Yahoo! to 100m mobiles
Oct 2nd
Telefonica – parent company of UK mobile network O2 – yesterday announced a deal to bring Yahoo! oneSearch, Yahoo! Mail and photo sharing community Flickr to more than 100 million mobile customers in 15 countries.
Yahoo! oneSearch is specifically designed for mobile devices, delivering results directly in the first screen and thereby removing the need for consumers to navigate through a sea of links to PC Web sites to find the information they want. Yahoo! oneSearch gives consumers access to news, financial information, weather conditions, Flickr photos, Web images, as well as Web and Mobile Web sites.
Together, Telefonica and Yahoo! are enhancing the search experience for consumers on mobile phones, while providing both companies with new revenue streams through mobile advertising.
Julio Linares, Telefonica’s general manager for Coordination Business Development and Synergies, said, “Partners are essential to our mobile strategy and these key relationships, like the one we are announcing today with Yahoo!, will continue to evolve and deliver state of the art Internet experiences to our customers at home or on the go.”
“Yahoo!’s new partnership with Telefonica furthers our leadership in mobile and demonstrates our commitment to working with partners to enhance the Internet experience for customers on their mobile phone,” said Marco Boerries, executive vice president of Yahoo!’s Connected Life Division. “Together we can grow usage of mobile Internet services and create new revenue streams through mobile advertising.”
Telefonica customers will also enjoy the benefit of direct access to Flickr, one of the world’s leading online photo sharing communities. The inclusion of Flickr in Telefonica’s mobile services will allow customers to easily view and share their photos, view their friends’ pictures, view and create comments on photos and browse or search more than one billion images posted by the Flickr service, all from the mobile phones.
Additionally, Yahoo! Mail will be seamlessly integrated into Telefonica’s Mail Express service, providing Yahoo! Mail users with the ability to receive their Yahoo! Mail messages directly on their mobile phone via MMS messaging, enabling customers on the Telefonica network in Spain and Latin America to stay connected to their community even when they are away from their PC.
Blyk deploy ID3 security solution
Sep 28th
Recently launched youth-focused MVNO Blyk has deployed GB‘s ID3 solution for customer authentication to protect against ID theft and ensure customer data is accurate for advertiser clients.
As the first ad-funded mobile network in Europe, Blyk has paid extensive attention to its customer authentication process to ensure best user experience and quality of its member data to advertisers.
Working with GB, Blyk is able to maximise the number of new customers they can sign up by offering an instant ID verification process, powered by GB’s ID3 technology. The seamless and totally unobtrusive verification process ensures that Blyk customers are fully and uniquely identified, providing advertisers with access to an ever growing pool of potential customers.
Timo Ahopelto, Head of Strategy at Blyk, comments: “All our technology platform and service partners are proven leaders in their fields, and GB’s expertise in age and identity related verification issues, particularly in the telecommunications market, means we have total confidence in this critical starting point of our customer life cycle process. The quality of the verification process from GB satisfies large part of the requirements in the UK and internationally.”
“We are delighted to be working with Blyk on this exciting, revolutionary service for young people”, says Richard Law, GB’s CEO. “Blyk’s decision to select GB as its partner says as much about the innovative culture of both businesses as it does about the scalability of ID3 technology to meet customer needs.”
Breaking news: Blyk goes live today
Sep 24th
Ewan is at the launch of ad-funded mobile network Blyk as we speak – and they’ve just announced they’re going live today!
Here’s what we know so far. First, you have to be aged between 16 and 24 and live in the UK. They’re offering 217 texts and 43 cross-network minutes free each month. Once you go past that, it’s 10p a text and 15p a minute. Pre-pay of course. In return for these freebies Blyk will send you up to six ads per day sent to your mobile via MMS.
Update: Here’s the full price list, gleaned from their website:
Calls: £0.15/min any UK mobile network or landline.
Calls to Blyk voicemail: £0.15/min
Calls to 0845 numbers: £0.15/min
Calls to 0870 numbers: £0.25/min
Calls to premium rate (070 and 09) numbers: £0.20-£2.00/min
Calls to foreign networks: see international price list
Text messages: £0.10 each to UK mobile network.
Texts to premium rate shortcodes: £0.10 each + price of the service
Texts to foreign networks: £0.10
Picture messages (MMS): £0.20 each
Picture messages (MMS) to foreign networks: Not supported
Browsing the Blyk mobile portal: Free
Browsing other web content: £1.00/MBThere’s no roaming, which is a bit of a pain – but hopefully this will change.
That’s about it so far, more information when Ewan gets back from the launch event.
New MVNO targets UK ‘yoof’ market
Sep 11th
Link: New mobile empire launched from city – Lancashire Evening Post
Xebra Ltd, who run TV channels and hotels under the ‘Extreme’ brand, are planning to launch a youth-targetted MVNO in the UK later this month.
Extreme Mobile – 80% funded by Polish tycoon Roman Karosik, who has been called the “Warren Buffett of Poland” – will use Vodafone’s network, with support and management technology provided by Motorola.
According to Chairman and chief executive Simon Earle, “Vodafone would be the first to admit they have not been that strong in the youth market, while the Extreme brand is targeted at exactly that audience.
“So, people will receive their bills from Extreme and everything will be branded under Extreme, but Vodafone and Motorola will provide the service and equipment, in a similar way that Virgin Mobile has a tie-up with T-Mobile.
“But, we believe Extreme can become more of a lifestyle accessory, not just a mobile, and are planning to launch new technology, sell the product from places where young people spend time, and even offer social networking
content.
“For example, we are hoping Extreme phones will have ‘push to talk’ technology, which acts like a walkie-talkie, so people can push a button, leave a message and send that to a friend, like voice texting.”
(Thanks to David Coates at the Lancashire Evening Post for the tip)
$300m start in Iraqi mobile licence auction
Aug 16th
Link: Iraq sets $300 million bid price in mobile licenses | Technology | Reuters
Got $300m in spare change sitting idle in your bank account? Then congratulations, you qualify to bid for one of the three 15-year mobile licences in everyones favourite holiday destination – Iraq.
“The price will start from a certain level which is $300 million plus 18 percent revenue sharing,” Communications Minister Mohammed Allawi told Reuters on Thursday ahead of the auction.
The 15-year licenses replace three short-term contracts awarded soon after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Depending on the offers, the bids will rise $50 million at each round with the minimum 18 percent revenue sharing set in the auction possibly rising, Allawi said.
A bargain, considering the £5bn or so paid by the UK operators for their 3G licences.
Dead man clocks up $218 trillion mobile bill
Aug 12th
Link: Deceased Malayan hit with $218 trillion mobile bill | The Register
If you think your monthly mobile bill is high, spare a thought for one poor dead guy in Malaysia, who even though he was dead managed to run up an extraordinarly high phone bill.
A Malaysian man who paid off a $23 wireless bill and disconnected his late father’s cell phone back in January has been stiffed for subsequent charges on the closed account, MSNBC has reported. Telekom Malaysia sent Yahaya Wahab a bill for 806,400,000,000,000.01 ringgit, or about $218 trillion, for charges to the account, along with a demand from the company’s debt collection agency that he settle the alleged debt within 10 days, or get a lawyer.
Incidently that’s £115,000,829,066,960 – and 27 pence. An awful lot of money in any currency.
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