Voda and Entel In Chilean Alliance

Vodafone and Entel PCS  have signed a Partner Market agreement; a strategic alliance which will see the introduction of an exclusive range of Vodafone products and services made available for Entel PCS customers in the Republic of Chile.
Under the terms of the agreement, Entel PCS has access to specific Vodafone knowledge and expertise, and will be able to provide its customers with selected Vodafone roaming, and eventually, business and consumer products. These products and services will include a range of push-email devices and Vodafone branded handsets.
In addition to Entel PCS’s current product portfolio, the company will be able to offer a series of Vodafone-branded mobile broadband USB modems, which will enable customers to access the Internet from their laptops at broadband speeds over Entel PCS’s mobile network.
Vodafone's products and services will be marketed in Chile under Vodafone’s global brand, enhancing Entel PCS’s nationally recognised brand. In addition, the two companies will also work closely on information and best-practice sharing in order to enhance future offerings and customer services.
Commenting on the agreement, Hatem Dowidar, CEO, Vodafone Partner Markets, says:
“Through this agreement with Entel PCS, Vodafone will be able to increase its brand recognition and extend its product range to one of the most developed markets in Latin America. Chile is a leading market for mobile communications in the region, and Entel PCS is in a stronger position to improve the provision of enhanced voice and data products, including Entel PCS’s current HSDPA internet access mobile network for customers eager for greater access to international products and services.”

Voda Gets the iPhone

Vodafone has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in 10 of its markets around the globe. Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to get their hands on the iPhone “later this year” according tor Vodafone.
We just called Vodafone to get more details. Three questions, three two-word answers, all beginnning with 'N'. Not much more to say then, but rest assured, we'll bring you more news on the deal as and when we have it.

Ofcom Gives O2 the All-clear

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has confirmed that mobile operator O2 has now met its obligation to roll out its 3G services to at least 80% of the UK population. This follows Ofcom's notice to O2 in February that it would shorten its licence by four months if it did not comply with its rollout obligation by 30 June 2008. O2 acquired its 3G licence in 2000 for £4,030 million. Ofcom estimated that a reduction of the licence term by four months would have been equivalent to a significant financial sanction of at least £40 million.
The rollout obligation requires each of the five holders of a 3G licence to roll out their networks to enable the provision of 3G services to at least 80% of the population from 31 December 2007. The other four licensees, H3G, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone, demonstrated that they were in compliance with this obligation on this date.
Ofcom says that it will conduct a further assessment to ensure that these licensees remain in compliance on 31 December 2008.

Sri Lankan Brief for Celltick

Dialog, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile operator, has appointed Celltick to manage its interactive mobile media service, Zero77 LIVE. Under the terms of the agreement, Celltick will be responsible for raising revenues for Dialog by managing all aspects of the service, including editorial content, programming, content alliances and advertising sales. 
Zero77 LIVE, powered by Celltick’s LiveScreen Media, began broadcasting to a test subscriber base of 120,000 users, and is now open to all Dialog subscribers. Zero77 LIVE delivers carefully targeted content and marketing messages directly to subscribers' mobile idle screens, turning them into a network of synchronised, interactive personal billboards.
Since its launch in 2003, the service’s popularity has grown phenomenally, says Celltick, noting that in December 2006, Dialog had to extend the service to keep up with subscriber demand. Zero77 LIVE has proven to increase Dialog’s ARPU and provide strong revenue streams from advertising, the company says. In the new agreement, in which the service will reach all of Dialog's 4.5 million subscribers, Celltick and Dialog expect to raise ARPU even further, due to revenues stemming from a well targeted mix of content and advertising messages.
Celltick’s managed service team will work at Dialog, editing content and programming the broadcasts in order to build a relevant, high quality user experience for subscribers. The team will also be responsible for building strong relationships with local and global content aggregators and advertising agencies, to provide fresh content and increase revenue.
“Celltick's LiveScreen Media, branded by Dialog Zero77 LIVE, has helped propel Dialog to the forefront of innovation, proving to be a valuable service to our subscribers, as well as a great revenue stream for the business,” says Dialog Chief Marketing Officer, Nushad Perera. “We are keen to maximise its potential and are confident that Celltick has the expertise to achieve this.”
Celltick recently evolved its business strategy from a license-based to a managed services model. Under the new proposition, Celltick will distribute unlimited licenses at no cost to mobile operators and will be responsible for managing all aspects of the LiveScreen Media service.

Voda Rolls Data Bundle Into Price Plans

Vodafone UK has changed the way it structures its price plans to include access to the Internet and email on the mobile as an integral part of the monthly price plan.
The move means that pay monthly customers will no longer need to buy an additional Internet bundle for £7.50; instead, every plan will automatically include Internet access. The new plans will give Vodafone customers reliable and fast unlimited access to their favourite social network sites, email and the whole of the Internet when out and about in the UK (subject to a fair usage policy of 500MB per month). Vodafone says the move means that its customers will now have even greater confidence to browse the mobile Internet without the worry of additional charges, no matter what monthly plan they choose.
Price plans start at £25 and customers who select a £40 or higher price plan will also, for the first time, have the choice of unlimited texts, unlimited landline calls or unlimited Vodafone to Vodafone calls. 
“Our customers want simplicity and services that are easy to select, buy and use,” says Ian Shepherd, Director of Consumer for Vodafone UK. “Today with our new price plans, Vodafone customers have the confidence to browse for as long as they need with no extra costs when checking their email, visiting their favourite social networking sites or making a final bid on eBay. This will make Vodafone not only the network of choice for voice and text, but also the Internet. And what’s more, all customers who visit a store to sign up to the new plan will benefit from Vodafone’s simple two-minute set up for email so that they can leave the store up and running.”
Since launching the Internet on mobiles last summer, Vodafone has witnessed the growth in consumers’ appetite for email, instant messaging, and social networking as well as more general services such as Google search. Vodafone says the 10 most popular mobile Internet sites on Vodafone Mobile Internet, in descending order, are Facebook, Google, BBC, MSN, Bebo, Sony Ericsson, Yahoo, MySpace, Windows live Hotmail, and YouTube.
Vodafone has also published a guide to the amount of data consumed by various mobile browsing activity. Though it notes that these figures may vary slightly according to different handset and browser functionality, we feel they are still worth sharing.
Streaming three 90-second video clips from YouTube: 4.5MB
Download one 3-minute movie trailer from Odeon: 3MB
Browse 50 Internet pages: 1MB
Find your way to a restaurant  using Google Maps: 0.6MB
Check for updates on Facebook and upload a message: 0.1MB
Check your emails and reply: 0.5MB
Read breaking news on the BBC (4 pages): 0.1MB
Place the winning bid on eBay (10 pages): 0.25MB

Madonna on Your Mobile - Live

Vodafone customers in 14 countries will be able to watch a live, one-off show by Madonna on their mobile today, thanks to a tie-up between Vodafone and Warner Music International (WMI). Streamed live from New York's famous Roseland Ballroom exclusively outside the US to Vodafone customers, the performance will celebrate the release of Madonna’s new album, ‘Hard Candy’, which was released on Monday. The concert begins at 7pm local time.
Vodafone customers in the UK, Cyprus, Egypt, France (SFR), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, South Africa (Vodacom) and Spain and will have access to the show via their mobile phones on Vodafone live! There's also a PC stream. For details of how to access this, click here.
Vodafone customers will be able to do more than simply view the performance. They will be able to interact and share their emotions with other online show-goers and select camera angles to move around the stage to get the best view.
“As a leader in the digital music industry, we’re providing our customers closer access to music from  top artists and events, allowing them to enjoy their favourite content both on their PCs and mobile phones,” says Vodafone Group Global Chief Marketing Officer, Frank Rovekamp. “Vodafone’s strategy is to offer different music flavours and innovative formats allowing customers to experience music on their mobile in any way they wish.”
John Reid, Vice Chairman, WMI, and President, Warner Music Europe, says the company continues to explore innovative ways of deepening the connection between artist and audience. 
“Offering millions of fans around the world live, interactive access to a unique, intimate Madonna show is a powerful way to showcase a new album,” says Reid. “Building on the mobile première, this special broadcast will further heighten the sense of event and excitement during Hard Candy’s much-anticipated launch week.”
The performance will be the first time Madonna plays live songs from the album. Last week,  Vodafone customers in Spain, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Portugal, Romania, Hungary, Netherlands, Belgium (Proximus), UK, New Zealand, South Africa (Vodacom), Iceland and India were given access to seven tracks from the album prior to its launch. Each track remained live for 24 hours for download before being replaced by the next one.
The first single from the album, '4 Minutes' has already jumped to the number one spot in many countries and has broken Vodafone UK’s previous full track sales record by a wide margin, becoming the biggest ever single downloaded track on Vodafone live!

Orange Digital Media Index Shows Mobile Web Growth

Orange has unveiled its third Digital Media Index, which examines trends in customer consumption of digital media. The latest findings reveal a sharp increase in mobile Internet access, alongside traditional fixed-line broadband.
The Orange Digital Media Index reveals usage patterns across the full range of Orange’s entertainment and communications services, including home broadband, text and picture messaging, and the mobile Internet.
The latest report finds the mobile Internet becoming a part of day-to-day life, with a 35% increase in page impressions. Mobile TV is also taking off, with an 87% increase in the total hours viewed. Video downloads are also gaining momentum, with the number of downloads having doubled in the last year. Single music track downloads are also reaching new heights, with a record-breaking 289,000 tracks downloaded in December alone. But vanilla-flavoured text messaging remains as popular as ever, with over 1.3 billion messages sent each month, an increase of 21% on the last Orange Digital Media Index.
“The mobile phone has truly taken its place as a multimedia content device,” says Orange Director of Portals for Orange, Matthew Kirk. “The popularity of Mobile TV, music and gaming has surged, as customers use the mobile Internet alongside home broadband to stay connected wherever they are. It really is the third screen in our lives for entertainment, communication and information, alongside the TV and the PC."

SingTel Supercharges SMS with Acision

Acision, which supplies messaging and charging services to over 300 network operators and service providers worldwide, has revealed that Singaporean mobile operator, SingTel Mobile, has launched Acision's Message Plus across its subscriber base, under the name, under the name, ‘SMS Plus’.
Voted ‘Best Mobile Service For Consumers’ at the 2007 Mobile Messaging Awards, Message Plus enables network operators to differentiate their messaging service through a range of flexible, personalised services that are already familiar to consumers from the PC messaging environment.
Acision notes that Message Plus integrates seamlessly into SingTel's existing messaging infrastructure, providing an effective platform to deliver innovative SMS services to its customers. 
With more than 5.42 million subscribers and a mobile penetration rate of 116%, the population of Singapore sends an average 800 million SMS messages per month. Message Plus enables SingTel Mobile to offer its customers three value-added SMS features from the subscriber's handset. The first is an automated ‘out-of-office’ SMS, which enables customers to automatically send a default or customised Out out-of-office SMS reply, similar to an out-of-office email.
SMS Copy enables customers to copy incoming and outgoing SMS messages to five email addresses or mobile numbers, to share information contained within the message, or for back-up purposes. 
Finally, SMS Divert enables customers to divert incoming SMS messages to one email address and one mobile number.
“The new services will help our customers effectively manage and control the delivery of their SMS (messages) to suit their individual schedules or preferences,” says Wong Soon Nam, SingTel's Vice President of Consumer Marketing. “The suite of SMS Plus services demonstrates SingTel's ability to understand and effectively deliver solutions to meet the changing mobile communication needs of our customers in this fast-paced society.”
Boudewijn Pesch, Managing Director, Acision Asia Pacific adds:
“SMS volume growth is only the first part of the story for operators like SingTel Mobile. Once the volumes are established, it is essential that the industry continues to innovate messaging services, adding features and functionalities to maintain messaging as a central tool in their lives. Through continued innovation, operators can begin to differentiate themselves on the strength of their messaging service - and even secure greater revenues through value-added services. With half of all text and multimedia messages sent globally processed using our systems, we continue to dominate in driving messaging innovation.”

ROK Signs Up for Telenor's Playground

Mobile entertainment company, ROK Entertainment Group, has revealed that its  ROK TV Mobile TV service, and its mobile conference-calling service, ROK Talk, have been added to Telenor’s 'Playground'  service.
Playground, operated by Telenor, is a meeting place for developers, established mobile service suppliers and Telenor’s operational companies, designed to act as a showcase for innovative mobile services which can be shared and promoted within the Telenor Group.
Telenor is emerging as one of the fastest growing providers of mobile communications services worldwide. The company is also the largest provider of TV services in the Nordic region and is organised into three business areas; Mobile operations, covering 12 countries, and Fixed-line Services and Broadcast Services, which cover the Nordic region.
The Telenor Group is ranked as the world’s seventh largest mobile operator, with more than 143 million mobile subscribers globally. It was recently named as the Sector Leader in mobile telecommunications by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
“We’re delighted to have partnered with Telenor Playground for the promotion of our revenue-generating mobile services, and we look forward to working with Telenor’s operating companies globally going forward,” says ROK Group CEO. Laurence Alexander.

Three Team Up for Innovation Lab Initiative

China Mobile, SOFTBANK and Vodafone have agreed to establish a Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) to promote the development of new mobile technologies, applications and services. The three companies say they expect the initiative will help to accelerate the commercial deployment of mobile Internet services.
The three companies will use the JIL as a platform to develop mobile services and drive innovation and synergy in the industry, to the benefit of their combined global customer base. The JIL will launch projects based on emerging technologies and market demand.
The JIL will focus on rapidly-growing areas of mobile Internet services, such as mobile widgets. Initially, the JIL plans to develop a platform for mobile widgets to encourage the development of innovative new services that can leverage mobile operators’ unique capabilities.
The move is expected to enable different widgets and applications to run seamlessly on different handset platforms and operating systems across different mobile operators, while safeguarding customer security, data privacy and billing systems. The companies say the development of a widget platform will benefit both developers and users. The JIL also welcomes the co-operation of vendors and developers in the creation of new applications and services.
The establishment of the JIL and completion is subject to regulatory approvals and certain customary closing conditions.

Blyk Hits 100,000

Ad-funded mobile network Blyk has revealed that it has signed up over 100,000 members since its launch in the UK at the end of September, 2007. Blyk was aiming to sign up 100,000 members in the first year, so has hit its target five months ahead of schedule.
Blyk gives members free texts and minutes every month, equating to an individual saving of over £280 each year, with no contract, hidden costs or fees, in return for receiving up to six highly targeted advertising messages per day from brands including Xbox, Adidas, STA Travel, Penguin, Brylcreem, Boots, COI and RSPCA.
Blyk says the ad campaigns that fund the service have generated average response rates of 29%, at a time when trust in other forms of mass advertising is falling and brands are finding it increasingly difficult to engage with young people.
“Young people have embraced Blyk because it makes phone bills and contracts a thing of the past,” says UK CEO, Shaun Gregory. “We believe that communication should be free, like most other forms of media in the UK. Blyk provides brands and advertisers with an exciting way of reaching the youth market in a very personalised way that works. Reaching 100,000 members is significant for advertisers, because it gives them the opportunity to engage with a mass youth audience in a highly efficient and cost-effective way. In six months we have built up a deep knowledge of our member base, which now exceeds many established youth media players, and with over 7 million 16-24 year old phone owners in the UK there is huge potential for growth."
Blyk’s proposition is based on the insight that messaging is the simple dominant mobile behaviour for 16-24 year olds. When new members join Blyk, they are profiled, based on their lifestyle and personal interests. This profiling is 100% opt-in and it helps Blyk to build up a deep knowledge of its customer base and deliver relevant communications to them.
Brands are using Blyk to create awareness, build relationships and drive action and sales through one-to-one interactions. Although the average response rate to campaigns is 29%, says Blyk, many are significantly higher.
Penguin Books ran a campaign on Blyk to promote the launch of Nick Hornby’s latest novel ‘Slam’ and achieved an unprecedented 67% response rate. Blyk created a two-part messaging dialogue, whereby positive respondents received a 90-second audio preview of the opening chapter read by Nicholas Hoult, star of Channel 4’s ‘Skins’ - a media first for using audio clips sent via mobile to promote a book.
Blyk is launching in the Netherlands in the second half of 2008, followed by other European markets and has recently attracted new investors Goldman Sachs and Industrial and Financial Investments Company (IFIC). They join a roster that includes Sofinnova Partners and a number of private investors.

Comverse Brings Czech Mates Together

Telefonica O2 Czech Republic has selected Comverse Mobile Instant Messaging (IM) to enable its 5 million users to enjoy mobile IM with the ICQ community on their mobile handsets.  Comverse’s presence-enabled IM application supports and enhances a wide range of differentiating communication and content services. Comverse handset clients ensure the best possible PC-like “always-on” user experience, with a chat-like interface showing dialogue history, contact presence indication, and multimedia capabilities, including pictures, audio and video. “We are pleased to be the first operator in the country to introduce Instant Messaging into the mobile environment to responsively meet growing consumer demand,” says Jan Karas, Director for Residential Segment Marketing at Telefonica O2 Czech Republic. “In order to make the service easy to use, we are launching the mobile IM service with ICQ, a personal communication tool that is popular with our users, and we are providing the ICQ community an affordable and compelling mobile experience that is similar to the familiar PC experience. Benny Einhorn, President of Comverse EMEA, notes that the Comverse Mobile IM solution currently powers mobile Instant Messaging for operators around the world, giving tens of millions of users convenient mobile access to wireless operator-based IM, as well as to the most popular IM communities. He says: “The flexible, hosted option benefits operators with quick time to market. The clear roadmap to Comverse Converged IP messaging solution gives operators an edge that ensures that they can continue to meet business and technology needs as they evolve in the converging communications arena.”

Hard Candy Made Easy

Vodafone UK is making exclusive tracks from Madonna’s ‘Hard Candy’ album available to its customers this week. The promotion, which began on Monday, offers Vodafone customers the opportunity to download one track each day. Today’s track is ‘Give It 2 Me’ tomorrow’s is ‘Heartbeat’ and Friday’s is ‘Beat Goes On’. On Saturday it’s ‘Devil Wouldn't Recognize You’ and on Sunday, ‘She's Not Me’.
The first single from the album, '4 Minutes' has already jumped to the number one spot in many countries. Vodafone customers can also enjoy the exclusive underground remix by Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, which is available now on Vodafone live!

Chinese Brief for NSN

Nokia Siemens Networks has been selected by China Mobile Group Beijing (CMBJ) to provide its Usability Consulting Service, focusing on the company’s colour ringback tone service and web portal user experience. The optimization project has seen monthly revenue for some services increase by 2 - 4 times, while subscriber activity levels and customer satisfaction have also dramatically improved.
With the rapid rate of change in mobile communications technology, services are no longer limited to voice communication, but have evolved from standardisation to customisation and personalisation, and as a result, enhanced user experience has become a critical factor for achieving success in competitive markets. An enhanced user experience helps customers to better enjoy the convenience, efficiency and entertainment offered by mobile services.
Having recognized the importance of user experience, CMBJ has enlisted the support of Nokia Siemens Networks, and its experience in the product usability area, to develop and optimise its colour ringback tone service and web portal user experience. Together, the two parties have applied usability study methodology into the design and development of value-added mobile products. Through the implementation of its colour ringback tone website optimisation project, CMBJ has built a deeper understanding of its subscribers’ preferences and demands, and optimized its website operation procedure and user interface to meet their expectations and improve their experience.
The colour ringback tone service delivers customised music or a greeting instead of the traditional sound someone hears when they call a mobile phone. Since its launch in 2003, the colour ring back tone service provided by CMBJ has proved popular with subscribers, who use its website as the key channel for obtaining services. 
“Mobile service user experience, while being a relatively new concept for the China market, is critical in bringing user-friendly experience and improving operators’ service quality,” says Zhao Peng, Deputy General Manager of CMBJ’s Data Service Centre. “We have introduced user experience into product design and optimization and will provide more user-friendly products and services.”

BRANDZ Honour for MTS

Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (MTS),  the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS, has been named as one of the BRANDZ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands in a ranking published by the Financial Times and market research and consulting firm, Millward Brown. MTS is the first Russian company to appear in the ranking. 
MTS says its debut among the Top 100 Most Powerful Brands is due to the company’s continued strong growth and market leadership position in the Russian and CIS markets. MTS operates in Russia and five other CIS markets, which are among the world’s fastest growing economies with record rates of GDP growth. 
MTS launched its current brand in 2006. It has built the largest network in the CIS, With over 85 million subscribers, out of total population of 230 million in the markets in which it operates, and offers the largest coverage area in the region.
“We operate in markets that span 11 time zones and cater to a wide range of languages, cultures and income levels,” says MTS Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Cynthia Gordon. “We are thankful to our customers and their loyalty to MTS, which has allowed us to create an iconic brand that transcends national boundaries and meets our customers’ disparate expectations. Inclusion in the Top 100 Most Powerful Brands is a testament to our leadership in the CIS, and proves that companies from high growth developing markets can become truly international brands.”
MTS enters the Top 100 Most Powerful Brands ranking at 89th place with a Brand Value of $8.08 billion (£4.07 billion). To arrive at this figure, Millward Brown Optimor establishes companies’ intangible earnings and allocates them to individual brands and countries of operation. 
MTS has the highest Brand Momentum score of 10, which means that it is in the top 10% of all brands in the ranking by the short term growth rate. The Brand Momentum indicator is obtained by projecting brand value forward, based on market valuations, the brand’s risk profile and its growth potential. To facilitate further growth and recognition of the brand, MTS recently adopted new ‘Brand Standards’ to communicate the brand consistently in all messaging, and launched a new slogan “Operator Svyazi” to reinforce its perception as a strong, trustworthy and quality-focused company.

O2 Takes Broadband Mobile

O2 UK has announced the launch of a Mobile Broadband service, offering 3GB of data per month for £20, plus free access to 7,500 wi-fi hotspots on The Cloud, UK-wide network. O2’s mobile broadband modem is a plug & play USB memory stick dongle. Customers can choose to take out an 18-month price plan for £20 a month with a USB Modem included free of charge, or pay £20 a month for a rolling one-month package plus the one-off cost of the USB Modem at £119.99.  The service launches on 1 May.
O2 Mobile Broadband will automatically connect customers to the fastest network available - GPRS, EDGE, 3G and HSDPA, or via the 7,500 Wi-Fi hotspots available through The Cloud. A colour-coded LED panel on the USM modem indicates which network is being used. Customers also have the ability to search for new wi-fi hotspots using O2 Connection Manager’s Hotspot Directory, which is updated regularly to acknowledge new locations.
Broadband speeds of up to 1.8 megabits per second will be standard across the whole O2 network. From June, O2 will begin increasing this to up to 3.6 megabits per second across the network. Further speed increases will follow in line with technology evolution.
“We are confident our broadband services complete a great communication experience for our customers, however they want to connect to the Internet, whether that’s at home, on their mobile phone or laptop,” said O2 UK Marketing Director, Sally Cowdry. “Our O2 Mobile Broadband product exclusively allows O2 customers to access the Internet wherever and whenever they want, with clear and predictable pricing.”
Customers can purchase O2 Mobile Broadband online, in any O2 retail store or by calling O2 customer service on 08705 214000.

Subex Reports Latin American Success

Subex, a global provider of Operations Support Systems (OSS) for communications service providers, has revealed that it has closed seven new customer deals for its Revenue Maximization and Fulfilment Assurance solutions in the Latin America region over the past six months.
The deals have been struck with leading wireless and wireline telecom service providers in several countries across Latin America. The customer wins have been for Subex's Revenue Assurance System, Moneta, and Fraud Management System, Nikira, as well as Syndesis Controller, Syndesis Express, and Syndesis TrueSource from the Fulfillment and Assurance solution (FAS) suite, underscoring the continued impact of the FAS business since Subex’s acquisition of Syndesis a year ago.
A 2007 study by Analysys Research, the ‘Global Operator Attitudes to Revenue Management Survey’ revealed that service providers in the Caribbean and Latin America market lose close to 16% of revenue due to various forms of fraud, poor OSS processes, billing errors and credit management issues. In order to meet the increasing demands of its existing customers and new business prospects, Subex says it plans continued expansion of its existing Latin America based professional services and support operations.
“There are issues unique to every region and company, with fraud and interconnect challenges taking the lead in CALA,” says Charlie Ydoate, Vice President, Latin America Sales at Subex. “As the Subex brand and customer base continues to grow in the region, we look forward to building upon our success by helping CALA service providers maximize revenues and boost bottom-line profits with a tailored approach."

Kyivstar Rolls Out Comverse Services

Comverse, which supplies software and systems enabling network-based, multimedia-enhanced communication and billing services, has revealed that Kyivstar, the largest mobile operator in Ukraine with more than 23 million subscribers, has successfully launched two services, ‘Who Called?’ and ‘Notify Me’, from the Comverse Total Call Completion Suite. Comverse says the ew tools that these services give to the called and calling parties can significantly increase the call completion rate in the network. This marks the largest European deployment to date of the Comverse Notify Me solution for callers.
‘Who Called’ delivers information about missed calls that the handset does not report, ensuring that the called party never misses the opportunity to know about all calls missed while unreachable, due to the handset being switched off, the battery being dead, or the handset being out of service range. Notify Me provides a better customer experience for the caller, sending an SMS the moment that the person they are trying to call becomes reachable. Without having to redial repeatedly until the call can go through, the caller now is assured of the ability to connect with the desired party at the soonest possible moment with a single click. Both services provide extra value to users and pave the way to a higher rate of call completion for the service provider. The suite’s next-generation platform is based on the Comverse InSight Open Services Environment.
“We launched these Comverse Total Call Completion Suite services because every call is important to us and we want our users to consistently benefit from the best experience possible,” says Alexey Kireev, Head of the Product Development Department at Kyivstar. “Both parties receive key information about missed calls that empowers them with new capabilities that lead to the call’s completion. This improvement of service is one of the ways that we enrich people’s everyday lives by enabling them to communicate more freely and more effectively.”

Buongiorno in Voda Egypt Deployment

Mobile entertainment company Buongiorno has signed a deal with Vodafone Egypt to support the launch of the first mobile advertising program in the region. The program is running with top tier advertisers such as BMW, P&G, Pepsi and Hyundai on multiple channels, including MMS, WAP banners, SMS and Interactive Voice Response. Buongiorno’s Marketing Services division is providing Vodafone Egypt with the full solution, including its proprietary Ad Serving Platform, business consultancy, advertising sales support, campaign management and media planning for the participating brands. Addish Kulkami, MD of Buongiorno Marketing Services UK, the regional division responsible for the deal and the project, says: “At the heart of Buongiorno’s technology solution for mobile ad management is our B!3A platform, which is currently connected to carriers in over 30 countries, processing over 250 million messages each month and 150 million WAP pages per month.”
The B!3A platform consists of a variety of modules, including Ad Server, which provides campaign creation, media planning and forecasting, multichannel delivery of ads, and reporting. Other elements of B!3A in use in the Vodafone Egypt deployment are the Site Manager module to build WAP sites, and the Mobile Marketing module to run SMS and MMS push messaging. “We had been looking for an experienced partner with a proven effective end-to-end solution,” says Karim Khalifa, Head of Mobile Advertising at Vodafone Egypt. “In this sense, and for our specific market needs, Buongiorno Marketing Services’ solution was selected as best of breed for multi-channel mobile advertising.” Buongiorno Group, which owns 60% of the digital marketing business in a joint venture with the Japanese trading conglomerate Mitsui, has indicated that it expects the Buongiorno Marketing Services division to grow by up to 30% in revenues for fiscal year 2008.

Altobridge Chosen for Mongolian Deployment

Altobridge has won a three-year, fully managed services contract with Mongolian mobile communications provider, MobiCom Corporation. The contract is for the provision of communications across rural Mongolia using Altobridge’s unique GSM architecture, which the company says enables operators to dramatically cut the costs of delivering communication services.
The contract will see Altobridge’s Access Manager Gateway (AMG) architecture used to provide cost-effective personal mobile communications in support of subscriber bases as low as 100, in village, enterprise and government border-post deployments.
Altobridge says its architecture is the most cost-effective technology for delivering rural GSM services available in the industry today and will enable MobiCom to reach out to isolated regions with up-to-date mobile communications, where once such service provision would not have been profitable.
“We selected the Altobridge technology because it enables us to achieve our aims in delivering viable, much-needed communications to isolated communities and enterprise installations, at the same time making considerable savings,” says Munkhbold Udval, Director of MobiCom’s Research and Development Center. “Previously, costs have been too high. The Altobridge technology enables us to reduce these costs considerably without compromising service quality in any way.”
The first systems were shipped last month, and all are expected to be deployed before the end of the year.

Voda Cuts the Cost of Mobile Broadband

Vodafone UK has announced a new pricing structure for its Mobile Broadband offerings. Vodafone says the new tariffs will provide better value, greater certainty on pricing, including out-of-bundle charges and data roaming, confidence of use, and access to a super fast data network.
There are three new tariffs on offer. Mobile Broadband 3GB offers up to 3GB of data per month for £15 a month. It is available on a 12, 18 or 24 month contract. Mobile Broadband 30 Day (3GB) comes with the same data allowance for £20 on a 30-day contract. Finally, Mobile Broadband 5GB offers 5GB of data per month for £25 on a 12, 18 or 24 month contract.
Vodafone says the new tariffs will be applied to customers on existing Mobile Broadband contracts.
Vodafone has also introduced the Mobile Broadband Euro Travel price plan, which is aimed at regular European business travellers. This offers a 200MB per month data bundle across Europe for £60. The plan joins Vodafone’s existing Mobile Broadband Business tariff, which offers 24-hours' data use in around 40 selected European countries for £8.50; and Mobile Broadband Travel, which offers a 200MB-per-month data bundle for use world-wide for £95.
There’s more information on Vodafone roaming here.

Partnership to Deliver Timing over Packet Solution

Nokia Siemens Networks is teaming up with Symmetricom to offer mobile network operators a solution to the challenge of keeping network bandwidth capacity up to pace with the ever-increasing demand from data applications. The two companies are to introduce the industry’s first open standard Timing over Packet solution to synchronize base stations over the packet-based backhaul networks vital to sustaining profitability.
“While packet-based backhaul networks are actually being deployed, the issue of synchronization has so far stopped mobile operators from entirely replacing their existing TDM network, leading to hybrid network architectures,” says Dirk Lindemeier, who is responsible for mobile backhaul solutions at Nokia Siemens Networks. “Our backhaul solution is a straightforward approach to a true packet-based network.”
An important component of Nokia Siemens Networks’ Timing over Packet solution is Symmetricom’s TimeProvider 5000. TimeProvider 5000 distributes a network reference clock to a large number of base stations. The base station’s ability to synchronize its radio frequency based on that received clock is an equally important component of the solution. Timing over Packet is an open and future-proof solution, based on the IEEE1588 version 2 standard. It addresses today’s synchronization requirements, as well as those of forthcoming 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless networks.
“Mobile operators looking to solve the critical synchronization issue as they migrate to next generation, packet-based backhaul networks can now move forward with confidence,” says Gurdip Jande, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Symmetricom. “Nokia Siemens Networks’ backhaul solution, using our carrier-class IEEE 1588v2 grand master clock, allows operators to optimize their networks for peak performance by meeting the most stringent timing and synchronization requirements.”

Tesco Mobile Hands Messaging Task to Sybase 365

Sybase 365, a subsidiary of mobile messaging company Sybase, has been selected by Tesco Mobile in Ireland to enable international SMS delivery, enabling its subscribers to send and receive text messages from around the world.
As Ireland’s newest mobile network service provider, and the country’s first MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), Tesco Mobile chose Sybase 365 because of its leadership in global SMS interoperability, through its reach to more than 700 mobile operators around the world.
As a young and dynamic operator, Tesco Mobile is aiming to become a strong player within its core markets, and wanted a partner that could offer experience, reliability and global connectivity.
“Tesco Mobile is committed to offering a quality service and great value to our customers” says Tesco Mobile Marketing Manager, Yvonne Lucas. “Working with Sybase 365 to expand SMS messaging internationally helps us to achieve this.”

SurfKitchen Gains First US ODP Customer

SurfKitchen, which specialises in On-Device Portal (ODP) applications, has been selected by Cincinnati Bell Wireless (CBW) to support CBW’s new mobile data services portal, MyPhone. Using SurfKitchen’s ODP platform, CBW’s MyPhone aims to enhance mobile data delivery and consumption by providing a simple and compelling user experience.
CBW is a division of Cincinnati Bell Inc., which provides integrated communications solutions-including local, long distance, data, Internet, and wireless services. CBW will become the first carrier in North America to launch SurfKitchen’s software. The MyPhone portal will deliver a fully-branded user experience, incorporating digital content, information services and native handset features on a single, intuitive and visually engaging interface
MyPhone will enable subscribers to enjoy easier and faster access to relevant and fresh mobile content and premium SMS services. It will also provide an advertising platform for Cincinnati Bell to promote its portfolio of communication services, such as its consumer broadband service, ZoomTown.
“We wanted to bring our mobile data services to life through an enhanced and engaging user experience,” says Eric Schimpf, General Manager of Consumer Wireless for Cincinnati Bell. “SurfKitchen’s proven results with carriers across the world made it the perfect choice. Their experience and insight has changed the way we look at delivering mobile content services, and we can’t wait for our customers to get their hands on MyPhone.”
MyPhone will be available to new and existing CBW subscribers. Existing users will be able to access MyPhone from a link on the CBW WAP site  and install it via a free over-the-air download later this week. MyPhone will also be pre-installed on new Java feature phones and introduced on new Smartphones later this year.
“We are very pleased to expand our global customer base with our first US customer launch,” says SurfKitchen CEO, Michel Quazza. “Cincinnati Bell Wireless has a history of being first to market with new and innovative mobile services and we see huge potential for ODP technologies in North America. This follows a broader global trend, as carriers across the world focus on technologies that can improve the user experience and make the promise of mobile data services a reality.”
CBW joins SurfKitchen customers including global tier one mobile operators such as Orange Group, Telefonica Moviles Espana, Telstra, Maxis, Etisalat and Saudi Telecom, that have deployed SurfKitchen’s mobile data solutions.

CTIA: Real Signs Indian emoticonSMS Deal

RealNetworks, the digital entertainment services company, has announced an agreement with India's largest telecommunication company, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), to provide the first-ever deployment of emoticonSMS services in India later this year for BSNL's 39 million subscribers.
Once a subscriber signs up for the service, emoticonSMS automatically converts his or her SMS text messages into SMS emoticons using keyword recognition technology.  Subscribers can choose from 4,000 emoticons in 500 themes, making it simple to create unique and personalized messages for each of their contacts, every time.
“emoticonSMS is another value-added service that makes traditional SMS more engaging and fun," says Jay Kim, Vice President, APAC & Music Business, at RealNetworks. “This agreement helps position BSNL as a market leader for value-added services in India.”
Real's services are currently available through 89 different carriers in 44 countries worldwide, making them available to 800.3 million subscribers. Real offers wireless providers a comprehensive selection of mobile services including music on demand, games, video, personalisation features such as ringtones, ringback tones and multimedia ringback services, as well as messaging services. 
Real is showcasing emoticonSMS and all of its mobile entertainment service offerings in booth number 4617 at CTIA.

3 Customers Get Rhythm - for Free

Mobile operator 3 UK  has launched what it says is the first ad-supported, commercial mobile music video service, in conjunction with Sony BMG Music Entertainment (UK). The service, powered by Rhythm NewMedia, is available to all 3 UK customers and is accessed through 3’s music homepage. Customers can now watch their favourite music videos from artists on their mobile phones anywhere and at any time.
The new Sony BMG video collection is the latest addition to 3’s existing free mobile video service. The service is offered to customers with no data charges and is supported by short, targeted video ads. Rhythm NewMedia both sells and delivers a targeted and personalised video ad before the music video based on demographic data collected. This new service complements the existing 3MusicStore, and will also offer links to purchase products.
“We are excited to be offering this first-of-a-kind service to all 3 UK customers. Rhythm NewMedia is a leading force in ad-funded mobile video entertainment, and it is a key part of our mobile strategy to make our artists’ music videos more widely available on the mobile platform,” says Alex Vlassopulos, Head of Business Development, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (UK).
3 UK Head of on Portal Advertising, Neil Andrews, adds:
“We know that our customers want to receive high-quality content on their mobiles and that they’re happy to view ads in order to receive it. This agreement with Sony BMG and Rhythm NewMedia enables us to meet that demand with some of the best music content around.  We were the first to market with an ad-supported mobile video service and now we’re building on that with the industry’s first mobile music service.”

KPN Ties Up with Artilium for User-generated Apps

KPN Mobile International, which provides next-generation telecommunications services, has announced a partnership with Artilium, which develops software for mobile network operators, to create new opportunities for user-generated applications on KPN’s mobile networks.
At the heart of the partnership is Artilium’s ‘Real-Time Architecture (ARTA) for Connected Mobile Services’ software, which is designed to facilitate rapid creation of new mobile applications, packaged as services. ARTA is designed and developed by Artilium on the Microsoft Platform.
The partnership includes a licensing agreement, allowing KPN deployment of ARTA as a platform for next-generation converged services across its growing base of over 27 million mobile subscribers in the Benelux, Germany and Spain.
“This agreement is a major boost for KPN’s strategy on MVNO’s (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) in Europe,” says KPN Mobile International CEO, Stan Miller. “Artilium software allows KPN to surge to the forefront of mobile/web innovation. We are able to open our network to developer communities worldwide to deliver an infinite range of differentiated services and an exciting new level of personalisation and interactivity for subscribers. In doing so, we begin to transform the very essence of our business, creating new service-centric business models across a broad value-chain that includes developers, advertisers and our commercial partners.”   

Amobee Powers Boost Ad Platform

Boost Mobile, a lifestyle-based telecommunications brand and wholly-owned division of Sprint Nextel, has taken the wraps off a new mobile advertising platform. Boost offers premium prepaid wireless phones and services. It is working with Amobee Media Systems, which specialises in providing mobile advertising solutions for wireless service providers, to deliver ads to Boost Mobile’s 4.6 million consumers, the majority of which are under the age of 30. 
Acura (www.acura.com), the luxury automotive brand, and Fox Searchlight Pictures, a film company that both finances and acquires motion pictures, are among the first companies to advertise on the platform. The first ads, which appeared yesterday, featured information on Fox Searchlight Pictures’ April 11 release, ‘Street Kings’. Shortly thereafter, consumers will begin seeing ads for Acura’s new 2009 TSX vehicle. Boost customers are not charged for viewing the ads, and they can opt-out from receiving ads by calling Boost customer service at 1-888-BOOST-4U.
Mobile advertising will appear initially on Boost Mobile’s BoostLIVE and Web Home. BoostLIVE is Boost Mobile’s handset storefront where customers can buy digital content such as ringtones, wallpapers, music, and games. Boost plans to expand advertising content to include messaging and key applications in the near future. 
“Mobile advertising is an excellent vehicle for reaching a growing segment of younger consumers who are drifting away from traditional mediums such as TV and print,” says Neil Lindsay, Vice President of Product Development at Boost Mobile. “The unique advantage Boost Mobile offers advertisers is access to today’s under-30 audience, a massive and growing crowd of consumers who are more likely to embrace advertising on their wireless phones.”

O2 Ties Up with Napster for Music Download Service

O2 is partnering with Napster to offer the UK’s largest full-track mobile music download service, following a similar deal in Ireland. Available exclusively on mobile through O2 Active, the Napster Mobile service launched over the weekend and provides access to over 5 million songs and dual delivery of tracks to both the customer’s mobile phone and PC.
O2 says it has chosen to partner with one of the biggest brands in digital music, in order to make the best mobile music experience available to its customers. The deal brings together one of the largest digital catalogues in the music industry with the UK’s largest mobile portal.
Single tracks will be priced at 99p for an initial promotional period, with bundles of five tracks going for £4. Once a song is purchased on the mobile phone, a copy will be automatically sent to the email address of the customer’s choosing. The Napster service will be accessible through O2 Active on over 30 different handsets.
“This is another great example of our strategy of creating deep-level partnerships with the best companies in the world to deliver compelling services to our customers,” says O2 UK Marketing Director, Sally Cowdry. “Working with the right partners at O2 UK is crucial to our success, and we have joined forces with a leader in this space to bring our customers a high quality, great value music service with the widest choice of songs available on mobile.”
Napster President Brad Duea says the company is excited to be working with O2. He says:
“We look forward to delivering a superior mobile music experience to O2 UK’s customers, along with the largest mobile music catalogue available. It’s the perfect extension of Napster’s online service in the UK.”

3 Welcomes Back Motorola

Mobile network 3  is to offer Motorola handsets as part of its range for the first time in over 18 months with the introduction of the RAZR2 V9. The move adds another major brand to 3’s portfolio and is being backed by an extensive store staff training programme. 17 ‘MOTOAGENTS’ will tour the entire 3Store base throughout March and April to help reintroduce the Motorola brand to 3 staff and customers.
“Motorola’s renewed focus on powerful 3G handsets like the RAZR2 V9 means we can welcome them back into 3’s growing portfolio,” says 3 Director of Products, Fergal Walker 
The RAZR2 V9 is available from 3Stores and Three.co.uk from this Thursday, 13 March. Slimmer, stronger and faster than its predecessors, the HSDPA handset features a stainless steel case, chemically-hardened glass and a touch-sensitive screen. It also incorporates a high-speed processor that Motorola says will enable the V9 to respond 10 times as fast as the original V3.
“Motorola is delighted to be working with 3 on the launch of the Motorola RAZR2 V9 across the UK,” says Jim Michel, General Manager, UK & Ireland for Motorola. “The rich capabilities of the RAZR2 V9 are a perfect match for the advanced services and experiences available through the 3 mobile network. Together, we have great expectations for how the product will perform in retail and are looking forward to building a portfolio of Motorola products available on 3 in the future.”   

Fastweb Selects Nokia Siemens

Fastweb, the Italian fixed network operator, has selected Nokia Siemens Networks as a technological partner for the launch of mobile services later this year.
Italy’s largest alternative broadband provider will start complementary wireless services as it becomes a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), using Nokia Siemens Networks solutions for an effective rollout of the new service. Nokia Siemens Networks will provide Fastweb with a suite of convergent core network products and network implementation services to facilitate the launch of mobile data services and resolve potential bandwidth issues.
Fastweb is a pioneer of the ‘all-IP’ network, offering convergent Internet access for voice, data and video services to its residential and business customers. Fastweb’s entry into the MVNO space is based on the recent agreement signed with 3Italia, Hutchinson Whampoa Group, which will allow the company to offer mobile services including voice, data and video, with a separate prefix (373).
“The choice of Nokia Siemens Networks as our service infrastructure partner confirms the strategic relationship between our companies,” says Fastweb ICT Services Director, Guido Roda. “Nokia Siemens Networks scored not only on the technological front, but also on correctly interpreting our needs. They constantly demonstrate how their relationship with Fastweb is not a mere customer-supplier relation, but a true long term partnership.
Fastweb, currently serving 1.3 million fixed network customers in Italy, will integrate the new mobile network with its broadband platform. Nokia Siemens Networks will deliver the network control solution, featuring its Intelligent Service Node (Flexi ISN), during the first quarter of 2008, ensuring that the whole system is in place for the MVNO service launch, scheduled for the second half of the year.
The contract also includes a service package for commissioning, installation and launch support to prepare Fastweb for the MVNO operation. This will ensure fast and smooth implementation of the network elements, allowing Fastweb to optimise spending and to focus on its core business,s while introducing new end user services.
Flexi ISN allows operators to manage IP-traffic, and especially with increasing data sharing, ensures a fair use of network resources. By controlling bandwidth allocation, the solution gives service providers the ability to differentiate their service bundles and rates in a more effective way, based on applications used by the customers.

UAE Gets High Speed Mobile Broadband

The GSM Association (GSMA) has revealed that United Arab Emirates UAE) operator Etisalat has achieved 98% High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) mobile broadband coverage, bringing high speed mobile Internet to both urban and remote regions. The GSMA notes that in a country that is 80% desert, mobile broadband has made access to rich mobile content possible for the vast majority of the population, that would have otherwise remained cut off from high speed Internet services.
The coverage includes every large city, town and major road network, with peak download speeds of 7.2Mbps, and upload speeds of 1.9Mbps. Services available include Mobile TV and video calling
Population-wide HSPA coverage means that the whole of the UAE can be connected to a wide range of mobile content including music, video, gaming, sports and news outside the major cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, bringing the benefits of the country’s accelerating economic and technological development to the wider population.

O2 Bluebook Keeps it Safe

O2  has announced the launch of O2 Bluebook, a free service that enables O2 customers to back up all phone numbers and automatically save every text and photo message online on a personal, secure site, to keep valuable memories safe.
With mobile phones increasingly used to capture life’s special moments, O2 Bluebook provides customers with an easy way of publishing and sharing their mobile life online. The texts and pictures that have been automatically saved can be filed, edited or displayed in online albums that can be viewed and shared with friends and relatives. In addition, O2 Bluebook also offers a blogging service, Blueblog, where customers can document their daily lives using the photos and messages saved directly from their mobile.
There’s a simple set-up process for the service, including an online tutorial to take customers through the process of synchronizing their information. Once registered, all text or MMS messages sent or received are automatically saved online. Photos on the phone can also be saved by sending them via MMS to 40202 for free.
“With text messages replacing letters and cameraphones replacing photo albums, people’s memories are increasingly going digital,” says O2 UK Marketing Director, Sally Cowdry. “We understand that customers are concerned with losing their memories, but that backing up can be complex. So we have created Bluebook with these insights in mind to offer customers a simple but effective way of backing up everything on their mobile and enabling them to edit and share their memories.”
Bluebook is also accessible through O2 Active, so customers can manage their online account sharing messages and pictures on the move. In addition, if a customer’s mobile is lost or stolen or they want to upgrade their handset, transferring contacts to their new mobile is quick and easy.

O2 Hits the Right Note with NME Gig Clips

O2 is making unique live content from tonight’s NME Awards Big Gig at the O2 available exclusively to O2 customers. The NME Awards Big Gig features Manic Street Preachers, Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party, among others. The downloadable content will include live music video clips and backstage action from each of the bands, which will be available online and through O2 Active.
O2 customers can access the content by texting NME to 2020 and can download one live video clip from each band absolutely free (though data charges apply). Additional clips will be available at 75p each. More videos from the event and backstage interviews with each band will also be available exclusively on O2 Active and online here.
For those lucky enough to have a ticket, O2 is offering its customers exclusive VIP access to special areas within The O2 before and after the event. O2 customers can text TICKETS to 60202, for the chance for them and three friends to gain VIP access to the O2 Lounge, which, for one night only, will be transformed into the Rocksino - a flamboyant rock-themed casino open only to VIP guests.
The party will continue in the O2 Blueroom Bar straight after the gig. O2 customers can text BLUEROOM to 60202 for a barcode ticket for themselves and up to 3 guests. Tailor made ‘Rocktails’ will be served at the bar and there will be an indie DJ playing until 1am.
“Through our partnership with (O2 venue owners) AEG, we are able to offer our customers unique VIP experiences and exclusive content direct from The O2,” says O2 UK Marketing Director, Sally Cowdry. “We share our customer’s passion for music and are delighted to be able to bring fans closer to the music and bands they love.”

Voda Partners with Telmap for SatNav Solution

Vodafone UK has teamed up with mobile mapping and navigation specialist Telmap to launch Vodafone Sat Nav, the first operator-branded mobile navigation service aimed at UK consumers. Vodafone Sat Nav has already been launched into the enterprise market, where it is available on a number of devices, including the BlackBerry Curve 8310, and the BlackBerry Pearl 8110.
Vodafone says the solution provides users with a complete mobile navigation experience, including both in-car and pedestrian navigation. Featuring 3D maps that enhance the navigation experience, up-to-date maps and directions, it also gives the customer instant access to live traffic alerts and millions of points-of-interest, such as hotels, restaurants, shopping and attractions.
“This consumer launch further strengthens the partnership between Telmap and Vodafone UK and allows us to build on the success we have achieved with Vodafone Sat Nav in the enterprise market,” says Telmap CEO, Oren Nissim. “As the first operator-branded mobile navigation service for UK consumers, this launch marks a significant milestone for both Telmap and the industry in bringing a fully featured SatNav experience to the mass-market mobile phone.” 
Vodafone Sat Nav is launching initially on three of Vodafone UK’s GPS-embedded handsets, the Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8GB and Nokia 6110, as well as the new BlackBerry Pearl 8110 smartphone. Subscription to the service costs £5 per month, with the first month free. Data charges apply when using the service. Customers can sign up for the service from any Vodafone retail store, through telesales or directly from the Vodafone live! portal. BlackBerry Pearl 8110 customer will get 12 months SatNav included, when they buy the phone.

Ofcom Goes for O2

Communications regulator Ofcom has issued O2 with a deadline for meeting its 3G rollout obligation, and told the operator what steps it proposes to take should it still not be in compliance when the deadline arrives.
The obligation requires each of the five holders of a 3G licence to rollout their networks to enable the provision of 3G services to at least 80% of the population from 31 December 2007. Having completed its assessment of compliance with the obligation, Ofcom found that although four of the five licensees  - H3G, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone - have complied with the requirement, O2 only covered 75.69% of the population at the end of last year. The shortfall equates to approximately 2.5 million people.
Ofcom has now issued O2 with a notice under the procedure in the Wireless Telegraphy Act for licence breaches. This proposes that if O2 has not met the rollout obligation by the end of June 2008, Ofcom will shorten the term of its 3G licence by four months. This would mean that O2's licence would end on 31 August 2021, rather than 31 December 2021.
O2 acquired its 3G licence in 2000 for £4.03 billion. Ofcom estimates that a reduction of the licence term by four months would be equivalent to a significant financial sanction of at least £40 million.

SEVEN Expands Latvian Offering

Push email software company SEVEN has partnered with Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT), Latvia’s biggest mobile network operator, to provide LMT customers with access to their consumer email accounts on their mobile phone with Tiešpasts, powered by SEVEN’s Consumer Edition solution.
LMT customers currently have access to SEVEN’s enterprise mobile email solution, making it easy for users to monitor their work email accounts away from the office. Now, SEVEN is providing its Consumer Edition solution to LMT customers, allowing them the same instant access to consumer email accounts from popular Internet email providers such as Google, inbox.lv, delfi.lv, and apollo.lv.
“By extending our mobile email solution to include our Consumer Edition solution with LMT we are furthering our mission to provide mobile email to everyone,” says SEVEN CEO, Ross Bott. “We understand the need for an easy solution to access consumer email accounts on a vast array of devices. We are excited to offer our own consumer email solution to LMT customers, giving them the access they want on their existing mobile phones.”
SEVEN says its consumer mobile email solution is easy to access and use. To access email accounts, customers choose the personal mobile email icon, and enter their username and password once for continued access. SEVEN has simplified the mobile email user interface to encourage usability and adoption of its solution. Customers will also have access to both their personal and work email accounts on their mobile phone, as well as access to their contacts and calendar appointments.
“Mobile email has been steadily gaining popularity among both businesses and consumers for some time,” says LMT Press Secretary, Elīna Lidere. “We are happy to extend our own services to include mobile email access to consumer email accounts, in addition to SEVEN’s enterprise email services they are already offering our customers.”
SEVEN’s Consumer Edition is available for € 4.26 (£3.20) per month, and the Enterprise Edition for
€ 7.11 per month.

O2 Takes the Train

O2 has secured a contract with Network Rail, which owns and operates Britain’s rail infrastructure, to provide voice, BlackBerry and other mobile data services. The deal is O2’s largest corporate customer win and, says O2, one of the UK’s largest ever port of numbers, with 23,000 connections transferring to O2. O2 says that the win overturns industry-wide perceptions that large corporates see the risk of changing suppliers as too daunting.
Working closely with Network Rail, O2 will be developing and streamlining mobile solutions to help Network Rail maintain, renew and enhance the railway. O2 will help Network Rail identify areas of the business that will benefit from mobile technology to enhance efficiency and flexibility for the workforce and put in place systems to achieve both bottom-line and customer benefits.
As the relationship evolves, O2 says it will work closely with Network Rail to develop bespoke solutions.
“This is an incredible win for O2 and provides us with another great example of how we are changing the face of the mobile marketplace,” says O2 UK Business Sales Director, Ben Dowd. “We genuinely believe that customer and employee satisfaction are intrinsically linked to business success and together with Network Rail, we believe we can help the company achieve its objectives.”
Network Rail’s Director of Information Management, Catherine Doran, adds:
“We are delighted to enter into this relationship with O2. We are keen to embrace new ways of communicating with our people and suppliers and changing the way we work by using new technology. O2 has demonstrated the same passion and drive to help us achieve these bold targets, by showing great innovation, good customer service and commercial capability.”
O2 has experience of large scale migrations in blue chip corporations, including Merrill Lynch, the AA and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Toshiba Closes In on UK Network Deal

Consumer electronics company Toshiba says it is close to securing a deal with a UK network operator to make one or more of its latest handsets, unveiled at MWC last week, available to contract customers.
Though not well known as a mobile handset maker, Toshiba has been making handsets for the past six years, and selling them in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy for the past 18 months, to pay-monthly customers. But according to Med Jeeworth, UK Country Manager for Toshiba’s Mobile Communications Division, a UK network deal is in the offing.
“We are in contract negotiations with a major UK mobile operator, and they are going well, but discussions with mobile operators take time, especially when you are a new supplier,” Medworth told Mobile Marketing. 
If the deal is secured, it would be Toshiba’s second European network deal. The G901 is available to French contract customers via France Telecom.
Three Windows Mobile devices, the Portege G710, Portege G910 and the G450, launch at the end of March. The Blackberry-like G710 will sell for £180 without contract. The clamshell G910 will sell for £380, and the G450, for £150.
The dinky G450 (pictured) is the most interesting of the three devices. Measuring up at just 98 x 36 x 16mm and weighing in at 57g, it’s an HSDPA USB modem which doubles up as a mobile phone. It also has a built-in MP3 player and can also function as a 160MB memory stick for storage.
A fourth device, the touch-screen Portege G810, launches in July.

Airwide and NSN in UAE Deployment

Airwide Solutions, which provides next-generation mobile messaging and mobile Internet infrastructure, applications and solutions, has entered into a global reseller agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). The companies' first customer is du, the new integrated telecommunications service provider in United Arab Emirates.
du was seeking a third-party messaging gateway solution to offer controlled access to network capabilities, such as SMS, MMS and WAP technologies to its content partners, and chose to deploy the Airwide technology together with Nokia Siemens Networks. The solution integrates with the NSN-delivered network elements, such as messaging centers, browsing gateways, and charging systems.
Airwide says it will help du to reduce the cost and time involved in bringing rich mobile messaging services to market, automating the partner sign-up process, while preserving and maintaining the security and integrity of the underlying core network.
The solution allows du to set service level agreements with its third-party Value Added Service (VAS) content providers, while monitoring their performance through a business intelligence and reporting system.
“This project demonstrates the capability of Airwide to integrate with Nokia Siemens Networks VAS platforms, enabling us together to unify operators’ value-added service delivery infrastructure and related business processes,” says Antero Norkio, Head of Global Channels for Airwide. “With over 120 operator deployments, the maturity of the product suite has become a real competitive advantage, and makes us a reliable partner for Nokia Siemens Networks.”
The Nokia Siemens Networks agreement covers the entire Airwide solution suite for global reselling. The solutions are delivered through the Nokia Siemens Networks Consulting and Systems Integration business unit that can assist the operator in defining, implementing, delivering and launching Service Delivery Platforms and value-added services. 

Voda Hires Knook to Run Internet Services Group

Vodafone Group Plc has announced the creation of Vodafone Internet Services, which the company says will lead the development and delivery of Vodafone’s current and future consumer propositions for the Internet. Vodafone has appointed Pieter Knook, a Senior Vice President of Microsoft, to the newly-created role of Director of Internet Services.
Vodafone Internet Services will focus on the provision and delivery of distinctive consumer web services such as IP communications, mobile Internet access and selected content categories, through mobile devices.
Knook will be responsible for delivering new revenue growth around Internet, content and advertising, with a focus on differentiating Vodafone’s services by creating rich and distinctive experiences for customers. Knook, 49, joins Vodafone on 10 March, following 17 years with Microsoft, where he spent the last five years as Senior Vice President, running Microsoft’s Mobile business. Knook will report to Frank Rovekamp, Vodafone Group Global Chief Marketing Officer.
“Leading Vodafone Internet Services calls for a world class leader of considerable stature and experience,” says Rovekamp. “We are delighted that Pieter is joining us to help transform the customer experience through the mobile Internet, meet growing customer demand for web services accessed from mobile devices, and drive revenues within our Mobile Plus strategy.”
Vodafone’s Mobile Plus strategy focuses on the company’s commitment to address fixed line revenue opportunities, develop integrated mobile and PC offerings, and create advertising revenue streams.

SNAPin Secures Global Vodafone Deal

Vodafone Group has signed a global agreement with mobile interaction management company SNAPin Software, to deploy SNAPin’s SelfService software as part of a global initiative to increase customer satisfaction, and grow customer loyalty.
Vodafone will use SNAPin’s SelfService software to provide its customers with the ability to automatically resolve common problems directly on their mobile phone. For instance, customers will now be able to diagnose and repair configuration problems, make account inquiries and solve problems directly on their handsets. Vodafone customers will gain more control of when and how they access help, quickly and in an intuitive way.
“Excellent customer service is central to how we acquire and retain loyal customers,” says Paul de Laat, Global Director of Customer Value Management for Vodafone. “A large part of this is giving our customers a choice of when and how they contact us and providing them with accurate and timely help when they need it. We have conducted thorough trials with SNAPin and it was very clear that self-help directly on the handset improves overall customer satisfaction and grows loyalty. It was also evident that this kind of differentiated service could potentially stimulate additional revenue, as customers become more confident and interested to try new service offerings.”
SNAPin’s vision is to deliver market-leading mobile self-service software to not only improve the customer care experience in the mobile industry through operator implementation of SelfService Care, but also to increase customer adoption of new mobile services and features.
“Vodafone’s commitment to self-service innovation revolutionises the way its customers discover and use information on their device,” says Jason Choy, Managing Director, EMEA for SNAPin Software. “We are very proud that our SelfService software has been so successful for them, and we look forward to delivering a trusted, relevant and personalised experience to Vodafone customers across the globe.”

A Smarter Way to Roam

Hong Kong mobile operator SmarTone-Vodafone has selected Starhome’s roaming solutions to improve the experience of its outbound subscribers when travelling abroad. By deploying solutions such as Starhome’s Intelligent Call Assistant (ICA), SmarTone-Vodafone aims to  enable its customers to experience the same quality of service when roaming that they enjoy at home.
Starhome’s ICA solution capabilities include automatic call completion to resolve dialling errors, for improved call completion rates and enhanced customer satisfaction, even when the user is unfamiliar with international dialling conventions. Starhome says that  ICA will enable SmarTone-Vodafone to analyse dialling mistakes, correct calls via a global numbering plan and patented application logic, complete calls seamlessly, and ultimately enhance customers’ mobile experience when travelling. In Starhome’s experience, operators lose roaming revenue daily because 7-12% of roamers misdial when making calls and 45-60% of these calls are never completed.
“We are confident that Starhome’s roaming solutions will enhance and enrich the experience of our customers and international business travellers, when roaming on the SmarTone-Vodafone network,” says SmarTone-Vodafone Chief Technology Officer Stephen Chau. “The new roaming technology will support our continued growth, by offering flexible seamless enhancements and improved convenience for customers visiting Hong Kong and in need of an effective mobile communication service.”

3 and O2 Team Up to Form EyeVibe

Mobile networks 3 and  O2 are joining forces to launch ‘EyeVibe’, a mobile video community that combines 3’s ‘SeeMeTV’ and O2’s ‘LookAtMe!’ services into a single community, enabling any UK mobile subscriber with a video-enabled handset to share and earn cash from their mobile video clips.
Both the LookAtMe! and SeeMeTV platforms were created by mobile applications company, Yospace. By bringing them together, 3 and O2 aim to unite hundreds of thousands of users and their content into a single community, bringing together the best features of both.
“We have been working hard to not only combine these two communities, but also to develop community features that will thrive under this operator-supported open access model,” says Yospace Chief Technology Officer, Dave Springall. “Our plan for 2008 is to make EyeVibe the biggest and brightest mobile community in the UK.”
Members of the EyeVibe community will be able to access a vast library of video captured from mobile handsets, and will also be able to interact using messaging, voting and comments. Because EyeVibe is open to all, it means that members can for the first time invite their friends to enjoy the benefits of being part of the community.
Since the launch of SeeMeTV and LookAtMe!, users have paid for more than 32 million video downloads, earning a combined total of over £800,000 for users who have submitted more than 60,000 clips. The services currently generate 28 million mobile page impressions per month.
The launch of EyeVibe will be backed by a multi-media marketing campaign across Yospace parent company Bauer’s UK consumer magazine, radio, Internet and TV platforms.

Blyk Goes Dutch with Vodafone

Ad-funded mobile network Blyk has announced plans for a launch in the Netherlands.  Blyk will use Vodafone Netherlands as its host operator when it launches in the country in the second half of 2008. Blyk says that launches in other European markets are under discussion. 
Blyk CEO and Co-founder, Pekka Ala-Pietilä says the company is launching in the Netherlands as the country is among the three highest advertising spend per capita in Europe. He adds that the country is a key target market for brands with international campaigns.
“From an advertising perspective, the Netherlands is also an incredibly creative and dynamic market,” says Ala-Pietilä. “The deal with Vodafone ensures that we can offer the highest quality service in the Netherlands for both our members and our advertisers.”
Anthony Hellegers, Director of Strategy, Wholesale, Legal & Regulatory at Vodafone Netherlands adds:
“Last year we announced that we want to build a sustainable position in the Dutch MVNO market by offering a true partnership model and the best network quality. We are delighted that this has been recognized and that Blyk has chosen Vodafone Netherlands for their expansion into the Netherlands.”
In a separate move, Blyk has unveiled two new investors, Goldman Sachs and Industrial and Financial Investments Company (IFIC). They join a roster that includes Sofinnova Partners and a number of private investors.

O2 Offers Tariff Cheer for iPhone Users

O2’s iPhone customers are to get an i