BT have put some heat into the home and mobile broadband market by offering a combined package at £15.95 per month. The package includes home broadband at speeds of up to 7 mb and a dongle to allow mobile broadband downloads of upto 1 gb per month. The customer has to buy the dongle for £49.95.
The move will cause competition to heat up in both the home and mobile broadband markets. More to follow on this in the coming days no doubt.
TalkTalk the fixed line business from the Carphone Warehouse is to be split from the retail business. Both businesses will be run by Charles Dunstone. The move is designed to improve shareholder value. The retail business, which is now half owned by the US giant Best Buy will begin opening shops in the Summer of 2009.
Profits at Apple saw a 15% rise in second quarter profits - the driver for this boost was the sale of 3.8 million iPhones.
Ericsson, the mobile phone network equipment manufacturer, say it will injet cash into Sony Ericsson the handset manufacturer if needed.
T-Mobile have appointed Richard Moot as the new boss of the UK division. There is speculation that the move is a precurser to the sell off of the UK business by its German parent company.
Bell Mobility (formerly Bell Cellular up until 1993) is the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada. Bell Mobility has over 5,884,000 subscribers as of the end of Q2 2007. In July 2006, Bell Mobility assumed responsibility for the former Aliant wireless operations in Atlantic Canada as part of a larger restructuring of both Bell and Aliant, and continued to do business there as Aliant Mobility until rebranding as Bell in April 2008.[2]
Virgin Mobile Canada, Bell-owned Solo Mobile and PC Mobile operate as MVNOs on the Bell Mobility network.
Subsidiaries of Bell Mobility include NMI Mobility, obtained from Northwestel, itself a Bell Canada subsidiary, 1 January 2003, due to a restructuring of the parent company.
Bell Mobility is a member of the British Columbia Technology Industry Association.
Their cellular network utilizes AMPS, CDMA, PTT, 1xRTT and, as of November 2005, 1xEVDO technology.
Their handset lineup includes phones from LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sanyo. The lineup also includes PDAs from Motorola, palmOne, RIM, Samsung, HTC and UTStarcom, and connection cards from Sierra Wireless, Novatel and Kyocera.
Bell Mobility also features a line up of devices built to withstand various weather conditions and modems.
Bell offers a service to check account balances, minutes and megabytes of mobile data used, add features and answers to frequently asked questions. The service is called TCARE, Short for text message care. It is used by sending a blank message to the phone number TCARE (82273). After doing so, you will receive a menu with for options. Replying with the letter A: for account balance, B: for usage, C: Add a feature, or D: FAQ’s.
As part of their current media advertising campaign in print and on TV, Bell Mobility features a pair of anthropomorphic CGI beavers named Frank (voiced by Norm Macdonald) and Gordon (voiced by Ken Hudson Campbell), who constantly get into misadventures which lead to Frank getting flustered with the antics of the dimwitted Gordon.
Analysts covering a potential restructuring of BCE suggested getting rid of the Frank and Gordon ad campaign. They have also criticized some of Bell Mobility’s initiatives as failing to tap the market, such as offering full-length movies.
The ad campaign was cancelled by Bell on August 1, 2008 and replaced with the “Today just got better” campaign.
Some clients of Bell Mobility have claimed that their phones features have been restricted. This action is typically referred to as “crippling.” Examples of claims of restricted features are the inability to perform Bluetooth file transfers, for example with the OBEX profile or with a USB cable. Restrictions also include increasing the GPS lock time (2-10 minutes) and resolution (1-2.5KM) of Third Party applications while maintaining the speed (10-15s) and accuracy (10-25m) of the branded GPS Nav program. GPS Nav service costs $10/month or $3.50/day in addition to the cost of a data plan. The phones affected include the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, BlackBerry 8130 Pearl, and BlackBerry 8330 Curve.
Some clients claim that Bell Mobility purposely restricts these features in order to force them to use the data services and as a result pay more usage charges. Methods around these restrictions are to use an external memory card or software such as BitPim. Researching the abilities and lack thereof is recommended before purchasing a phone or PDA device, as some desired features may be lacking in the initial choice.
Analysts also suggested converting from CDMA to GSM, as this would allow Bell Mobility to benefit from revenue generated by visitors’ roaming, and because most new cell phones are designed for GSM first before CDMA. However, with the introduction of two world phones, the 8830 and the a840, Bell Mobility is tapping into the GSM market outside of North America to customers who frequently travel.
In December 2007 the BBC reported a customer with a $7/month unlimited mobile browser plan received a $85,000 bill.[11] The customer used the phone as a modem for his computer which is not the intent for the unlimited mobile browser plan the customer subscribed to[12]. Bell Mobility now releases in detail acceptable data usage in the terms of service.[3] The BBC reported “Canadians complain that their mobile phone charges are much higher for comparable service in the United States”.
In July 2008, along with Telus Mobility Bell introduced charges of 15¢ for incoming SMS messages - a rarity in the Canadian cellular market. Critics were quick to point out that there is no way of blocking incoming message fees and suggested Bell and Telus were price fixing as both had announced the fees simultaneously.[13] Bell (and Telus) are now being sued by frustrated consumers and subscribers, as they demand change in text charges.
In October 2008 Telus Mobility and Bell announced they will utilise LTE wireless technology as their next generation wireless network. It has been announced by Telus that Nokia will provide the infrastructure for the new network, which is planned for completion by 2010. This new network will operate along side both Telus and Bell existing CDMA network.
Source: Wikipedia
eBay the internet aution site have announced plans to sell Skype the internet telephony service they purchased for $3.1 billion just four years ago.
They have long admitted that they overpaid for Skype hoping that they would be able to harness the voice over wireless services to improve their core auction business.
The announcement cheered investors pushing eBay’s shares up by 3.9% on Wall Street.
Last year Skype generated revenues of $551 million, up 44% on 2007. It’s user base is now 405 million. A recent release allowing customers to use Skype on the iPhone was warmly welcomed with one million people downloading the service within the first 36 hours.
Comstar the Russian fixed line telephony operator has reported net profits of $59.2 million up from $51.8 milion last time.
The world’s largest mobile phone network operator - China Mobile has announced plans to spend £6.9 billion in developing its rural networks over the next three years.
The operator has a subscriber base of over 300 million (Vodafone worldwide has in the region of 260 million) and employs over 100,000 people.
Not bad for a company which began life in 1997.
3 is a brand name under which several UMTS based mobile phone networks are operated in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong and Macau, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Hutchison Whampoa owns direct majority interests in the companies that operate the networks that are branded 3, except 3 Hong Kong and 3 Indonesia. These networks are majority-owned by the publicly listed Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (HTIL), in which Hutchison Whampoa has a 50.003 percent majority interest.
All 3-branded networks provide 3G technology (WCDMA, some also run 2G networks). Hutchison Whampoa also holds a 3G-license in Israel which operates under the brand Orange, and in Norway which is not operational yet.[1] As of 20 August 2008, registered 3 customers worldwide numbered over 19 million.
Like other mobile-provider Internet homepages, 3’s portal is ‘free to browse’ for some content in most 3 countries including Ireland, UK and Australia in most price plans; the user pays a fixed price for each video, text or application downloaded.
Besides that, 3 UK and also 3 Ireland initially made the decision to block direct Internet access from handsets, while 3 Austria allowed access to the internet since the beginning.
In 2004, 3 released a PC card 3G Data Card (”NetConnect Card”) for Windows-based laptops which allows Internet access through 3’s network directly from the computer, accompanied by a range of data and business tariffs. Later, more cards and USB modems for HSDPA were introduced.
In November 2007, 3 started to sell the Skypephone, which was developed by Amoi (together with Skype and combines the functionality of a UMTS handset with free voice calls and instant messages from Skype. These Skypephones were sold on contract and on a prepaid basis. The phone model WP-S1 wasmade by AMOI in China.
In February 2007 3 introduced ‘3 Like Home’: a service that in theory allows subscribers to use any 3-branded network with the exception of 3 Indonesia without having to pay additional roaming charges, instead paying the same amount for voice, data, and messaging services as they would do on their home network. This also allows users to use their free or inclusive bundles and allowances while abroad. However, pre-pay customers do not benefit fully, as they can not yet use each 3 branded network for ‘3 Like Home’.
3 Australia confirm that calls made using ‘3 Like Home’ are not included in any “cap” plan or inclusive bundles.
This arrangement is possible because of the roaming agreements between the networks. Each of the networks provides service to other partners networks free of internal roaming charges. This means that the marginal cost of a roaming call is much the same as a call on the home network.
An advertisement for 3 in which Leon Lai, a Hong Kong-based Cantopop singer, is the pinup.
In Australia 3 is owned by Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Limited (HTAL) and operates a 2100 MHz 3G network in a 50/50 partnership with Telstra (the radio networks are shared, the core networks are separate), covering approximately 56% of Australia’s population. The 3G network covers Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, the Gold Coast, Canberra, Geelong, Frankston and Wollongong.
In areas not covered by 3’s 3G network, customers roam on Telstra’s GSM/GPRS/EDGE network. This agreement allows 3 to offer coverage to up to 96% of the population. 3’s total number of Australian subscribers reached 1,810,000 as of August 2008. Also in August 2008, 3 made an announcement that a new roaming agreement with Telstra had been reached, whereby 3 customers would gain access to parts (up to 96% of population coverage) of Telstra’s “NextG” branded UMTS850 network from 2Q 2009.
Hutchison formerly operated an Australian CDMA network under the Orange brand name. On February 1 2006, it was re-branded as 3 CDMA, and this network was closed as of August 9, 2006. 3 CDMA customers were offered special tariffs and incentives to continue as customers on the 3G network, all customers either moved over to 3’s 3G network or to other network providers.
3 has sponsored Big Brother Australia since 2005, The Australian Cricket Team and Essendon Football Club.
On February 9, 2009 HTAL and Vodafone announced that they would be merging their Australian operations into a 50-50 joint venture called VHA Pty Ltd. All products and services offered by VHA would be marketed under the Vodafone brand, as well as holding exclusive rights to use the 3 brand during and after the transition process. This merger is expected to be completed by mid-2009, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
Three was the first network to offer 3G in Australia and was criticised heavily in its early years, with far greater faults than its 2G competitors. Australia’s national complaint body for telecommunications, the TIO or Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman asked ACMA to investigate in 2005, who then concluded that Hutchison’s 3 network was not in breach of the Network Performance code.
3 Austria started operations in May 2003. The company promised to have 95% population coverage with HSDPA end of 2007. Currently, 3’s 3G coverage appears to be limited to 94% of the population.
It lost a lawsuit in 2007 against Mobilkom Austria when it claimed to have the largest 3G network in Austria, as Mobilkom Austria had a coverage of 80% while 3 had 83% and the difference between the two was too small to advertise on it.
Outside the coverage of its own 3G-network (UMTS/HSDPA) it relies on national roaming on the network of 2G-market leader Mobilkom Austria.
3 Austria is the first in Austria to offer its customers so called “HD Mobile TV” based on the H.264 encoding standard, and won IIR telcon awards for their eBay (2006) and X-Series Gold (2007) offerings.
3 Austria won a DVB-H license and launched the service in June 2008, with three devices and free usage of Mobile TV.
3 Danmark and 3 Sverige have a common network covering most of the two countries. Customers are “at home” on both networks, i.e. Danish customer receive calls from Denmark without paying roaming when they are on 3 Sverige’s network and it does not cost extra to call Danish telephone numbers. 3 Scandinavia also has a license to build a network in Norway, but currently 3 Danmark and 3 Sverige have to have positive financials. In 2008 both operations showed a positive EBITDA. In Sweden the network is shared, but this is not allowed in Denmark.
In May 2004, its affiliated 2G operator Orange re-branded its services and changed its name to “3 Dualband”, referring to the GSM product, and “3 CDMA”, referring to the CDMA product.
On 29 May 2008, Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Limited announced that it has signed an agreement with Apple Inc. to bring the iPhone to Hong Kong and Macau later that year under 3.
Note: Hutchison Whampoa owns 50.003% of HTIL (Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited)
The 3 service was launched commercially in Indonesia on 30 March 2007 with the company name is Hutchison Charoen Pokphand Telecommunications (HCPT). Only after 9 months of operations, 3 acquired about 2.2 million GSM customers.
At the end of July 2008, 3 Indonesia had about 3 million customers on its GSM network. 3 offers both pre-paid and post-paid (contract) services. Currently, the post-paid service is available in Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya area.
3 Indonesia slogan is “Jaringan GSM-mu (Your GSM Network)”, formerly “Jaringan Selularmu (Your Cellular Network)”. Sometimes, 3 use “Mau? (Want it?)” and “Hanya di 3 (Only on 3)” slogan in their ads.
3 currently has GSM coverage in Java, Sumatera, Bali, Lombok, and Riau Islands. Kalimantan and Sulawesi area will be covered at the end of 2008. The 3 UMTS/HSDPA service is currently available in Jakarta and Puncak area only.
Note: Hutchison Whampoa owns 50.003% of HTIL
3 has a license for operation in the Republic of Ireland using the access code 083. The service was launched on July 26, 2005 as Ireland’s 4th mobile network operator behind Vodafone, O2 and Meteor. 3’s coverage is made up of a single 2100 MHz band UMTS network with claims of 87% population coverage. A roaming agreement with Vodafone Ireland provides GSM coverage where no UMTS signal is available. 3 users cannot call Tesco Mobile Ireland numbers (using the (089) prefix as an MVNO on the O2 network) as no agreement exists yet, however they can send text messages (SMS).
They initially offered a “bill pay” service only but in May 16, 2006 they announced the introduction of a pre-paid service knows as 3Pay. 3 uses the 083 area code but numbers can be ported over from other networks.
On 15 October 2006 3 Ireland announced they would have twenty-eight “3Stores” opened by the end of 2007 and 8 opened by the end of 2006. The first opened on Patrick Street in Cork with the flagship 3Store on Grafton St in Dublin. 3 Ireland currently has a market share of 1.6%, which is approximately 77,000 subscribers.
On Monday 21 May 2007, 3 launched a new “10GB mobile broadband” package. Subscribers who avail of this offer are told to expect speeds of up to 3.6 Mbit/s, paying €19.99 a month. The required USB modem or data card costs €89 on a 12 month contract. However, some people who use the service complain of a myriad of problems, from low speed to random disconnects [14].
On Friday 29 February 2008, 3 launched “3PAY BROADBAND”, a prepaid mobile broadband service. Selling the broadband modem for €179 and charging €5 for 1 days use, €10 for 1 weeks use and €25 for 1 months usage. Usage is paid for by purchasing a top up voucher. The 3 website at will always be available. Pre-paid data packages are also available. This verification is not necessary if a USB modem such as the Huawei E220 is used.
3 has made a deal with broadband provider BT Ireland to increase its Irish broadband speed from 3.6 Mbit/s to 7.2 Mbit/s by the end of the year 2008.Thereafter they will increase to 14.4 Mbit/s by the end of 2009.They will also increase it’s number of cell mast sites from 70 to 770. They deal is worth 44 million euro.
In Italy, 3 was the first mobile operator to offer 3G services (UMTS), launched in March 2003. As of December 2007, 3 Italia had 8 million registered customers, thus being the local leader in the 3G telecommunications market. 3 Italy is the largest company in the 3-group measured in number of subscribers. It has a roaming agreement with TIM which allows its customers to get a 2G service when they move out of 3G coverage. On February 22, 2006, 3 announced the first launch of (HSDPA) technology in Italy, with initial coverage of Rome. The HSDPA service, which provides wireless broadband access with speed up to 14.4 Megabit/s, has been initially launched offering connection speeds up to 3.6 Megabit/s. The service has been called ADSM (as a contraction for ADSL Mobile). On May 14, 2006 3 was the 1st in Italy to launch the Digital Mobile TV with the DVB-H technology (70% of population); this service is currently available with three mobile models LG U900, LG U960 & Samsung SGH-P910.
3 Italy’s slogan is: Meglio cambiare, no? (It’s better to change, isn’t it?). The company’s success is also due to its commercial policies (it was the 1st mobile operator which introduced mobile phone with SIM lock in Italy, which has prevented customers from successfully moving to a different network) and its advertising campaigns. From November 2006 to March 2007, 3 Italy’s testimonial has been Paris Hilton, followed by Luciana Littizzetto.
From June 6, 2008 3 Italy offers free of charge the vision of Rai Uno, Rai Due, Canale 5, Italia 1, Rete 4, SKY Meteo24, Current TV and La7 with DVB-H technology and offers free Internet navigation up to 50 MB.
3 Power is an international business unit of 3 Italia. As the first DVB-H operator worldwide, 3 Italia is clearly established as a strategic leader in the convergence of communication, information and entertainment. It has now more than 720,000 DVB-H clients. 3 Power provides DVB-H and UMTS services to operators and broadcasters worldwide based on the knowledge and expertise acquired by 3 Italia throughout the past years.
Recent press speculation from the UK newspaper, The Times, claims that 3 Italia has sent out an information memorandum in the hope of attracting potential bidders. Hutchison tried to sell up to 25% of 3 Italia in an initial public offering (IPO) in 2005 that it hoped would value the operator at around EUR10bn. However, the planned listing was canceled in early 2006 after valuations failed to live up to Hutchison’s expectations.[15] It is also speculated that this sale, if it goes ahead could lead to further selling of other assets of 3 Group, including 3(UK) and 3 Ireland.
The 3 service was launched in the UK on 3 March 2003 (3/3/3). After 32 months of operations, 3 acquired 3.2 million UMTS customers, more than the other UK mobile operators combined. In 2003, 3 launched the UK’s first video mobile network to bring new services to the mobile media market. Given 3G was a new technology, 3 undertook one of the fastest network rollouts in UK history and met their license regulatory requirements three years ahead of schedule. 3 has a roaming agreement with Orange which allows its customers to use their handsets on the 2G network when they move out of 3G coverage. Before January 2007, their partner network was O2.
At the end of 2005, 3 UK had nearly 4 million customers on its network and was the largest 3G network in the UK with more 3G subscribers than all the other networks together. The UK offers both pre- and post-pay (contract) services.
3 has used a number of different TV, print and radio advertising campaigns since their launch. Their pre-September 2007 slogan is “Welcome to our Network”. The new slogan is “Fresh on 3″
3’s first retail stores (3Stores) opened at the same time as the network launched, on Oxford Street and High Street Kensington, both in London, and at the Birmingham Mailbox. 3 has an agreement with Superdrug, which stocks exclusively 3’s mobile phones. Many Superdrug stores also host a ThreePoint, a separately-staffed, glass-walled kiosk. This agreement came about after Superdrug was purchased by Watson’s, a large Asian retailer also owned by Hutchison Whampoa. 3’s handsets and contracts are also sold by mobile telephony chains and independents throughout the UK, as well as online retailers. In October 2005, the second wave of 3Stores opened in larger malls throughout the UK, such as the Harlequin Shopping Centre in Watford, the Bluewater Shopping Centre, and The Mall in Bristol Cribbs Causeway. These stores are now 3’s flagship high street shops. On October 24, 2006, 3 announced that it had purchased 95 high street shops from O2, 274 The Link outlets, and 22 shops branded under the O2 banner. 3 announced that these would be rebranded as 3Stores “within weeks”, in time for the important Christmas season.
On Friday 11 January 2007, 3 announced it will be closing 107 of its concession stores, leaving only 20.
3 launched SeeMeTV at the end of 2005, allowing its customers to submit their own video content that other subscribers could watch. Users pay a small micropayment (the price decided by the video’s creator) to watch these videos. The user who created the videos will get paid 10% of the amount of money that is paid by other users to watch the video. This service does allow some adult content, but this is protected by a PIN to prevent minors accessing it. Users are paid once they have made £10 using PayPal. It is the most popular user-generated mobile service created - since launch there have been over four million downloads of videoclips and it is set to be launched through MSN Spaces.
There is also a feature called 3 mobile tv, which allows users to watch some of their favorite TV shows on their mobile.
3 currently has the highest level of 3G coverage in the UK and went live with HSDPA in September 2007. 3 currently has with full HSDPA coverage in place in north of Manchester, Northern Ireland and in London. Other UK locations will gradually be HSDPA enabled, with completion in July 2008. 3UK subscribers can use their service on 3 networks around the world for no extra charge (Ireland, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Hong Kong and Australia) with ‘3 Like Home.’
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3 UK and T-Mobile (UK) have signed an agreement to combine their 3G access networks in a ground-breaking collaboration that will lead to almost complete population coverage for 3G services across Britain by the end of 2008 with significant fill in and improvement to dense urban in-building coverage in 2009. As the world’s largest known active 3G network sharing agreement, this will significantly increase both operators’ 3G network quality and coverage, accelerate the provision of new high-speed mobile broadband services and deliver substantial cost savings as well as environmental benefits. By combining their 3G access networks (the mobile masts and infrastructure that connects to each operator’s separate core network) T-Mobile and 3 UK will create Europe’s most extensive high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) network. Today’s agreement offers customers comprehensive mobile coverage in the first stage of joint development in 2008 and further improvements to quality of service in 2009. It furthers both companies’ joint commitment to deliver true mobile broadband internet access in addition to reliable voice and text services. Although masts and the 3G access networks are being combined, each company’s core network and T-Mobile’s 2G network will not be shared. Both parties will retain responsibility for the delivery of services to their respective customers and use their own frequency spectrum. High-speed mobile broadband and data services are set for rapid growth as mobile progressively becomes the individual’s primary means of accessing the internet. Nationwide 3G coverage is essential to meet this growing demand. Blanket population coverage becomes rapidly achievable if individual operators split the investment required and share operating costs. Integration of radio access networks will give a further boost to the pace of development of 3G services, reduce the duplication of costs and the proliferation of mobile masts and extend 3G coverage for the first time to some of the more sparsely populated areas of the country. |
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—Press release by Hutchison Whampoa Limited[17] |
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3 Customers are able to get a 3 day repair service from all 3 Retail Stores in the UK. Customers are also take to manufacturer repair centers throughout the UK. Customers can call 3 customer services and will have the unit collected and dropped off back at their address.
The result of the decision in the UK to block direct Internet access from the handsets was that, unlike the UK’s other leading networks, arbitrary web and email servers could not be accessed from a handset on their network. The only available web port was port 80. 3 have since 2006 allowed full internet access with an internet add-on and are highly successful in the mobile internet and mobile broadband markets in the uk.
Source - Wikipedia
Orange have emerged as a possible buyer for the technology behind Project Kangeroo which is the joint service between the BBC, ITV and channel 4 - the project is aiming to provide a joint TV catch up serviuce and Video-on-demand.
More evidence that O2 are running down stocks of the iPhone in anticipation of the launch of a new version comes from The Observer newspaper in the UK on Sunday. The paper reports that customers coming to the end of their contracts with handsets are being offered iPhones if they agreed to sign up to another 18 months. O2 are concerned that the exclusivity they have enjoyed on iPhone sales in the UK thus far will come to an end with the launch of the new version anticipated for June 2009.
Talks took place over the weekend to try and avert the collapse of Robert Dyas. Last-ditch talks involving the taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group were under way in a bid to salvage more than a thousand jobs. Change Capital Partners, the private equity firm which owns Robert Dyas and which is likely to see its investment wiped out as part of any restructuring, is locked in discussions with Lloyds and Allied Irish Bank, the chain’s principal lenders, about a new financing deal. People close to the talks said on Saturday that unless a deal could be reached imminently, Robert Dyas’s owners would have no choice but to place the company into administration, jeopardising up to 1,200 jobs.
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