T-Mobile - fastest mobile broadband in UK
3G.co.uk reports today that T-Mobile's mobile broadband network has been judged the best in the UK for the second successive quarter in independent tests carried out by leading test house P3 Solutions.
The tests, released today, benchmark T-Mobile against its competitors by measuring customer experiences that matter most to users during peak usage hours across 16 cities throughout the UK. When measured against its mobile broadband competitors, T-Mobile was found to be fastest by a considerable margin for web browsing, internet upload speeds as well as for sending and receiving emails.
The tests show that in Q4, T-Mobile had the fastest web-browsing experience that on average was 35% faster than the nearest competitor. T-Mobile's top ranking in the P3 Solutions quarterly analysis is supported by a superior upload performance that is 59% quicker than the next best operator. With the popularity of social networking sites continuing to grow, T-Mobile customers who upload photos to Facebook or videos to YouTube will benefit from the fastest overall upload speeds across cities tested in the UK. T-Mobile's Mobile Broadband service is also the best for sending and receiving e-mails with attachments, being fives times faster than all other operators for sending e-mails and twice as fast for e-mail reception.
Labels: mobile broadband, T-Mobile
T-Mobile offers mobile broadband with bundled Asus Eee PC 904HD
T-Mobile ended 2008 on a high note with the introduction of a new
netbook/mobile broadband dealThe Deutche-Telekom owned company is giving out a 'free' Asus EEE PC904HD laptop with a free USB modem stick, 3GB monthly fair use amount, 200 free texts and WiFi Spot access for only £25 per month on a 24-month contract.
The laptop comes with a 8.9-widescreen display, an Intel Atom processor, 1GB RAM, a 80GB HDD, WiFi, a card reader, Windows XP Home and a webcam. Should you want other laptops, T-Mobile is expected to launch two other models fairly soon. Mobile today reported that Acer, the original laptop supplier to T-Mobile, had to be replaced by Asus as it failed to provide with the required number of laptops
This leaves O2 as the only major mobile phone network without any netbook-inclusive mobile broadband package although this is unlikely to last for long.
View all laptop inclusive mobile broadband deals.
Labels: laptop, mobile broadband, T-Mobile
New iCON dongle for T-Mobile
Option N.V., the wireless technology company, today announced that T-Mobile UK is adding an Option USB wireless modem to its pioneering mobile broadband service. The iCON 431 is an intelligent HSUPA USB modem offering fast, future-proof broadband connectivity: it will be marketed by T-Mobile UK as the Mobile Broadband USB Stick 530.
Option's iCON 431 can download at speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps and upload at up to 5.7 Mbps. Tri-band HSPA in the 900, 1900 & 2100 MHz bands ensures iCON 431 users can obtain mobile broadband connections in countries all over the world. Ease-of-use is guaranteed by Option's patented Zero-CD Plug 'n' Play technology that automatically installs all necessary drivers and application software when the device is first connected to a PC.
The sleek and compact device measures just 76 x 27 x13 mm when the USB connector is retracted within its body. An innovative Micro-SD slot can accommodate an 8 GB card making the iCON 431 a versatile data storage device.
Labels: dongle, mobile broadband, quick-news, T-Mobile
3 and T-Mobile join hands to boost their mobile broadband network
The mobile operators,
3 and
T-Mobile, have recently entered a 5-year backhaul agreement with BT Wholesale. The agreement was entered through the two mobile operators' joint-venture company MBNL – Mobile Broadband Network Ltd - formed so that both mobile companies could merge, streamline and strengthen their base stations, and thereby increase their UK reach.
The 5-year deal with BT Wholesale stipulates that BT will connect 7,500 of MBNL's base stations to BT's broadband network (called 21CN – 21st Century Network). The intent is that, by entering this deal, MBNL's capacity to handle the ever-increasing consumer demand for mobile broadband will be bolstered in as cost-efficient and environmentally-beneficial a way as possible.
With the agreement, MBNL envision that by 2010, it will have the most extensive third-generation
mobile broadband network in the UK.
Labels: 3-Mobile, network coverage, quick-news, T-Mobile
T-Mobile G1 Android phone reviewed
It's finally here. The Gphone, the Google Phone - otherwise known as the T-Mobile G1 with Google.
As
we reported back in September, the G1 is the first device running the new mobile operating system from Google, called Android.
This InformationWeek report takes in-depth look at both the hardware and the software.
See the available
G1 packages here.
Labels: offers, quick-news, T-Mobile
Vodafone mobile broadband ad - complaint upheld
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints by
3 Mobile and
T-Mobile about claims in a
Vodafone advert for
mobile broadband.
Two national press advertisements for Vodafone's mobile broadband claimed "the fastest, most reliable mobile broadband in the galaxy", for "only £15 a month".
Text in the adverts also read: "Leap into hyperdrive. With Vodafone's mobile broadband you get download speeds of up to 7.2Mbps on your laptop, which is as quick as most home broadband… enjoy mobile broadband that's light years ahead."
The ASA responded to the complaints by 3 and T-Mobile: "The claims 'fastest' and 'most reliable' mobile broadband service were misleading.
"We concluded that, because readers would understand it was based on both the speed and reliability of the Vodafone service, and because we had not seen evidence to support those claims, the claim 'mobile broadband that's light years ahead' was misleading.
"The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Vodafone to make clear the basis of their claims in future."
Labels: 3-Mobile, mobile broadband, T-Mobile, Vodafone
T-Mobile tops mobile broadband speed charts
T-Mobile's UK 3G/HSPA network has been judged the best in the UK in independent tests carried out by test house,
P3 Solutions over the last quarter.
The tests benchmark T-Mobile against its competitors by measuring customer experiences that matter most to users during peak usage hours across 16 cities throughout the UK. When measured against its
competitors, T-Mobile was found on aggregate to be fastest for internet upload and download speeds as well as for web browsing and for sending and receiving emails.
The time it takes to access the BBC homepage, for example, was found to be up to 25% faster on average using T-Mobile than its nearest competitor. Similarly, as the popularity of social networking sites continues to grow, these tests show that T-Mobile customers who upload photos to Facebook or videos to YouTube will benefit from the fastest overall upload speeds across the UK, with a 60% performance advantage over its nearest rival.
Emin Gurdenli, Chief Technology Officer, T-Mobile UK, commented: "These independent tests clearly put T-Mobile's Mobile Broadband network ahead of the pack. P3's benchmarking reveals that our programme of continuous improvement and investment in network performance is delivering a richer experience for our fast-growing base of Mobile Broadband users. We have no intention of resting on our laurels – our regime of customer-centric testing is ongoing and this creates the framework for a continuous cycle of analysis and improvements to network performance."
The popularity of
T-Mobile's Mobile Broadband service is underlined by a 35% rise in sales of data devices between Q2 and Q3 and an estimated market share of 22% in a segment that is growing overall by 11% a month.
Gurdenli continued: "We recognise that performance is a key enabler for our customers to access the internet anywhere and at any time they chose. We've removed all complexity from the Mobile Broadband story by offering unlimited usage, flat rates and non-committal tariffs that allow customers to access the service as and when they need it. Now customers have the added assurance that T-Mobile is delivering on its commitment to provide a superior Mobile Broadband experience."
This has been achieved by upgrading T-Mobile's 3G network with new technology to accelerate both download and upload speeds. T-Mobile was the first operator to roll out HSUPA on a nationwide basis, providing customers across a wide geography with a fivefold increase in upload speeds. T-Mobile is also upgrading the underlying download capability of its HSDPA-enabled 3G network to 7.2Mbps both within the M25 and other major cities, providing realistic
Mobile Broadband speeds of up to 4.5Mbps in those enabled areas.
Labels: mobile broadband, T-Mobile
Mobile broadband sales triple in 2008
GfK Group has issued its latest statistics for Mobile Broadband USB Modem (Dongle) sales. The data shows that 149,000 such devices were sold during September 2008, compared with just 55,000 in January 2008.
However this isn't the peak; that occurred in July when 163,000 units were sold. 76% of Mobile Broadband users are on contract based services with the remaining 24% on 'pay as you go' (PAYG) deals.
However it's worth pointing out that the uptake of true PAYG has only recently taken off after
T-Mobile and
3 Mobile launched a range of better priced options with fewer constraints, causing a significant rise in uptake.
3 Mobile is believed to hold 50% of all sales.
Labels: 3-Mobile, mobile broadband, PAYG, quick-news, T-Mobile
T-Mobile forced to withdraw mobile broadband advert
T-Mobile has been heavily criticised for favourably comparing its
mobile broadband offering with that of a fixed-line service.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that the advert - which stated "All the benefits of home broadband, on the move. No wires, no waiting, no worries" - mislead consumers into thinking mobile broadband would deliver the same speed and quality as traditional home broadband.
The ASA stated mobile broadband was unlikely to offer speeds comparable with those of a high speed fixed-line service due to its reliance on cellular technology. "In particular, we were concerned that activities such as streaming, downloading and online gaming were unlikely to be available to mobile broadband users to the same standard as to fixed-line broadband users," it added.
The ASA ruled T-Mobile could not run the same advert in the future and must avoid the implication its mobile broadband service was of a comparable standard to fixed-line broadband.
In its defence, T-Mobile claimed the advert referred to the capacities of mobile broadband - not its speed, and maintained there was no implied direct technical comparison to fixed-line broadband.
Labels: mobile broadband, quick-news, T-Mobile
T-Mobile and 3 deal provides boost for BT arm
FT.com reports...
The joint venture of UK mobile operators T-Mobile and 3 has signed a deal with BT Wholesale to provide high-speed links between their base stations, giving the business arm of BT a welcome boost with a contract worth several hundred million pounds.
The five-year deal with Mobile Broadband Network highlights the need for mobile operators to shore up the speed of data transmission as mobile broadband becomes widely used by customers.
BT Wholesale signed similar five-year deals with rival operators O2 in May and Vodafone in April, leaving only Orange of the big UK mobile operators without a similar arrangement.
Emin Gurdenli, technology director at T-Mobile UK, said: "This agreement with BT will make sure backhaul [the backbone connections of the network] is not a constraint now or in the future at a time when T-Mobile is experiencing strong growth in
mobile broadband and other mobile data services."
Mobile broadband is increasing in popularity because of devices such as Apple's iPhone, as well as the planned launches of smartphones from Nokia and Sony Ericsson, and Google's G1.
Read the full article here.
Labels: 3-Mobile, industry insight, mobile broadband, T-Mobile
T-Mobile to shut down 5k base stations
UK mobile operator,
T-Mobile is reported to be planning a shut-down of some 5,000 of its base stations as part of its network sharing deal with Hutchison 3G UK. The UK trade magazine, Mobile Today said that both networks are removing transmitters as they begin to share resources.
It is believed that a small amount of new sites will be built as they take 3G into areas where there hadn't been coverage before.
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. Nokia Siemens Networks' radio access solution will replace most of the two operators' communications stations across the UK and equipment at the remaining sites is being upgraded and reconfigured.
Mobile Broadband Network (MBNL), the network collaboration joint-venture between T-Mobile UK and Hutchison 3G UK, recently selected Nokia Siemens Networks as the technology partner for their 3G network integration.
The combination of new kit and shares infrastructure should allow a reduction the number of sites in the network by about 30 percent. Together with the lower future capital expenditure requirement, the companies have estimated that combined savings are estimated at £2 billion (US$4.1 billion) over 10 years.
In February last year,
Vodafone and
Orange agreed to to share their respective 3G Radio Access Networks (RANs), with a possibility of sharing the GSM RAN as well in the future.
Labels: industry insight, network coverage, T-Mobile
T-Mobile previews mobile broadband Wi-Fi hub
T-Mobile has revealed a sneak peek of its home hub for
mobile broadband, which allows up to three users to connect to a single mobile broadband USB modem using Wi-Fi.
It's a neat alternative to landline broadband, with a simple connection for the USB modem, as well as a built-in ethernet port for devices without Wi-Fi inside.
T-Mobile says its Share Dock 100 will be bundled free with
mobile broadband packages costing £20 per month, or available separately at £100.
This follows news earlier in the year that
3 Mobile has plans to bring mobile broadband to the home too. The firm let slip that, since some customers are using mobile dongles as an alternative to a home landline, it's considering the launch of a special router to share the connection between laptops using Wi-Fi.
We can only assume it's still in development, because there's still no word on pricing or a release date. Stay tuned for more as soon as we hear it.
There are alternatives if you're in a rush to share your mobile broadband at home; we covered this in our '
How to use and share mobile broadband at home' article back in August.
Labels: dongle, information, quick-news, T-Mobile
Win a T-Mobile G1 Andriod phone
It looks like T-Mobile customers in the US trying to get one of the initial models of the first phones powered by Google's Android operating system will have to wait a bit longer.
"Sorry! Due to the overwhelming popularity of the new T-Mobile G1, upgrades are temporarily unavailable. Please try again later," the T-Mobile pre-order page told people who tried to sign up for the phone on Saturday, according to the Android Guys blog.
BUT - you can beat the queues by entering the T-Mobile competition to win one of eight of these exciting new phones -
click here to visit the T-Mobile site and enter the competition. Good luck!
Labels: offers, quick-news, T-Mobile
Telcos, IT companies unite to promote mobile broadband
LONDON (Reuters) - A group of 16 leading telecoms and IT companies is uniting to promote mobile broadband in a marketing initiative worth more than $1 billion over the next year under the auspices of the GSM Association.
The companies - which include
Vodafone, Microsoft and Asustek - aim to make it simpler for consumers to identify laptops that have built-in access to the Internet via high-speed, next-generation HSPA and LTE networks, by applying a mobile broadband mark.
The mark is also backed by a US$1 billion marketing budget, to be spent in the next year. The mark, which looks like a stylized cloud or bird, will be on laptops in time for the holiday shopping season.
According to research commissioned by the GSMA and Microsoft and carried out by Pyramid Research, there is demand for $50 billion worth of such notebooks this year.
"We definitely expect to see several hundred thousand in the shops by Christmas time," Mike O'Hara, the GSMA's chief marketing officer, told Reuters by telephone.
The group said the move also could pave the way to connect devices from MP3 music players to refrigerators and cars to the Internet in future.
The partners will label laptop computers that meet their standards for mobile broadband access with a new service mark that identifies laptops ready for mobile broadband connection "out of the box."
Many in the telecoms and computer industries believe that most people in the world will have their first and perhaps only experience of the Internet via a mobile device.
"While there will always be a place for WiFi connectivity, the great benefit of
mobile broadband might be that it liberates the user from the spatial tyranny of the so-called 'hotspot,'" Shiv K. Bakhshi, director of mobility research at IT research firm IDC, said in a GSMA statement released on Tuesday.
The other partners in the initiative are
3, a unit of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, Dell, ECS, Ericsson, Gemalto, Lenovo,
Orange, a unit of France Telecom SA, Qualcomm, Telefonica Europe,
T-Mobile and Toshiba.
We believe that Pay As You Go mobile broadband will be a popular Christmas gift choice this yesr -
check out the latest PAYG deals.
Labels: 3-Mobile, industry insight, mobile broadband, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone
T-Mobile reveals new G1 Andriod smart phone
T-Mobile today announced the international launch of the world's first Android-powered mobile phone in partnership with Google. The handset will be available from next month not just in the USA, but also in Europe.
"We are proud that T-Mobile is the first operator in the world to launch an Android-powered mobile device," said Christopher Schläffer, Group Product and Innovation Officer of Deutsche Telekom. "Since 2005, Google has been an established partner in T-Mobile's groundbreaking approach to bringing the open mobile Internet to the mass market. With the T-Mobile G1 we are continuing our strong tradition of being pioneers in the world of the open Internet."
"Increasingly, connectivity does not just mean a phone call, but rather access to the world's information," said Andy Rubin, senior director of mobile platforms for Google. "Today's news signifies an important first step for the Open Handset Alliance: with Android, we've opened the mobile web not only for millions of users, but also to mobilize the developer community that understands the next most important platform in the world rests in the palm of our hand."
T-Mobile customers in the U.S. have the opportunity to pre-order the T-Mobile G1, in limited quantities, beginning today. The device will be available at select T-Mobile retail stores and online in the U.S. beginning Oct. 22, for a price of $179 with a two-year voice and data agreement. The T-Mobile G1 will also be available in the United Kingdom beginning in November, and across Europe in the first quarter of 2009. Countries include Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
Update:
T-Mobile has given its data usage cap proposed for the G1 Android phone a second thought. This was in response to widespread concern that a 1GB 'soft' limit was going to be a bit restrictive.
The company distributed a statement on Wednesday saying that it has removed the 1GB 'soft cap' that it planned to impose on the data usage of G1 owners. The carrier had planned to throttle the data connection speed to a paltry 50Kbps for those who exceeded 1GB of data usage in a month, which isn't that far-fetched for the early-adopter crowd.
Here's the full statement:
"Our goal, when the T-Mobile G1 becomes available in October, is to provide affordable, high-speed data service allowing customers to experience the full data capabilities of the device and our 3G network. At the same time, we have a responsibility to provide the best network experience for all of our customers so we reserve the right to temporarily reduce data throughput for a small fraction of our customers who have excessive or disproportionate usage that interferes with our network performance or our ability to provide quality service to all of our customers.
We removed the 1GB soft limit from our policy statement, and we are confident that T-Mobile G1 customers will enjoy the high speed of data access over our 3G network. The specific terms for our new data plans are still being reviewed and once they are final we will be certain to share this broadly with current customers and potential new customers."
Find out more
here...
Labels: industry insight, T-Mobile
T-Mobile launches flexible mobile broadband packages
T-Mobile is now offering mobile broadband with no monthly contract from just £2 per day.
The new Mobile Broadband USB Stick 110 costs £49.99, which is in keeping with similar offers from Three and Vodafone. This device can also be used as a memory stick by adding a microSD card (up to 8GB).
It costs £2 per day, £10 for 7 days and £20 for 30 days usage. There is of course a 3GB fair use policy, but T-Mobile says it doesn't penalise users who may go over the limit like
other mobile broadband providers. The credit for mobile broadband can be topped up directly using the laptop on which its used.
Richard Warmsley, Head of Internet and Entertainment, T-Mobile UK, commented: "We've seen massive demand for mobile broadband from a range of people, so we're creating ways for customers to only pay for days they actually need.
"We have removed all complexity from the mobile broadband story, giving customers the confidence to simply pick it up off the shelf and start using it. Mobile broadband has hit the mainstream and we have made it simple for anyone to buy, use and understand."
Find out more
here.
Labels: mobile broadband, offers, T-Mobile
How 'free' are mobile broadband laptop deals?
Most of the tech-savvy buying public are aware of the recent, and likely ongoing, release of laptop-inclusive mobile broadband deals from the likes of
Orange,
3 Mobile and
T Mobile. We've featured
several articles on this blog on the subject and there's little doubt that thousands of happy customers have taken advantage of the deals.
But just how much do these 'free' laptops actually cost you, the consumer?
Well, in this article for the first time, we compare three of the most popular direct
laptop-inclusive mobile broadband deals with their equivalent dongle-only tariffs to give you a true picture of the value for money you're getting.
Laptop-inclusive 24-month plans:
Dongle-only equivalent plans:
*Note that Orange is a special case because its dongle-only plan is only an 18month contract.What's immediately apparent from the tables above is that the laptops offered in these plans are not, in any way, 'free'; you pay for them in full. However, this is
perhaps to be expected, after all, nothing in life is truly free!
So, you obviously do cover the laptop cost over the contract period but, the payments are spread. The premium you pay for this privilege is £31 for the Orange and 3 Mobile plans whilst for T-Mobile it's £25 over the contract term. These premiums equate to around 5%, 4% and 3.5% interest respectively on the total contract cost; not quite interest free, but competitive nonetheless.
In our view, if you're in the market for a new laptop and need mobile broadband, then this may be a great way to spread the cost. In two years time, when your contract is up, simply pick up another laptop-inclusive deal. The chances are the monthly payment will be lower by then and the laptop specification will almost certainly be better.
So students, households without landlines and small businesses - bag your
laptop-inclusive mobile broadband deal now!
Labels: 3-Mobile, laptop, mobile broadband, Orange, T-Mobile
T-Mobile has best website
Benchmarking company Global Reviews finds
T-Mobile's website rates best for customer satisfaction among all UK network operators
T-Mobile has come top of an independent customer poll of mobile networks' websites.
Independent benchmarking company Global Reviews asked more than 1,000 web customers for their views of the UK networks' websites. It assessed sites against more than 500 criteria, including content and usability.
While all the networks' sites increased their scores for online customer satisfaction since the last tally in January, T-mobile came first with 68 per cent, while 3 was last with 53 per cent.
Networks scored well compared with other sectors. Their average was 60 per cent, 20 per cent higher than the hotel sector and 12 per cent better than credit card websites.
A Global Reviews spokeswoman said: "T-Mobile received high scores in almost all categories and a significant improvement in site utility. But it improved just one per cent since January and others are gaining."
"Orange improved nine per cent, O2 five, 3 by four and Virgin Mobile three. Overall the industry average is up by seven per cent."
On
Orange, she said: "It made big improvements across the board and its score for customer support online has increased from 45 to 61 per cent."
Despite coming last,
3 Mobile also made strides forward. The spokesperson added: "3 is catching up fast."
"It saw a 15 per cent increase in the quality of its content and tools score, nine per cent in customer support and six per cent in the process. Site utility is the next areas it needs to focus on."
Vodafone increased its score but only made it to third place, while
O2 came fourth. Virgin came fifth but was one of the most improved sites.
Labels: 3-Mobile, information, o2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone
Vodafone gain support for stance on termination rate cut proposals
Mobile news reports...
Orange and
T-Mobile stand by Vodafone's rebuttal of European Commission's proposed termination rate cuts of up to 70 per cent. Termination rates are the charges levied for using your phone abroad - also referred to as roaming charges.
3 Mobile has branded Vodafone's submission to the European Commission rejecting significant cuts to mobile termination rates as "scaremongering".
But other networks have supported Vodafone's stance and even suggested handset subsidies could disappear if termination rates are cut too low.
Vodafone said it wasn't against reducing termination rates – the fees networks charge each other to connect calls across their networks – but it disputes a call from EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding for reductions of up to 70 per cent.
The network also said the reduction envisaged by the EU would make it difficult for networks to recover their costs and could lead to the adoption of a US-style mobile market model of 'bill and keep', where customers pay to make and receive calls.
It claimed there were around 40 million mobile users in Europe who would then be prompted to cull their mobile usage. According to the bill and keep model, users spend an average of €15 per month, but according to
Vodafone, these 40 million European users currently spend less than €10 per month.
Alternatively, networks would have to raise their retail charges to recover costs.
"We are not against prices coming down, but if the EC brings these cuts in the time frame they are suggesting, operators will have to recoup these costs somehow," a Vodafone spokesman said.
Read the full story
here.
Labels: 3-Mobile, industry insight, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone
T-Mobile opens largest Wi-Fi hotspot in Heathrow's Terminal 5
T-Mobile UK has launched its largest Wi-Fi hotpsot covering the interior of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. The new Heathrow Terminal 5 Wi-Fi HotSpot is T-Mobile's largest in the UK, spanning the equivalent of approximately 50 football pitches. The Wi-Fi service is also available through T-Mobile at the other Heathrow Terminals.
For those passengers who are not customers of T-Mobile or other participating providers, the Terminal 5 HotSpot service is priced at £5 for one hour's access, or £10 for 24 hours, payable by credit card. There is also a monthly subscription service for regular users at £20 per month.
"T-Mobile is committed to meet the increasing demand for people on the move to be able to connect to the internet when and where they need to – whether for business or pleasure," comments Richard Warmsley, Head of Internet on the Move, T-Mobile UK. "One in four new contract customers are signing up for our
mobile broadband service and user numbers are set to quadruple in 2008. It's clear this trend is set to continue and customers now expect to be able to hook up to the internet anywhere and at any time, particularly at major transport hubs like Terminal 5."
Don't forget, Wi-Fi hotspot access is included with all
T-Mobile mobile broadband deals.
Labels: mobile broadband, network coverage, roaming, T-Mobile
Prepaid key to mobile broadband growth?
Operators should look to prepaid offerings to maximise the mobile broadband opportunity in Q4 2008, rather than pinning their hopes on mobile broadband substituting fixed services, according to a new report by global advisory firm Ovum, titled 'Mobile broadband operator strategies in Western Europe'.
The research, which highlights the approaches available to operators in maximising the opportunity for mobile broadband, finds that
mobile broadband services are best positioned as complementary to fixed.
"Fixed broadband penetration across Western Europe is simply too high," commented Steven Hartley, senior analyst at Ovum and the report's author. "Mobile broadband can not compete with fixed on speed or capacity, particularly as high bandwidth applications such as IPTV take off."
There will be some consumer segments for which mobile broadband could be a realistic substitute for a fixed service, such as students and itinerant workers; those in short-term shared or rented accommodation; and those simply unable to access a fixed services. But, according to Hartley, the window of opportunity to target these segments is closing rapidly:
"The size of the substitution opportunity is limited and operator activity to date means these segments are becoming saturated. Therefore, the potential for a long-term fixed mobile substitution strategy in Western Europe in the future looks unlikely."
Ovum says that operators in Western Europe to date have focussed on maximising the potential of mobile broadband through contract offerings. This makes sense as a customer locked into a contract provides a stable revenue stream.
However, the pool of customers willing to commit to an average of a two year contract for
mobile broadband will naturally shrink over time. This is particularly true where mobile broadband is most likely to be used in addition to a fixed broadband service. Furthermore, as the cost of USB modems (or dongles) continues to fall a major barrier for entry is removed for the consumer. For the operator this also means no hardware subsidy to recoup, says Ovum.
As a result, Ovum is predicting that the next opportunity for mobile broadband in Western Europe will be prepaid offerings. With a prepaid approach operators can attract users who appreciate the mobility and simplicity of mobile broadband on some occasions, but are unwilling to commit to a long-term contract. As such, it is a model in which mobile broadband complements the already high fixed broadband penetration in Western Europe.
"What's more the timing for a focus on prepaid is perfect. With Christmas approaching everyone wins - those purchasing a bundle as a gift have no contract commitment, end users have a flexible mobile broadband service and operators gain new customers and revenues," concluded Hartley.
An interesting standpoint given the current widely-held view that mobile broadband has the potential to eat into fixed broadband revenue. Should we expect more rolling contracts like those currently offered by
Vodafone,
T-Mobile and
O2? Watch this space.
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband, o2, T-Mobile, Vodafone
T-Mobile launches video-on-demand site
T-Mobile has launched a new video-on-demand service, like Apple TV for mobile phones.
Customers can access the Video on Demand Plus service through T-Mobile's 't-zones' portal or its Web 'n' Walk service. Video clips can be watched either on mobile or online and a 15 minute clip costs anything between 50p to £1.50 and longer clips can cost up to £5.
T-Mobile interactive and video manager Sylvia Radacovska said: "Video on Demand Plus is an innovative service which offers customers more value and flexibility to consume their video content across mobile and PC."
Labels: industry insight, information, T-Mobile
What is a MVNO?
A Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) is a mobile operator that does not own its own spectrum and usually does not have its own network infrastructure. Instead, MVNO's have business arrangements with traditional mobile operators to buy minutes of use (MOU) for sale to their own customers.
There are three primary MVNO's in the UK currently: Virgin Mobile (
T-Mobile), Tesco Mobile (
O2) and BT Mobile (
Vodafone).
The MVNO market-leader
T-Mobile's new MVNO partnership with Ikea went live today. You can expect to see many more such partnerships announced over the coming months. All UK network operators are pursuing new MVNO business in order to grow their service revenues.
The UK wholesale market is estimated to be worth £1 billion at present, and to grow to twice that by 2012.
Labels: BT Mobile, industry insight, o2, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone
Virgin Mobile to launch mobile broadband
In its latest set of quarterly results,
Virgin Mobile has revealed it will be unveiling its own mobile broadband offering in the fourth quarter of this year.
The move comes about due to a recent renegotiation of the virtual mobile operator's agreement with its network supplier,
T-Mobile, for the cost of voice and data services. As a result, the operator says it now "will also be able to price more competitively in the growing mobile data usage market".
If Virgin's mobile broadband product resembles
T-Mobile's own offering, customers can expect a theoretical maximum of 7.2Mbps within the M25 area. T-Mobile also launched its HSUPA network in July, promising effective upload speeds of 1.4Mbps.
Virgin becomes the last major operator to launch a mobile broadband service, following rival O2 which made a 3G data product available to existing customers in April this year. BT Mobile, a relatively small player, may release details of their mobile broadband plans later in the summer.
Labels: BT Mobile, mobile broadband, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile
T-Mobile offers Acer TM5320 laptop with mobile broadband
T-Mobile has today launched their first laptop-inclusive mobile broadband deal. They're offering an
Acer TravelMate 5320 laptop worth £349.99 to new customers signing a 24-month mobile broadband contract at £30 per month.
This makes
T-Mobile the second network provider to offer a direct inclusive laptop deal -
3 Mobile was first to market last month with a
range of laptops available with their mobile broadband service.
We expect other players to follow suit soon, so watch this space.
Incidentally, the introduction of this offer sees a re-branding of T-Mobile's mobile broadband products. For simplicity and to avoid confustion with their mobile phone Web'n'Walk service add-on, their mobile broadband packages are now termed 'Broadband Plus' and 'Broadband Max'.
Labels: 3-Mobile, laptop, mobile broadband, offers, T-Mobile
