12 great Vodafone mobile broadband bargains!
Vodafone have just released a range of 12 fantastic mobile broadband offers - some including a Dell Netbook into the bargain! There's some really good discounts available so don't miss out:
Deal 1: USB Modem Stick Pro£10 for the first 3 months, £15 thereafter
3 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 2: USB Modem Stick Pro£15 for the first 3 months, £25 thereafter
5 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 3: USB Modem Stick£15 a month
3 GB of data
12 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 4: Dell Netbook£15 a month for the first 3 months, £30 thereafter
3 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 5: USB Modem Stick£25 a month
5 GB of data
18 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 6: USB Modem Stick£15
3 GB of data
18 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 7: USB Modem Stick£25 a month
5 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 8: USB Modem Stick£15 amonth
3 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 9: USB Modem Stick£25 a month
5 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 10: USB Modem Stick Pro£15
3 GB of data
12 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 11: USB Modem Stick Pro£15
3 GB of data
18 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 12: Dell Netbook£12.50 a month for the first 3 months, £25 thereafter
1 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Click here for more great Vodafone mobile broadband deals.
Labels: mobile broadband, netbook, offers, Vodafone
Vodafone achieves 16Mbps mobile broadband
Vodafone Group said Thursday that it has successfully trialled an evolution of mobile broadband technology achieving actual peak data download rates of up to 16 Mbps.
The high speed data connection was achieved during field trials of HSPA+ 64QAM technology on Vodafone Spain's network. Vodafone said it now plans to trial mobile broadband data connections with peak rates of up to 21Mbps early in 2009 using HSPA+ MIMO functionality.
Vodafone experts estimate that the technology would be capable of delivering a typical video download experience of more than 13Mbps in good conditions and an average of more than 4 Mbps across a full range of typical cell locations including urban environments. If the trials prove a success, Vodafone plans to make this technology available in selected commercial networks.
Vodafone worked in association with Ericsson and Qualcomm Inc. to prove the potential of the technology in the field, following impressive data throughput rates achieved in laboratory tests.
Labels: mobile broadband, quick-news, Vodafone
Vodafone and Orange to share mobile broadband running costs
The Guardian reports that mobile operators Vodafone UK and Orange UK are considering an agreement that would see the two companies share technology, engineering and maintenance costs.
The two cellcos already share costs at some base stations in the country, but the new agreement is expected to integrate both operator's 3G networks. Vodafone's chief executive, Vittorio Collao, has stated that the operator is looking to cut costs by GBP1 billion (USD1.46 billion) by 2011.
The deal follows a similar arrangement between rival mobile broadband providers T-Mobile UK and 3 UK, which in January 2008 formed Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), a 50/50 joint venture aimed at integrating the company's respective 3G networks.
Labels: industry insight, Orange, quick-news, Vodafone
Vodafone launches mobile broadband Stick Pro
New premium USB mobile broadband dongle available at launch on promotional tariffs
Vodafone has launched a premium USB mobile broadband dongle, the USB Stick Pro. The new dongle, in black, has a retractable USB connector and comes with an integrated 4GB micro SD memory card. It will be available free on selected price plans online, in store and via telesales channel.
As a promotion, Vodafone is for a limited time offering its mobile broadband 3GB plan for £10 per month for the first three months on 24 month contracts – a saving of £15 over three months.
Similarly, the 5GB plan will be £15 per month for the first three months – a saving of £30. The Stick Pro is available on 5GB plans from free on 24 and 18 month contracts and from £29 on 12 month plans.
Vodafone is also introducing a new 1GB 30-day plan for 'Stick Lite' users to complement the existing £0 3GB 30-day plan. The Stick Lite is £49 on 30-days plans, and free on 18 month and 24 month 3GB plans.
Labels: mobile broadband, offers, Vodafone
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
Vodafone launches 'ChargeBox'
Customers can charge electronic devices in store from £1.
Vodafone has launched a new battery charging service for customers to recharge their mobile phones, MP3 players and games machines.
From October, customers in selected stores will be able to hire a locker called a ChargeBox, which offers a range of different charging pins from different manufacturers, including Nokia, Apple and Sony.
Each locker has a single key which is kept by the customer whilst their device is left to charge.
Prices start at £1 for 30 minutes of charging, and a maximum of £2 for 90 minutes. Customers can pay by inserting the money directly in to the ChargeBox, or pay via text message.
Labels: quick-news, Vodafone
Vodafone releases Dell Inspiron Mini 9 deals
The long awaited
Vodafone laptop-inclusive mobile broadband plans are finally available.
The device, weighing around 1kg and featuring an 8.9 inch display, is being sold with built-in mobile broadband, exclusively through Vodafone stores and online.
The starter plan is a
1GB deal at £25 per month on a 24 month contract - competing directly with the Orange Asus Eee PC package. Those who are slighly more data hungry might prefer the
3GB plan - again on a 24 month contract - for £30 per month.
Labels: laptop, mobile broadband, quick-news, Vodafone
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 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
Should I go for an embedded 3G laptop?
Everyone's excited about the
recent announcement that the new Dell Mini 9 netbook that will come with
Vodafone 3G mobile broadband built-in.
But, should you opt for a 3G-embedded notebooks at all?
In our view, the simple fact of the matter is that (for now) it makes no economic sense to include a 3G module and antenna in a PC unless it's definitely going to be used for a mobile subscription. Otherwise it's just a costly lump of extra electronics - not ideal for consumer or retailer - which would hurt the competitiveness of the PC in the marketplace.
At the top end of the market laptop, 3G might start to become a standard feature in the not too distant future, but if you're trying to sell a £200 low-end netbook with £25 worth of unused electronics inside, it won't make your gross margin look very pretty.
Add to this the fact that you can't then use your 3G SIM in another PC, then you're effectively limiting yourself to mobile broadband access on your netbook. One of the great selling points of
mobile broadband via a dongle is that you can use it on
any PC.
For us it's a no-brainer at the moment...dongle every time!
Labels: dongle, industry insight, laptop, mobile broadband, 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
Vodafone to offer Dell Inspiron Mini 9
Vodafone has announced an exclusive agreement with laptop manufacturer Dell to range its new Inspiron Mini 9 ultra-mobile device.
The device, weighing just 1.035kg and featuring an 8.9 inch display, will be sold with built-in
mobile broadband, exclusively through Vodafone stores and online, and directly from Dell, in key European markets.
Vodafone director of PC connectivity Andrew Sangster said: "The recent acceleration in the take up of mobile broadband has demonstrated just how hungry consumers are for Internet access. Building on our long relationship with Dell, the availability of the Inspiron Mini 9 will further enhance what a customer can achieve with
mobile broadband whilst on the move. Today's announcement marks the next step in the evolution of mobile broadband services bringing mobile broadband into the hands of many more customers."
Dell Europe vice president and general manager for consumer Michael Lombardo said: "Technology has become an essential part of how people connect with one another - whether it's surfing the web, chatting with friends, keeping updated on the latest news, sharing photos or social networking. Dell is committed to providing consumers with technology that allows them to connect any place, any time with
mobile broadband."
Details of country availability and pricing will be made available in coming weeks.
Labels: industry insight, laptop, mobile broadband, offers, Vodafone
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
Vodafone trials super-fast mobile broadband in Reading
Vodafone will be piloting its new mobile broadband service in Reading, Berkshire.
The new service, already available in parts of London and at major airports, can achieve broadband speeds comparable to those of a fixed-line connection. According to Vodafone, the new service brings customers download speeds of up to 14 times faster and upload speeds up to 22 times faster than a standard
3G mobile broadband connection.
Alec Howard, head of PC connectivity at Vodafone UK, said: "As we invest significantly in rolling out improved speed and capacity, mobile broadband can not only help grease the wheels of industry in Reading but is also ideal for students and new home owners."
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband, network coverage, Vodafone
Vodafone to open 50 new stores
Vodafone has announced a multi-million pound investment plan to open 50 new stores, creating 200 new jobs in retail by spring 2009.
The new stores, which will take the numbers of stores to more than 400, will appear in high streets and shopping centres from September, starting with Bristol Cabot Circus and White City London, and Liverpool in October.
All the new stores are expected to follow Vodafone's award design, dividing the store in to zones, including self service for top ups, and a 'pharmacy for phones' where advisors will answer questions on handsets and technology - you can also expect
mobile broadband to be a prominent feature.
Vodafone will also be rolling out new scheduling tool in stores, which will calculate how many advisors are needed on a particular day, based on footfall, to help reduce customer waiting times.
Labels: industry insight, Vodafone
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
Ireland leads the way in mobile broadband revolution
Does 3G technology offer a viable alternative to fixed-line broadband?
When it comes to broadband, Ireland scarcely figures on most European league tables – with one exception. According to research by the telecoms consultancy Analysys Mason, Ireland is second only to Austria in adopting mobile broadband.
That’s no mean feat for a technology launched just last year and a country that, according to the telecoms regulator ComReg, has around 800,000 fixed-line broadband connections in total. Unlike many other European countries, 3G mobile broadband is an extremely strong competitor to fixed-line services in Ireland.
There are currently more than 230,000 mobile broadband subscribers in Ireland;
3 Mobile claims 90,000 users,
Vodafone some 84,000 and
O2 some 60,000. Such is the demand that one operator says customers are signing up at the rate of over 200 a day.
Read the full story on
siliconrepublic.comLabels: 3-Mobile, industry insight, mobile broadband, o2, Vodafone
Vodafone upgrades 3G network in Manchester
Vodafone has announced a major upgrade to its
fast mobile broadband coverage in the city.
A multi-million pound investment will upgrade Vodafone's wireless coverage to speeds reaching 5Gbps, and will offer a simplified billing structure to customers.
The service will be available through USB modems, data cards or plug-and-play software and aims to be up to 10 seconds faster when downloading a 2 MB file.
Alec Howard, head of PC Connectivity for Vodafone UK said "Manchester, along with five other major conurbations, is now the fastest network in UK. We have been heavily investing in the network so that when people are out and about they can get the same wireless experience that they do in the office."
Labels: mobile broadband, network coverage, Vodafone
