Vodafone aquires ZYB the mobile address backup site

Vodafone has agreed to acquire 100% of ZYB which operates a social networking and online management tool enabling mobile phone users to back-up and share their handsets’ contact and calendar information online.

Source: http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/group_press_releases/2007/vodafone_announces5.html

Happy New Year and welcome 2008

My role as music product manager in a global organisation does allow for some time out .. today is the first official day back in the office … so happy new year.

A few interesting stories that I will certainly be watching

• Warner and Amazon announced DRM Free for their USA store  - I wonder how long before Amazon launches in the UK
• Fox announces video content on Itunes - but its still DRM’d
• Billboard says 2008 will be the year we get digital album artwork as part of our online purchases - great news!

O2 Sells 8000 iPhones on first night

O2 sent an email to stores an hour after the launch, claiming that 2,000 customers who bought iPhones from O2 stores had registered their devices at 7:02pm. That figure soared to 8,000 by the end of the night.

Sales vary considerably from store to store, with anecdotes of disinterest from some, disbelief at the price tag from others and customers queuing in the snow at O2’s Aberdeen store.

Source: http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/content/17234.asp?men=2&sub=1

Most O2 and Carphone stores said they sold ’solid numbers’ of iPhones – tens rather than hundreds.

200000 iPhones to be sold by O2 UK by end of year

O2 UK expects to sell around 200,000 iPhones by the start of the New Year. Sales will start on 9 November, and Matthew Key, CEO of O2’s UK business, told the Financial Times he expected “a couple of hundred thousand” iPhones to be sold in the first two months.

O2 has ordered “hundreds of thousands” of iPhones from Apple for its stores and online outlets as well as shops run by Carphone Warehouse. After the June launch in the US, 1 million iPhones were sold in just under two and a half months.

The iPhone will sell for GBP 269 in the UK, and customers will have to take out an O2 contract for at least GBP 35 per month for 18 months.

Apple iPhone for Europe partnering with Vodafone, t-Mobile & Carphone Warehouse?

On the rumour mill for some weeks has been the story that Vodafone and t-Mobile were in discussions about sole distributorship rights for a European iPhone. But now Gizmodo, have suggested that an announcement is due today and that both operators will win, leveraging the successes of both networks in different countries.

This would be great news for GSM users globally, a non-exclusive agreement would have far reaching appeal to mobile phone users than the American AT&T arrangement. Gizmodo also suggest that Carphone Warehouse (its name in the UK) will also get a distributor licence.

We wait to hear if it will be a 3G phone with better camera and more memory!

Turkey delays 3G licence auction for lack of interest

Turkey’s telecommunications regulator has postponed the tender for four third-generation phone licenses. The tender, which was supposed to be held May 25, will now be held September 7, an official from the Communications Ministry said on Tuesday.

There was limited interest in the contract conditions, said Ertuğrul Karaçuha, Head of the Telecommunications Board, reported business daily Referans. Fearing the necessary tender demand would not form, the tender has been postponed to September, he said. The Telecommunications Board made the decision on Monday.

 source: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=73976

Turk Telecom gets in ‘dirty ads’ fight about mobile number portability

On Monday Türk Telecom announced it will take legal action against all illicit advertisements and presentations targeting Türk Telecom and its new tariff. Competition among the companies in the telecommunications sector is becoming brutal and the announcement gave the competition a whole new dimension.

Meanwhile, Avea’s general Manager Cüneyt Türktan accused Turkcell of being inconsistent for heading to the court for the annulment of the number portability, after supporting it first.

Following the altercations among Vodafone, Avea and Turkcell similar contestations are now developing between Türk Telekom and alternative operators.

Responding to the questions related to the new Türk Telekom tariffs, “There is only one competitor for Türk Telecom - Turkcell, said Türk Telecom CEO Paul Doany, adding, Tariffs are out there. Subscribers should really take a look at them. Then they will see that we are one-quarter cheaper than them.�

“I just really don’t understand how Turkcell’s number of subscribers can keep raising with the price increase implemented, he said.

The competition is not only among the GSM operators. There also is a big competition among the companies providing long distance services, and Türk Telecom is the leading provider. Alternative operators revolted against the discounts Türk telecom implemented on long distance calls.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=70985

Turkey launches tender for 4 3G licences

Turkey has announced plans to offers for third-generation (3G) mobile phone licenses — Short-listed bidders then enter a second-round bid. The minimum bid prices range from 140 million euros ($189 million) to 252 million euros ($340 million). The Turkish mobile market is currently home to three operators, Turkcell, Vodafone-Telsim and Avea.

Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım was speaking at the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association’s (MÜSİAD) traditional Thursday talks. Yıldırım said he was expecting interest from the existing three GSM operators in Turkey — Turkcell, Vodafone (formerly Telsim) and Avea — in the investigation of feasible price studies for 3G licenses.

European countries had made mistakes by requesting high license fees in tenders, noted Yıldırım, while Japan gave the licenses for free - and Turkey plans to do something in the middle. Yıldırım also mentioned possible future financial incentives to boost research and development in the telecommunications sector.

Turkey Mobile Number Portability challenged in Courts

Turkey’s officials announced at the start of 2007 the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) for its 3 mobile operators, Vodafone, Turkcell and Avea. MNP allows customers to change carriers and keep their number, referred to as porting.

There is an element of prestige in Turkey about what your prefix number is, so allowing people to port will open up competition more, however Turkey’s largest mobile operator, Turkcell, has now filed a lawsuit calling for the cancellation of MNP. The firm says the current system would not work in the best interest of consumers and it is still waiting for the allocation of number blocks for which it is paying 15% of its revenues each month, reports Istanbul’s English-language daily, Today’s Zaman.  However you read this, it sounds like someone is threatened by prospects of losing a large number of customers who port for better calls or family reasons.

Avea, Turkey’s third largest mobile operator, has launched a legal case in an attempt to make number portability mandatory for all telecoms providers in the country, it announced yesterday. Its move is a counteraction to a lawsuit filed with the Telecommunications Board (TK) on Wednesday by Turkcell, the mobile market leader, which was an attempt to reverse the implementation of number portability, introduced at the beginning of this year.

Avea is strictly in favor of number portability, as it allows subscribers to transfer their own numbers while switching operators. Avea is exploring legal means to make it available, general manager of the company, Cüneyt Türktan said. He went on to suggest this could be a joint action joined by Vodafone or fixed line incumbent Turk Telecom

About Blyk, Orange UK and Nokia Siemens

Blyk - the ad funded MVNO targetted at 16 - 24 year olds has been in the press alot this week. Now comes the serious tech related news.

See slashgear, mad4mobilephones, the Guardian

Orange UK have been announced as the Network Operator to partner with Blyk. This is their first UK MVNO venture following on the heels of T-Mobile (Virgin) and Vodafone (ASDA and BT Mobile).

Nokia Siemens Networks have now also announced they will provide all the backend infrastructure for Blyk,

•Nokia Siemens Networks will supply, build and host Blyk’s core network as it offers free, advertiser-funded mobile telephony service.

 

And from their BlykBlog comes some light but surprising information on their business model … targeting the hip and young. According to the Guardian the real question is still who would want a free mobile phone service with ads and suggests that most people prefer their privacy and would rather pay then to be interrupted.

So far a few big names have agreed to partner as advertisers on the service - now we wait and see?