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Wireless Federation » archive for 'Ireland'

Ryanair plans to launch in-flight mobile phone service (Ireland)

  • August 11th, 2008
  • 1:09 pm

Ryanair, Irish budget carrier, is expected to launch an in-flight mobile phone service this week, only if it gets regulatory clearance.

This plan will enable the passengers to make calls and send SMS during flights on an intial 10 aircrafts fitted with required technology.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said that once it gets the green signal, “We will then roll out the service to the rest of our aircraft in Dublin, and then to other European bases, possibly beginning with Stansted”.

   

Worldwide mobile music revenues will exceed $13 billion by 2012

  • July 23rd, 2008
  • 7:41 am

eMarketer has released a new report which claims that Mobile Music revenues will exceed $13 Billion by 2012, up from $2.4 billion in 2007. There are numerous Marketing opportunities in Mobile Music the need is to discover them. Mobile platform works better as a marketing and customer relationship tool than it does as a retail sales channel.

The Mobile Music report analyzes an industry’s continuing struggles to find a path to profitability in the digital age. Given consumers’ reluctance to pay for music on their phones, marketers are seeking new opportunities to partner directly with carriers, labels and even music artists themselves.

 Marketers will account for a greater proportion of spending as the ad-supported model for mobile music gathers steam.

   

Bebo targets mobile users (UK)

  • July 9th, 2008
  • 3:17 pm

Bebo is to push its online social network offering to mobile phone users on the back of a new deal with Intercasting Corp.

Some 40 million bebo.com site users will now be available produce and share content on their mobiles through the Anthem platform.

The new mobile application will allow them to view photos, send and receive messages, post comments and search profiles.

Bebo recently signed a deal with T-mobile in the UK where it has an existing partnership with operator Orange. In Ireland, Bebo is currently partnered with O2.

VP Business Development & Marketing, Bebo, Ziv Navoth, said that the partnership would benefit members by giving them access to the site anytime, anywhere.

He added, “We are constantly looking for ways to enhance our users experience and increasing our mobile offering will create a greater platform for self-expression for Bebo users.“

Intercasting currently works with wireless carriers such as 3 UK, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile and Sprint to provide web-based community and social networking sites for subscribers through its Anthem platform.

Bebo’s announcement comes hot on the heels of Yahoo, who have just launched oneConnect, a tool that links mobile users with social networks.

Features include, the capability for users to integrate activity from popular social networks, professional networks, and communities into their address book, keeping it in sync.

Consumers will also be able to view status updates, photo uploads, and the recent activity of contacts across all their networks.

Recently it was revealed that Facebook is in talks with Nokia about developing a similar mobile social network platform.

   

Over half of Irish consumers have bundled phone service (Ireland)

  • February 15th, 2008
  • 2:25 pm

A total of 52 percent of Irish consumers with a fixed line in their home subscribe to some form of bundled service, according to a Trends Series Survey into telecoms service usage from regulator ComReg. The most common bundle is fixed line calls, line rental and internet access - selected by 51 percent of respondents. The survey was conducted by Millward Brown IMS in October and November 2007. Mobile phone ownership for residential consumers reached 90 percent in Q4 2007, with 76 percent of consumer mobile phone owners using pre-paid models. Pre-paid mobile phone usage is higher for 15-24 year olds (89%) and those with no fixed-line at home (82%). A total of 54 percent of respondents use the internet from any location, with 48 percent of respondents having home internet connections. Of those with home internet connections, 68 percent are using broadband. DSL is the top broadband access technology for home internet users, with 52 percent using DSL. E-mail, research and travel/holiday bookings were given as the top reasons for using the internet. Online banking and online shopping were most popular for 25-49 year olds, with music downloading, social network sites and online games playing most popular for 15-24 year olds.

   

Eircom to introduce higher broadband speeds

  • February 1st, 2008
  • 11:24 am

Irish communications provider Eircom will increase speeds for broadband customers nationwide and lower wholesale broadband prices. Retail broadband customers will continue to pay the same monthly fee, but will receive the speed upgrades free of charge. As such, over 240,000 wholesale and retail customers will benefit from higher broadband download speeds, ranging between 3 Mbps to 12 Mbps. Clients who currently use a 3, 4 or 6 Mbps product will be upgraded to 7.6, 10 and 12 Mbps, respectively; while customers currently using a 2 Mbps product will be upgraded to a 3 Mbps product. Eircom will also introduce broadband products with download speeds between 1 Mbps up to 12 Mbps. The speed upgrades and new products will gradually become available over the next months.

   

America Movil plans MiPhone investment (Jamaica)

  • January 7th, 2008
  • 3:16 pm

Ireland’s Independent newspaper reports that America Movil is set to undertake significant network investment in Jamaica, doubling its number of cell sites by April 2008, in order to ensure newly acquired cellco MiPhone can better compete against Digicel and Cable & Wireless. The Mexican giant acquired MiPhone in August 2007 at a cost of USD70 million. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, at the end of September 2007 Digicel claimed almost 70% of the cellular subscriber market in Jamaica, with Cable & Wireless taking 26% and MiPhone just 4%.

   

 

O2 begins Spodtronic Radio consumer trial (Ireland)

  • November 26th, 2007
  • 3:06 pm

Mobile operator O2 Ireland has begun a trial of Spodtronic Radio. German company Liquid Air Lab is O2’s partner in delivering the Spodtronic Radio trial in Ireland. Spodtronic Radio allows users to scan and listen to live FM, AM and internet radio stations on their mobile, offers access to artist information and the ability to create a list of favourites, rate songs and choose radio stations. Users also have access to audio podcasts and the BBC Live Concert Archive where they can browse for specific artistes and concerts from the past thirty years. Many of the customers taking part in the ten-week trial are foreign nationals, who will be able to access popular radio stations in their native countries. As part of the trial they will use the Nokia N73 handset and will feedback their views on the service to O2 Ireland.

   

Bebo, O2 Ireland team up to launch Bebo on O2 mobiles (Ireland)

  • November 17th, 2007
  • 6:58 am

O2 Ireland and social networking site Bebo have teamed up to launch the Bebo mobile service. Bebo on the O2 mobile will give O2 Ireland customers access to an optimised version of the Bebo site from their O2 phone. The service will offer unlimited access to Bebo.com on mobiles where users can view profiles, upload photos, receive alerts and post comments by text message. Subscription to Bebo on O2 mobile is free of charge until 30 November, after which customers will be asked to subscribe to continue with the service for a weekly subscription fee of EUR 1.50. O2 Ireland has an agreement with Bebo to provide the service exclusively to its customers until March 2008.

   

Bebo, O2 Ireland team up to launch Bebo on O2 mobiles (Ireland)

  • November 17th, 2007
  • 6:58 am

O2 Ireland and social networking site Bebo have teamed up to launch the Bebo mobile service. Bebo on the O2 mobile will give O2 Ireland customers access to an optimised version of the Bebo site from their O2 phone. The service will offer unlimited access to Bebo.com on mobiles where users can view profiles, upload photos, receive alerts and post comments by text message. Subscription to Bebo on O2 mobile is free of charge until 30 November, after which customers will be asked to subscribe to continue with the service for a weekly subscription fee of EUR 1.50. O2 Ireland has an agreement with Bebo to provide the service exclusively to its customers until March 2008.

   

Deutsche Telekom could bid for 3’s European ops (Germany)

  • October 22nd, 2007
  • 11:50 am

Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann plans more acquisitions in Western Europe and is currently looking into the acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa’s 3, which operates in Austria, Italy, Ireland and the UK, according to company sources citied by WirtschaftsWoche. T-Mobile International CEO Hamid Akhavan said during a Goldman Sachs conference that Italy is an interesting market and T-Mobile is interested in acquiring 3 Italy. Analysts value 3’s European operations at EUR 15 billion including 13 million UMTS customers that spend on average EUR 45 per month, twice as much as T-Mobile customers. If T-Mobile would make a bid for 3 as a whole, the cartel office in Austria would almost certainly denied the acquisition of 3 Austria, because T-Mobile Austria already has enough market power on a very competitive market with four operators.