NSN wins O2 Network Upgrade deal (UK)
Deal follows announcement Ericsson will cover operator’s northern operations and means NSN now provides two thirds of O2?s network access.
Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has begun the modernization process of O2?s network in the south of the UK over the next three years.
The three-year contract means Nokia Siemens Networks will provide approximately two-thirds of O2′s 3G access network in the UK, covering the south of England. Nokia Siemens Networks is currently the sole vendor for O2′s nationwide GSM network.
The deal also covers services including network implementation, project management, advanced technical support and consultancy services to ensure rapid network deployment for O2 during 2011.
No financial details were provided.
O2 to offer free Wi-Fi network access (UK)
O2 is building a network of Wi-Fi hot spots, in a move that would enable the company to cope with increasing consumer demand for smartphones and tablet computers such as Apple’s iPad.
O2 is planning to provide free public access to its US$16 million Wi-Fi network so that smartphone owners who have contracts with other mobile operators can still use the hot spots.
It comes as British Sky Broadcasting is expected to announce a deal to buy The Cloud, a Wi-Fi provider with networks in the UK and Sweden.
O2 ran into infrastructure problems in 2009 in cities including London because bandwidth-hungry smartphones led by Apple’s iPhone were overloading the mobile network.
Since then, O2 has improved the network’s capacity to carry greater volumes of data traffic, partly by adding extra base stations in London.
O2 should now be able to improve the quality of its network by offloading some of the data traffic at Wi-Fi hot spots that connect into fixed-line infrastructure.
Smartphones and tablets are fuelling growth in data traffic on mobile networks because they provide the opportunity to watch video on the move.
O2′s first batch of Wi-Fi hot spots, which are located in its stores, should be operational before the end of March. It is aiming to have about 15,000 hot spots by 2013.
According to Ronan Dunne, head of O2 UK, the hot spots could enable restaurants or shops to attract extra customers, as well as secure some of the revenue coming from the nascent mobile advertising market.
O2 iPhone 4 and Dongle Customers Moving to 900MHz (UK)
O2 UK has doubled its planned network investment to US$3.2 million per day following approval from the telecoms regulator to start re-farming some of its GSM900 spectrum for 3G services.
According to the company, the investment would boost network capacity for 3G users, especially as it can migrate its iPhone 4 users over to the 900 MHz spectrum. Some Nokia handsets sold by the operator also support 3G at 900 MHz.
The company added that as a part of their financial results they announced that they will be increasing investment in their national mobile network by up to 25% this year. Part of this investment will be realized through the migration to 900MHz spectrum, which was formally agreed by Ofcom last week. Their deployment is focused on increasing the capacity of their 3G network where they have capacity hotspots. When 900MHz is activated on a site, customers with compatible handsets should experience less congestion and a faster service.
Proxama acquires Hypertag
Proxama, a developer of mobile contactless payments and near field communications (NFC) technology has acquired proximity marketing specialist Hypertag.
Proxama will retain the Hypertag brand in the deal as well as incorporating members of the Hypertag senior management team and key staff into the new set-up.
Neil Garner will hold overall responsibility for the group. Jonathan Morgan, currently Managing Director of Hypertag, will join Proxama with immediate effect and will be responsible for integrating the two businesses, providing continuity for existing Hypertag customers.
Hypertag will become a part of Proxama to focus on delivering proximity marketing campaigns for international brands such as Nokia, Ford, O2 and BP. It will now also be able to add NFC technology to its Bluetooth Marketing and Wi-Fi propositions.
T-Mobile to offer Black Nokia C1-01 (USA)
T-Mobile has announced that it is going to offer Black Nokia C1-01 on its network.
The Nokia C1-01 offers a stylish design and all the features you need for day to day use. It’s the ideal handset for messaging, boasting SMS, MMS, IM and email support, and a full traditional keypad for speedy typing.
Nokia‘s latest offering also features an integrated Opera Mini web browser, perfect for surfing the web. That’s not all, as the C1-01 also boasts a built in media player, a VGA camera with video capture and up to 32GB of storage via microSD.
The Black Nokia C1-01 is now available to order on pay monthly deals with T-Mobile. Prices start from just $7.32/month, once cashback has been claimed from 15 months free line rental on an 18 monthUS$40.40/month contract. This deal also includes a free handset, 300 minutes, 300 texts and 1GB data.
The Nokia C1-01 is also available pay monthly contracts with O2 and Orange.
O2 to shut 40 U.K. Stores
Telefonica SA’s mobile-phone unit O2 is reportedly aiming to close 40 of its 490 U.K. stores in the next three months, resulting in about 400 job cuts.
According to reports, O2 is planning to close the company’s smallest stores.
According to the company, retail numbers will be the same at the end of the forthcoming redundancy process as current levels, and up on present numbers by the end of the year. It will recruit 250 technology advisers, or Gurus, at the same time, bringing its number of Gurus to 400 in total.
It is unclear whether O2 will seek to have, broadly, one Guru per store, or focus technical resource on tier-one shops.
The move is to expand its portfolio of devices and services and increase investment in technical support for customers.
BBC Shuts WAP Mobile Web Sites (UK)
The UK based BBC has announced that it has closed its old WAP mobile internet site.
According to BBC, it made the decision based on value for money and usage of the service compared to other services available. Two years ago, WML made up 20% of the BBC mobile internet traffic – today it is less than 1%. In light of the traffic decline, the BBC stated that it cannot justify the expense of maintaining the WML version for an ever-decreasing number of users. They have therefore decided to focus development on the standard XHTML mobile site.
Those devices that support XHTML will be redirected to the XHTML mobile site. People using older WAP phones will get the following message if they try to visit the WAP sites: “We’ve now closed the WML version of BBC Online. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this causes you. However, if your phone supports XHTML, then you can still access BBC Mobile.
In the UK, BT Cellnet (now O2) was heavily criticized within the industry for running marketing campaigns promoting the new WAP phones as having internet like services, when in fact it was a heavily cut down version of what people were expecting to see.
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3UK head criticizes spectrum allocation ruling
Kevin Russell, chief executive of 3 UK, has indicated that his business could be sold after accusing ministers and regulators of distorting competition in the telecoms industry.
He criticized a decision by regulators to let the operator’s larger rivals reallocate some of their radio spectrum from basic phone services to data activities such as internet browsing.
The Hutchison Whampoa-owned operator is seeking guarantees that it will have a fair chance of securing a significant chunk of low-frequency spectrum in an auction due next year.
The company wants Ofcom, the telecoms regulator to draw up auction rules that cap the amount of spectrum that any operator can hold.
Without this, 3 doubts that O2 and Vodafone could end up holding the bulk of the spectrum available at a bandwidth below one gigahertz. Everything Everywhere, the largest network operator, has similar concerns to 3.
Low frequency spectrum below one gigahertz is suitable for expanding 3G services to rural areas because wireless signals travel long distances on it.
Like other rival companies, 3 needs spectrum to support bandwidth-hungry smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone.
Mr Russell criticized Ofcom after the regulator stated that Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone could reallocate spectrum currently used for 2G phone and text services to 3G data activities. According to him, healthy competition is critical for UK consumers using mobile services and Ofcom and the government must address the significant competitive distortions they have now created in pushing through the reform of spectrum currently used for 2G mobile services. This can only be done through the structure of the spectrum auction planned for 2012.
Mr Russell highlighted how the merger last year between Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, to create Everything Everywhere, had already reduced the number of network operators from five to four. If the government and Ofcom get this wrong, further consolidation could result. Ultimately that can only be bad, not good, for UK consumers.
