Vodafone partners with BMW for Breakthrough Wireless Connectivity Technology (Germany)
Telecom operator Vodafone Germany will fit its SIM in BMW ConnectedDrive cars to enhance safety, traffic avoidance and motoring efficiency. According to a company report, Vodafone’s new SIM chip will be used by BMW in Germany to connect its cars and give customers access to its innovative in-car-services such as BMW online services, a personal concierge service as well as the emergency function.
The new BMW series vehicles will be fitted with a specially adapted mobile SIM chip supplied by Vodafone Germany. The Vodafone SIM, which will link BMW up to its vehicles, will provide customers with access to innovative in-car services such as the BMW Online Services, a 24/7 personal concierge service for BMW drivers and an emergency call function.
The five-year agreement between Vodafone Germany and the BMW Group involves fitting SIM cards within the vehicles at the assembly plant. The service being provided by Vodafone is based on machine-to-machine technology, which allows different devices to communicate with each other. The Vodafone SIM has a lifespan of more than ten years, can withstand temperatures from minus 40 to heat of 85 degrees centigrade and is coated with anti-corrosive protection.
In the future, this technology will become even more crucial for the automotive sector with the introduction of ‘eCall’ – the automatic vehicle emergency call system in that is being planned by the European Union. From 2015 onwards, all new cars will be fitted with latest mobile data connection and SIM card that automatically calls the emergency services in the event of an accident.
Ucell introduces new package and bonuses (Uzbekistan)
Ucell has introduced its new Registan package, including the Huawei U8150 smartphone, a SIM with prepaid tariff, a 2GB SDcard and traffic bonuses.
The package costs US$297.40. The operator has also introduced US$1 and US$ 2.5 bonuses for top-ups of US$2.98 and US$0.59 respectively.
Optus revises prepaid plans for iPad 2 (Australia)
Optus has launched new SIM-only plans and prepaid recharges for iPad 2 users. The plans start at $20 per month for 2 GB without a contract when customers bring their own SIM.
The month-to-month plan also comes in $30 per month version for 4 GB and $60 per month version for 8 GB. A starter-kit with MicroSIM comes with a price tag of $30, which includes 3 GB of data valid for 30 days. Prepaid recharges start at $15 for 300 MB valid for 15 days and range to $40 for 5 GB valid for 60 days and $130 for 15 GB valid for 12 months.
T-Mobile USA, Everything Everywhere allow international M2M deployment
T-Mobile USA, in partnership with Everything Everywhere and Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) has announced the ongoing development of the industry’s first embedded multi-mode international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) SIM.
Designed for cost-effective international machine-to-machine (M2M) deployment, the multi-mode solution will act as a local SIM when deployed in the U.S. and the UK.
This unique borderless solution will offer M2M application providers the ability to deploy multiple global subscriptions for reduced roaming costs and improved coverage in areas outside of local networks. The embedded multi-mode IMSI SIM is expected to be available before the end of the year.
Vodafone launches Wi-Fi device in India
Vodafone Essar has launched its mobile Wi-Fi device, Vodafone R201 in India at the price of US$121.62
Vodafone R201 is a portable mobile Wi-Fi terminal which can be used by five users simultaneously to connect to Vodafone’s 3G network. It is designed to provide customers with an advantage of connecting and communicating on-the-go.
According to Vodafone Essar Chief Marketing Officer, Kumar Ramanathan, as a result of their innovation effort,Vodafone is introducing an exciting range of products to let their customers experience 3G services at its best.
According to the company, R201 uses a SIM slot to connect to Vodafone’s 3G network and five users can then connect their computers, mobile gaming devices or digital music players to the device over Wi-Fi network to enjoy 3G speeds. The device comes with a battery life of up to 4 hours and can offer 3G internet services on the go at a download speed of up to 7.2 megabyte per second on HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) enabled devices.
Globe Telecom offers unlimited SMS to postpaid customers (Philippine)
Philippine telecommunications provider Globe Telecom is reportedly offering its unlimited SMS service to its postpaid subscribers.
According to the company, its ‘MySuperTxtAll’ allow postpaid subscribers to send unlimited text messages to all networks. Without the need for an extra phone or SIM, postpaid subscribers can make unlimited text messages to subscribers of Smart Communications, Sun Cellular, Touch Mobile, Talk ‘n Text or Red Mobile.
The service is available until May 30 and postpaid subscribers will be charged US$13.70 per month on top of their current bill.
DoT allows mobile towers near the border (India)
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has made a decision to permit mobile towers within 500 metres of international borders.
The department has modified its norms according to which installation of towers within 10 km of the international border was not allowed. The move is seen as an attempt to counter incoming signals from neighboring Pakistan and Bangladesh.
According to Minister of state for communications and IT, Sachin Pilot, they have changed the norms as they observed that signal from other countries are entering their border areas in North-East, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Now, towers can be placed within 500 metres of the border on Sunday. He added that the move will improve signal strength in the border areas which is important for security.
According to reports, Pilot stated the department was vigilant about the reports of Pakistani mobile network being used near border areas. They have taken action against a few and also Ministry of Home. Defence and DoT are working together to counter such activities.
Pilot added that the department will distribute satellite phones to villagers and security personnel where there was no mobile network and signal was a problem. They intend to ensure network availability to each person in the country.
As the supply of electricity is less in the sparsely-located areas on the borders, a few upcoming mobile towers will be run by solar plants.
The minister launched a scheme called ‘Rakshak’ on Sunday. The scheme offers facility to paramilitary personnel to stay connected with their families in any part of the country without spending on call charges. By paying a nominal sum of US$6.62 monthly, soldiers will get two SIM cards, one of which they can give to their family. The calls made between the two SIM cards will be free.
Vodafone samples SIM-based corporate log-in product (Germany)
Vodafone Germany is sampling a pilot SIM-based security product for business customers at CeBIT that enables secure log-in to corporate networks by mobile phone.
The project works by turning a SIM card into a digital ID card to act as an electronic pass and key for access corporate data.
If employees want to log into the corporate network from their mobile phone, they are given an authentication request which they must confirm using their SIM card and PIN number. If both of these check out, access will be granted to the company network.
Telekom Deutschland to launch 2 new mobile data tariffs (Germany)
Telekom Deutschland is all set to expand its mobile broadband tariffs from 5 April this year with two new data tariffs for heavy users.
The tariffs are called Web’n'Walk Connect XL and XXL. The tariffs will offer 10 GB at 21.6 Mbps and 20 GB at 42.2 Mbps for US$75.94 and US$103.58 per month respectively.
After using the included data volumes, the speeds are downgraded to GPRS level until a new month begins. Both tariffs include a USB modem for mobile broadband access and are available as SIM-only tariffs for US$6.91 per month.
No financial bail-out for Nigerian CDMA Networks
Nigeria’s telecoms regulator, the Communications Commission (NCC) has ruled out possibility of a financial bailout for the country’s struggling CDMA network operators.
According to the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Eugene Juwah, the regulator was technology agnostic, and would not step in to support on technology over another.
The Nigerian CDMA networks have struggled to secure market share against the surging GSM operators in the country, who came from nowhere to a dominant position in just a few years.
The CDMA operators were however hit by a regulatory change that mandated the use of SIM based CDMA handsets, forcing them to clear out old stocks of handsets at a discount. The SIM mandate came in as part of the country’s drive to register all its PrePay subscribers.
According to official figures from NCC, at the end of November last year, the total number of active subscriber lines for the GSM sector reached 78.9 million representing a market share of 91.4% while the mobile CDMA sector accounted for 6.2 million representing 7.2%.
