Smart observes sustained growth in postpaid segment (Philippines)
Leading wireless services provider Smart Communications Inc. expects the continued expansion of its postpaid segment this year as it gears up for the launch of exciting handset deals and voice and data plans.
Smart and Sun Cellular ended 2011 with a combined postpaid subscriber base of nearly 2 million, following the success of their best-value offerings. Smart’s parent company Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) acquired a majority stake in Sun Cellular operator Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. (Digitel) last year.
Guido Zaballero, Mobile Marketing Head, Smart, said that the company tripled its average daily postpaid activations largely because of the popularity of the Unli and All-In plans and smartphone-bundled plans. He added that they expect to top last year’s figures as they are set to launch exciting postpaid offerings in 2012. Consumers should watch out for the attractive handset deals and voice and data plans.
Among last year’s growth drivers were the Unli Plan 299, which allows unlimited texts to any Smart and Talk ‘N Text number, and the Unli Plan 599, which allows unlimited calls and texts to Smart and Talk ‘N Text subscribers. The iPhone Plans, Smart’s exclusive plans for the Samsung Galaxy Y Netphone edition and Netphone 701, and the Smart-Sun Text Unlimited 549 Plan also boosted postpaid figures.
The Smart-Sun Text Unlimited 549 Plan provides unlimited texts to Smart and Sun numbers, 2 hours of free Smart-to-Smart calls, and 4 hours of free Sun-to-Sun calls. It comes with a free dual-SIM phone. Smart’s All-In Plans were very popular as well, as these allow subscribers to choose Unli call and text packages, next-generation handsets, and mobile Internet plans.
Zaballero added that consumers got the best value from Smart’s Unli call and text offers as they have the biggest prepaid and postpaid subscriber base in the country, as well as the most sophisticated and reliable network.
Smart ended 2011 with a total subscriber base of 49 million.
Smart Money online transactions up by 133 per cent (Philippines)
Smart Money is an easy and safe way to do bank account transactions via the mobile phone, launched by telecom operator Smart. According to a company report, the country’s first and largest electronic wallet service posted a 133 per cent surge in online transactions in the past year.
Orlando B. Vea, Chief Wireless Advisor, Smart, said that not only did they record a doubling of online transactions, they also posted a double-digit rate increase in online applications for Smart Money accounts, which already number in the thousands every year. These figures show that consumers see Smart Money as a convenient and safe online payment tool. At a time when online hacking is prevalent, consumer trust in Smart Money’s security features is growing.
Aside from providing efficient and secure online payment services, Smart Money also enables its account holders to buy from more than 32 million MasterCard merchants worldwide. MasterCard is one of the world’s leading payment processors.
Vea added that Smart Money arms subscribers with buying power wherever they are – be it at home while surfing the Internet, in local shopping centers, or while traveling abroad. They do not need to worry about carrying cash in an unfamiliar place. There are literally millions of establishments around the world that will accept their Smart Money card.
Helping ensure the security of over 10 million Smart Money accounts is the electronic wallet service’s award-winning Lock/Unlock feature, which requires account holders to select ‘unlock’ on their mobile phone’s Smart Money menu and type their six-digit W-PIN before making online payments.
Vea also said that this feature provides additional layers of security. Even if someone knows a user’s Smart Money number, he cannot use it for purchases if he does not have the SIM card and does not know the W-PIN.
Moreover, Smart Money accounts automatically lock after 30 minutes or after two online transactions, whichever comes first. Thus in the event that a user accidentally leaves their Smart Money account unlocked, it will be protected.
Smart Money also sends real-time SMS confirmation of purchases made online and in establishments to inform subscribers if someone has been using their account without their permission. Vea said that security is Smart Money’s priority. They make sure that they provide clients both with the convenience of cashless shopping and innovative protective measures.
Hungary’s Magyar Telekom & E.ON AG sign power retail sales deal
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Hungary’s largest telecommunications company by market share, Magyar Telekom Nyrt has stepped its foot into the power retail sales market to retain existing customers and to gain new ones. The move has been described as a long-term strategic step and not a short-term revenue generator.
German utility giant E.ON AG and Magyar Telekom has entered in to a partnership as per which former will be Magyar’s strategic power supplier.
Deutsche Telekom AG owns majority of Magyar Telekom and the operator will offer smart metering services of natural gas and electricity both to households and small and medium-size companies. The new service will be offered in five cities in Hungary initially and will be expanded in the second half of this year.
According to Chief Executive Christopher Mattheisen, consumers opting for Magyar’s new services could save between 5% and 8% of their annual spending on natural gas and electricity.
Mobile Gaming destined for Growth: research
A research agency has released the results of a study on mobile gaming highlighting the potential for growth in the mobile gaming market, despite a 13% decline in the number of US mobile gamers during the past year.
This overall decline was driven by a 35% decline in mobile gaming among feature phone subscribers, who represent approximately 80% of the market, which contrasted with a sizeable 60% increase in the number of gamers using Smartphones.
According to an official source, although the number of mobile gamers has declined in the past year, there is reason for significant optimism about the future of this market.
In his opinion, as the market transitions from feature phones to Smartphones, the dynamics of gameplay are also shifting towards a higher quality experience. As a result, they can expect to see a profound increase in adoption of this activity, both in terms of audience size and overall engagement.
FLO TV to add social media
FLO TV, Qualcomm subsidiary has announced that it is going to enhance its mobile TV service with new interactive applications that integrate video with Web-based content and social media tools.
According to FLO TV President, Bill Stone, with consumers’ mobile entertainment habits evolving rapidly, FLO TV will be integrating its current live linear video with relevant, on-demand content and interactive features that complement the programming viewers are watching in real-time.
In his opinion, their innovative, nationwide multicast network is at the heart of this solution and will allow them to distribute live mobile TV and rich mobile media services to a range of new devices from Smartbooks to e-readers and tablets.
The company has also declared that that in addition to integrated experiences, it will be having an expanded suite of Mobile TV services, including interactive capabilities, pay-per-day and event passes, and time-shifted viewing options by the second half of 2010.
With the new services, the users will be able to work upon interactive features that will enable them to interact with programming and advertising, allowing consumers to click for more information about a show or click to buy an advertised product.
Nine Multimedia launches Mobile CRM Tool
Nine Multimedia has announced the launch of its first ever Mobile Marketing CRM Solution, Nine Mobile.
This online tool is all set to enable marketers to send special offers, coupons, video, audio, text, alerts and notifications to consumers’ mobile phones. This is a platform which will allow companies to interact and manage their customers through their mobile phones.
With this app a user can also quickly and easily create and change a company’s mobile website apps and landing pages using the online Smartphone Web App builder. It is compatible with any mobile with a web browser.
Vodafone UK signs contract with British Gas
Vodafone UK has signed a contract with British Gas on the rollout of smart metering in the UK. This multi-million pound contract will be providing nearly 1 million GPRS connections within household meters.
With this contract, the families will no longer need to wait in for someone to read their energy meter. Instead, they will be getting a bill automatically for exactly what they have used with the energy use data sent from the in-home smart meter back to British Gas over the Vodafone network
According to Peter Kelly, Vodafone’s Enterprise Director, the company is always improving services to make their customers’ lives easier. They are pleased to work with British Gas on this trial to accelerate the roll-out of smart meters into British homes.
Openwave launches Smart User Repository
Openwave Systems, a global software innovator delivering context-aware mediation and messaging solutions, has announced the launch of its Openwave® Smart User Repository for operators which is highly scalable and offers high speed.
According to Openwave, the solution is an excellent candidate for operators’ 3GPP user profile repository (UPR) and user data repository (UDR) requirements because of its scalable and reliable architecture.
In the opinion of John Giere, Senior Vice President of Products and Marketing at Openwave, as operators continue to witness unprecedented data traffic volumes, it is incumbent upon them to consider integrated policy management tools that will help them rapidly access user profile and policy information as is common in the web world.
One of the longstanding Tier 1 North American operators has already deployed their repository and is currently processing in excess of 2.5 billion queries a day, Giere informed.
Certified products to launch this year: HomeGrid Forum
The HomeGrid Forum expects industry players to begin launching certified wired home networking products which are capable of turning any power socket into a network access point, before the end of 2010.
According to Matt Theal, president of the HomeGrid Forum, at first the company will see products that plug into the wall which then connect using Ethernet cable to the back of a device.
Then eventually the silicon will be integrated onto PCI-Express cards, the device’s motherboard, or into the power supplies themselves. He also added that other areas of the market will eventually include smart grid products and connected white goods.
For a number of years, devices that can send IP data through a home’s power cables have been around. However, according to Theal, until now there have been no industry-wide standards, meaning interoperability issues have been rife.
Smartphones Technologies launches Basketball iPhone Application
Smartphones Technologies, Mobile application publisher has launched ‘College Basketball Bracket Challenge’ for the iPhone. With this application, the college basketball bracket challenge allows fans to create their own tournament bracket compete against their friends, and see if their picks land them on the Leaderboard.
After each game, the scores will be automatically updated so that fans can see if their picks move on to the next round. Fans can easily switch from the List view to the Bracket view
College Basketball Bracket Challenge allows fans to create their own tournament bracket, compete against their friends, and see if their picks land them on the Leaderboard.
This will enable fans to follow their favorite teams all the way to the championship, whether they are at home or on the go. For people who buy a ‘College SuperFans’ app get the College Basketball Bracket Challenge inside College SuperFans apps as a supplementary gift.
According to Mike Merrill, the company is giving fans features they expect in college sports apps by integrating the Bracket Challenge app functionality into the existing College SuperFans app.
