Orange extends BBC World mobile TV deal

Mobile operator Orange has extended its mobiledistribution contract with BBC World, the corporation's commercial rolling TV news channel available outside the UK, to eight new countries.

Under the deal, BBC World will be the only English language news channel to be streamed live to mobiles in Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands, Romania, Portugal, Jordan, Egypt and the Dominican Republic.

Orange mobile customers in France have been able to watch BBC World for the past two years. Orange France recently signed a renewal deal to continue this relationship and also offer the channel to IPTV customers.

The global agreement will allow Orange mobile broadband customers to access live breaking news wherever they are by watching BBC World on their mobiles. It also increases BBC World's new media distribution channels worldwide, encompassing mobile, broadband and live streaming to PCs and airline seatback TV systems.

Gerry Ritchie, BBC World's regional director for Europe, said: "Orange is one of the most forward thinking new mobile distribution platforms for television so we are thrilled to extend our relationship with them. This new live streaming deal makes our channel even more accessible to mobile users who like to keep in touch with breaking global news while on the move."

Source : http://www.dtg.org.uk

Winners and Speakers 2006

Orange Business Services has been named Best Global Carrier. And sister company Orange has been named Best Mobile Operator.

Among other notable awards, BT Fusion was named Best New Service of 2006. The judges described Fusion as "the original [fixed mobile service]—sparking a wave of FMC services." And VSNL International—the new supercarrier formed through the acquisition of Teleglobe, Tyco and ITXC by India's VSNL—won Best Wholesale Carrier.

Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google Inc., has been named Most Influential Person in Communications.Orange Business Services is the global managed services provider formerly known as Equant. Although Equant was effectively refinanced by the parent company [see Equant's day of reckoning, TTM February 2005] that was more than one year ago and followed up smartly by a relaunch under the Orange global brand.

This year the global operator has won a series of new contracts with companies and organisations including Arjowiggins, BAT and most recently the European Commission.Orange Business Services' win was a double achievement because it had to wrest the Global Carrier title from BT Global Services, which some judges said had gone even further in customer care and global network investment than the year it won.

"BT has powered forward in Europe and international markets," said one judge.BT Global Services was Highly Commended for its entries in Best Managed Services and Best Customer Care also.But what tipped the balance for judges this year was Orange's growing strength in converged fixed-mobile services, as well as its extra efforts in the Asia-Pac region, where it was able to show great testimonials from customers and evidence of deep support for services.

The WCAs celebrated their eighth year through the theme of the Future. A special award was made to Roshan as Best Operator in a Developing Market.

Mobile Phone Orange Survey Users Store Old Numbers

Nearly two thirds of people keep their ex-partner's number on their mobile phone "just in case".

Some do so because they want to feel the number is close to hand, however unlikely or inappropriate it is to ring it, a survey from the Orange company found.



But others keep numbers as if compiling a "little black book" which they can show to friends to boast of their conquests.The survery of 1,487 people also showed that 63% of people use only half the personal numbers stored in theirphones.

Some admitted hoarding old text messages and also keeping embarrassing video clips that they never watch or pass on.An Orange spokesperson said: "The New Year is a great time to start afresh."As the makeover shows say, clear the clutter and you'll be able to see the wood for the trees."We should apply the same rules to our lives, our desks and even our mobile phones."

Mobile networks bear blast strain

Mobile phone networks are recovering after struggling in the hours immediately after the London blasts.Networks in London were running at near capacity as those caught up in the chaos tried to call family and friends.The surge in the number of calls being made meant that many people had trouble getting through first time.To limit congestion, network operators urged those using their mobiles to keep calls as short as possible following the explosions across London.

Domino effectThere were three explosions over 30 minutes during the rush hour on trains on the Underground network. Another blast ripped the roof off a bus in the centre of the city.More than 30 people were killed in the explosions on the Underground.We're asking that people only make essential calls to limit the congestionBT spokesman

Blogs respond to blasts
People in the capital, anxious to know the fate of friends, relatives and employees, found themselves unable to make or receive calls or send text messages.Network operators said they had boosted capacity to handle the surge in calls, but asked that people refrain from making unnecessary and lengthy phone calls.O2 said it had doubled its network capacity, while Vodafone said it had also increased capacity and had freed channels for use by emergency services.

Shortly after the explosions, a spokeswoman for Virgin Mobile, which piggybacks on the T-Mobile network, said: "There are so many people making calls at the moment it is taking a while for people to get through. The volume of calls has really surged."Many of those caught up in the chaos who found that the mobile networks were down reportedly went into shops to beg the use of a phone.Essential callsTerrorism expert Professor Michael Clarke from the International Policy Institute at King's College London, speculated that the problems might be a security measure.

French Apple/Orange deal to be announced this week?

Didier Lombard has confirmed to the French newspaper, Le Républicain Lorrain, that Orange. France Telecom's subsidiary, has won the deal and suggested the phone will arrive in France by the end of November.

Lombard had previously stated to journalists (during the week the iPhone launched in the UK and Germany) that an agreement had been reached with Apple, but did not provide pricing or date information.

Since then rumours and reports have suggested that the two companies were struggling to reach an agreement. No further statements from either side, and lack of iPhone presence at the Paris Mac Expo, seemed to highlight problems.

Two theories have been put forward as to why the apparent delay; the first that France Telecom were not happy to agree to Apple's revenue sharing demands; and second that a legality in France meaning the iPhone would be forced to be "opened" to other operators after a certain time period had displeased Apple.

PC World offers free laptop with Orange broadband

PC World is offering a free laptop to anyone who signs up for a two-year contract with Orange broadband.

From this Thursday each new Orange subscriber who signs up for two years at a PC World store will be given a Celeron laptop worth over £300. Tens of thousands of laptops are being made available to support the promotion.

Niall O'Keeffe, marketing director of PC World said that the offer shows:
"Internet access and access to home IT is increasingly important for British families," he said. "There are educational benefits for children and numerous practical and social benefits for adults. We are pleased to be offering this groundbreaking deal as part of our commitment to Britain's digital future."

The laptops will have a minimum specification of a 15.4in widescreen display and are wireless enabled with 256MB memory, a 40GB hard drive and a DVD rewriter.

Users will also be able to trade up to a higher specification portable or receive a discount of up to £350 off any laptop in the store range.

Orange sees bumper iPhone sales

Mobile phone firm Orange has sold nearly 30,000 iPhones in France, just five days after it was launched.

Mobile companies mostly sell iPhones to customers who take out network contracts with them, a point of contention for some consumers.

About 80% of the phones were sold for 399 euros on a special Orange mobile tariff plan, with 15% sold for 549 euros on a regular Orange tariff plan.

The rest were sold for 649 euros. For 100 euros extra, these can be unlocked.

Some may have been unlocked for use on other networks, but it is not clear how many, Orange says.Orange says that 48% of people buying the phones were new customers for the network.

Court ruling

1. On Tuesday, a German court overturned an injunction that had forced T-Mobile to sell unlocked phones.
2. In the two weeks that the injunction was in place, T-Mobile sold unlocked iPhones for 999 euros, compared with 399 euros for a phone with a two-year contract.
3. The company has not revealed how many unlocked phones it sold at that price but says it did sell some.
4. The exclusive agreements between Apple and mobile operators have caused controversy outside France, with software circulating online that claims to unlock the iPhone.
5. Apple has warned that hacking into the phone's software could render the phones "permanently inoperable" if software updates are downloaded.

Mobile VoIP is here - get used to it

The launch of the Skypephone by mobile operator 3 looks set to change the way the mobile telecoms industry looks at VoIP. So far its attitude has been less than friendly, as evidenced by reports not long ago of orange mobile operators only allowing a VoIP-enabled device onto their networks after it had been knobbled so that users couldn’t access the service.

The device in question was Nokia’s N95 smartphone. Now some operators looked at this VoIP-friendly handset and took an instant disliking. They decided their business models couldn’t handle voice revenues being nibbled at, so using a firmware scalpel they performed a bypass operation. When people objected the operators made a big noise about the quality of the VoIP service not being up to their exacting standards, but essentially they had concluded: cheap mobile VoIP calls over their network equals bad; revenue-earning mobile calls over their network equals good.

3 has put the boot into that model in an attempt to entice subscribers to its network ­ and 3 says it will be trying for both pre-pay and contract customers. Subscribers need to spend £45 for a single 3Skype phone, or £89 for a pair, and then spend at least £10 a month topping it up. If we assume that call quality is OK ­ and 3 says that Skype calls are carried over its network as standard 3G voice calls and then carried over the internet to other Skype users ­ then the future looks bright for 3 and maybe not for Orange at all.