Tero,
<< this Voda item sounds hypey. Companies in Scandinavia have already started transferring parts of their intranets into WAP phones ... these schemes become "international" as soon as the manager crosses from Finland to Sweden. Not sure whether that's worth a press release >>
Ah, you got me, (again) but in this case since the article was titled "VODAFONE AIRTOUCH RUNS FIRST GLOBAL WAP PILOT" I think the connotation of "international" was a little broader than me driving across the border to Canada or your buddies driving across the border to Sweden and using either our CDMA or GSM mobile seamlessly for data services (and BTW my GSM is not WAP enabled and I can't yet even use my WAP enabled Verizon Audiovox for WAP browsing outside the original BAM area even though on the new single rate national plan with no roaming and no LD charges added other than the $10 flat fee for WAP data services, but that will change shortly). Note too, that the original BAM geography is the size of Sweden and Finland and then some <g>.
What interested me in the article was that we are are talking here, 2 continents, multiple frequencies (up to 4) and multiple technologies (up to 3). Interesting to see how the cat will be skinned by Vodaphone/Verizon. I suspect a SIM will be involved and perhaps multi-mode, multi-band phones
BTW: Interesting article below on "flat-rate international roaming service for corporate mobile users":
>> 'USER POWER' USHERS IN FLAT-RATE ROAMING TARIFFS
By Joanne Taaffe
Communications International
08 May 2000
totaltele.com
Europe will this month get its first ever flat-rate international roaming service for corporate mobile users, in a development that could herald a price war on roaming charges for business users.
A new company, called Mint Telecom, set up with the help of a high-profile European user group, will offer an international post-paid service to large enterprises in 244 countries, as well as a pre-paid service to consumers.
International accounting firm Arthur Andersen will be one of the first companies to test the new operator. "We're as keen as any other organization to reduce charges," said Colin McKenzie, U.K. director of telecoms for Arthur Andersen, Europe, Middle East and Africa and a leading member of the European VPN Users Association.
But already incumbent mobile network operators are queuing up with new services to match.
"This is really what the European market needs," said Dirk Bout, Amsterdam-based telecoms analyst at Gartner Group Dataquest Europe. "[And] for a company like Mint Telecom, backed by large corporates, this is absolutely the right thing to do."
Already France Telecom has disclosed it is planning an international mobile roaming service for corporate users. And BT Cellnet, KPN and Vodafone AirTouch plc are understood to be in discussion with corporate users about similar deals.
Mint Telecom's immediate service could answer a need long voiced by large-user organizations such as the International Telecommunications User Group and the European VPN Users Association for access from mobile phones to corporate networks on a more equal basis with fixed connections.
Previous attempts by start-up virtual mobile operators such as Sense Communications, Oslo, foundered on refusals by network owners to accept applications for international interconnection (CWI, 1 March 1999, p.1).
Regulators were unable to help the new entrants, even when they supported them, because European telecoms legislation was not conclusive about mobile network access rights.
This time, however, the enterprise company has the agreement of Swisscom AG, which has international roaming rights in 244 countries, as well as the backing of the EVUA, of Crawley, England, which has been urging operators, equipment vendors and service providers to find a solution for increasingly frustrated corporate users.
"[Mobile roaming] has become unaccountable," said Adrian Wood, an executive director of the new company.
And the technical solution chosen this time around is understood to have made the new service more acceptable to incumbents.
Mint Telecom's service resembles that of an international calling card. Users will fit international SIM cards - either pre-paid or post-paid - into their mobile phones only when in foreign countries. For national calls they will continue to use the SIM card provided by their domestic service provider.
Potential savings from the proposed new services for users will be between 18% and 25% in Europe, rising to as much as 80% when employees are roaming in Asia-Pacific and the Americas, according to McKenzie at Arthur Andersen, who is also head of the EVUA's mobile activities.
Mint Telecom will charge a flat-fee of 85 pence per minute for outgoing calls from anywhere to anywhere and says it will also bill by the second.
The advantage of the Mint Telecom post-paid corporate service is that employees will be able to keep their existing national mobile number wherever they are and will not need to enter any prefix numbers before making outbound calls.
The mobile user's existing domestic number will be recognized by a central database and then re-routed to the Mint Telecom international SIM card, using switching software designed by Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, New Jersey.
With the pre-paid service, individuals will have to use a separate international number whenever they travel abroad. Mint Telecom will provide a single bill for all international calls and a report that analyzes international mobile usage.
The promise of detailed international call analysis is as of much interest to large businesses as price savings.
"We have no easy means of establishing the use of mobiles at the moment," said Andersen's McKenzie. Not only does Arthur Andersen lack a single pan-European mobile account manager, the company has no unified reporting of international mobile calls.
The EVUA said it is working with Mint Telecom on the development of call reporting applications. Mint Telecom said it would provide enterprises with single reports with details of the most frequently called numbers, the duration of calls and which countries generate the heaviest roaming traffic.
Mint Telecom will underpin its service through an agreement with Swisscom, which will provide both interconnection and technology, according to Wood.
The Swiss operator has discussed the possibility of taking an equity stake in Mint Telecom.
Last year Swisscom caused a roaming storm in Finland. The Swiss operator, which has a bilateral roaming agreement with Sonera Oyj, allowed Sweden's Telia to piggy-back on to its access to Sonera's mobile network.
Mint Telecom, however, is unlikely to meet strong-arm resistance from other mobile operators.
"It's an under-regulated area," said John Matthews, principal consultant at Ovum Ltd., London. "I suspect in the end the carriers will probably not push too hard unless someone is breaking an agreement."
International flat-rate roaming schemes are already available to corporate users from operators such as BT Cellnet. But such offers have proved expensive when users are making calls in their home countries offsetting savings made when traveling overseas.
With a separate international SIM card companies can adopt the most advantageous domestic prices, while taking advantage of better rates for international calls.
"Because it's a different SIM card, you can get around the bad price at home and have a good price for international roaming," said Matthews.
The EVUA is working with Mint Telecom on application development and possible service administration. "EVUA will do some of the registration and administration for the service and the service will be delivered by Mint," said John Sale, director of EVUA Ventures. "The EVUA may offer the SIM card. Part of the pilot is to iron out administration difficulties."
The EVUA is also in discussions with Dutch KPN and BT Cellnet. The user group will also negotiate possible service offerings with Dolphin Telecom, and Vodafone AirTouch.
However, France Telecom is trialing a range of separate mobile corporate services, which it plans to introduce in 12 countries, beginning with the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.
[A pan-European mobile roaming and account management service] is part of our plans" said Jean-Yves Gouiffes, head of France Telecom Network.
Earlier this year EVUA invited more than 20 network operators and suppliers to come up with a pan-European package that would save its members money and simplify how they manage the purchasing and consumption of mobile services.
Only a few operators responded, according to Andersen's McKenzie, who thinks that the rest either viewed the service as margin erosion or were unable to do it. The best offers came from smaller mobile virtual network operators who are hungry enough to be flexible, said McKenzie.
Information : info@total.emap.com URL : totaltele.com
¸ EMAP Media 2000 <<
- Eric - |
