O2 bullish about TV trial

Last September around 400 O2 customers were given a Nokia 7710 with a digital receiver that can pick up signals within a 120km radius of Oxford. Participants in the trial receive 16 TV channels covering music sport news comedy soaps documentary drama cartoons and niche interests.

Arqiva (formerly NTL Broadcast) and Nokia are also involved in the trial. The service is based on the DVB-H transmission standard.

O2 vice president of research and development Mike Short admitted: We were a little surprised at the interest shown in viewing mobile TV in the home. The initial results show that the viewing interest is of the order of three hours per week. He attributed the interest to a number of causes. First some of the channels are not available on terrestrial TV; second mobile TV is treated as a second receiver and because its mobile it can be watched in whichever room users choose.

We are pleased with both the home use and the level of use he added. The trial has not ended yet but we are encouraged so far and can see its scope going forward. But the spectrum rights and the content rights have to be sorted out before it can take off. The regulators have to move because a decision regarding spectrum needs to be made.

O2 will make public the interim results of its mobile TV trial in Oxford tomorrow (Tuesday).

CPW boosts AIDS day

It hopes CPWs 635 stores will help it double the number of ribbons sold last year to two million.

The issue can only be addressed through communication said chairman Charles Dunstone.

Vodafone to dismantle premier dealer programme

The channel will be split into three new tiers – Premier Certified and Registered – each determining the level of support given to members.

Mark Bond Vodafone enterprise marketing director said that existing BCC members would automatically rank highly in the grading structure.

We in no way want our existing BCCs to think this will take the gloss off being a BCC member he said. There will still be strict criteria that will determine which tier each applicant will go into.

Existing BCC members will automatically qualify for one of the top two tiers he said depending on their volume of business. New partners for example IT and voice sellers will go in the bottom tier he added.

Bond stressed that BCC members will still get all the perks theyve previously enjoyed. We will be visiting all of our BCC members personally to go through the changes he promised.

The new channel strategy launched yesterday.

However more than 400 people who attended a Vodafone channel event on Wednesday last week were invited to sign up early.

So far we have had about 250 people sign up so initial feedback is very promising. This service will run alongside the BCC club until March next year at which point the BCC will no longer exist so members have quite a while to switch over.

The channel restructure will see the introduction of a new online portal containing marketing collateral as well as product service and sales information. There will be dedicated sales and marketing support from Vodafone as well as structured training based on the individual needs of each channel partner.

3 subsidies damaged The Link

Like-for-like sales were down 28 per cent compared with the same period last year. Total sales were down 21 per cent.

Like-for-like sales includes handset subsidies and the hardware costs on 3 handsets have gone down by a significant amount said Wood. But subsidies have changed year-on-year.

Meanwhile former Orange marketing director of pay monthly David Bugg has joined The Link as commercial director.

O2 falls short of 2005 franchises

The network confirmed that its first franchise-owned store is due to open in Rotherham. However at the launch of the programme O2 UK sales director Mark Stansfeld forecast that the network would have around five franchises running by the end of the year.

O2 head of retail Dean Sykes admitted that this is now unlikely but said he was hopeful for more franchises early next year.

Weve set ambitious targets all along the way he said. We will always want more open than we have but its crucial to get everything right with the first ones.

3 signs deal for ITV clips

The content partnership which will initially last for a year enables 3 users to watch live TV as well as download clips and highlights from ITVs hit shows.

Content includes the latest series of Im A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Emmerdale Coronation Street and other high-profile shows and specials.

Orange dealers in poaching spat

The row broke out when Dave Ford managing director of Kent-based Kelly Freight Services which had been a customer of DM Telecom for two years contacted Orange directly in September for an upgrade.

Ford was contacted the following day and upgraded by a direct dealer of Orange which later turned out to be Celltalk.

I was under the impression that Orange had arranged this directly and that I would continue to be account-managed by DM Telecom said Ford. But when I got my bill from the new company and found there were more handsets on it than Id requested there was no number for me to call.

DM Telecom managing director Dino Maroudias turned to his Orange distributor Hugh Symons to see if it could help. Business manager Bob Sweetloves enquiries revealed that Fords connections had been put through by Celltalk.

We have been attempting to resolve the situation with Orange but the best advice to date has been for DM Telecom and the direct dealer to resolve the issue between them said Sweetlove. This has been attempted but the direct dealer seems reluctant to assist.

Clearly DM Telecom could have lost the business to Orange direct as a consequence of the direct contact. The fact that another dealer appears to have benefited is proving hard to swallow. Quite rightly it is looking to Orange to resolve the matter.

Celltalk managing director Richard Marsden insisted he was happy to co-operate however.

All our sales calls are recorded and we ensure our orders are processed correctly he said. I will be happy to talk to both Kelly Freight and DM Telecom to see if we can reach an amicable solution.

Barnet trials staff tracking

All the councils social workers currently use XDA handsets on O2. Barnet has agreed to pilot new technology from mobile location services company TrackaPhone which means the device can be used to pinpoint its employees locations.

The locator is currently being tested by 100 social workers. The full roll-out will be to more than 240 frontline workers.

If a social worker feels at risk they hit a discreet button on their XDA. TrackaPhone sends an alert to the duty desk which identifies the location of the distress call.

The people locator solution also enables Barnet Council to monitor the whereabouts of their off-site employees – though staff can turn the device off when they wish not to be tracked.

HTC mulls European expansion

The Taiwanese firm is already working with Orange T-Mobile O2 Vodafone and Telefonica.

A spokeswoman said: We are in discussions with other channel partners about future business opportunities but cannot disclose any names at this stage.

HTC opened its new European head office in Slough Berkshire last Friday.

Orange gains an EDGE with BlackBerry

It claims high performance for e-mail voice text messaging Internet organiser and corporate data applications.

It will be available for Oranges enterprise customers in France on December 15 with retail availability planned for January. It is expected to be made available in a phased roll-out to the UK and other Orange markets across Europe during early 2006.