Vodafone and Orange expected to share more

Vodafone and Orange are apparently close to expanding their existing base station sharing agreement by integrating 3G access and possibly even working together on international coverage, according to a report in The Observer.

Orange says mobile multimedia is more popular than ever

The latest Digital Media Index report from Orange (covering summer/autumn 2008) says that mobile data usage has almost doubled since the company's previous report, which covered November 2007 to January 2008. Sales of 3G mobile internet 'dongles' were up 2,139% since January, with 3G customer numbers rising 86%: 1.3 million people. Mobile search was up 30% and music downloads were up 10%. [Press release]

Mobile dog tracker launched by Orange and Retrieva

Hey - it's our third dog story this year! Tracking company Retrieva has just launched its Tracking and Anti-theft dog collar in association with Orange. The collar combines GPS, GSM and RFID technologies; there's a home base station that lets you know if your dog leaves home and an Orange SIM to send alerts if the collar is removed. You can also track your dog on your mobile phone if it goes missing... and there's even a panic alarm for isolated dog walkers. The system will be launched soon with an iniial cost of £250 and an ongoing £9.99 a month. [Press release]

New quarterly industry figures from Ofcom

Another quarter, another batch of UK statistics from regulator Ofcom. Apparently revenue across Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile fell by 1.6% in Q1 2008, with call volumes dropping slightly (0.23%) and messaging volumes increasing by 8%. Customers with 'pay monthly' constracts increased by 1.9% - a trend that's happened since the beginning of 2006. 'Contract' customers now account for 36% of all mobile subscribers, compared to 32% in Q1 2006. [Press release]

New UK MVNO offers foreign-language customer care

A new UK virtual mobile network called GlobalCell has launched in partnership with Orange. It's a SIM-only prepaid service aimed at Eastern Europeans in the UK, with all customer interaction conducted in the customers’ native language. Choices include Polish, Russian, Lithuanian, Slovak and English. International calls cost from 10p per minute. [Press release]

Orange caps 3G speeds for iPhone in France

The French Orange network has apparently admitted it's been restricting 3G iPhone speeds to 384KB, although it says it'll increase speeds to 1MB by mid-September. This has added to suggestions that a similar situation may exist in the USA. [Source: Newsfactor.com]

Actors paid to queue for iPhone

It's been reported that Orange paid actors to queue outside its shops in Poland to increase interest in the 3G iPhone, which launched there last week. The company is quoted as saying it paid actors to wait outside 20 stores. [Source: cnet.com]

Orange launches laptop-and-broadband deal

Orange has launched its ‘connected’ product range with a deal that combines mobile broadband with a laptop on a monthly contract. The offer, which will be available online and from Orange shops, adds an Asus Eee PC900 laptop and 3G dongle to the Orange 'Internet Everywhere' mobile broadband service for £25 a month on a two-year contract. The Carphone Warehouse and 3 are already offering similar deals. [Press release]

Orange launches new brand campaign

Orange is launching a new global brand campaign and a new vision. The branding will be premiered on UK televison this weekend with a 60-second I Am Everyman ad. Orange says its new vision is expressed in the phrase "together we can do more". [Press release]

Takeover talks

Vodafone has announced that Verizon Wireless, its partner in the USA, has agreed to buy Alltel for $28.1 billion. Alltel is the 5th largest mobile operator in the USA, with over 13 million customers. This will make Verizon, of which Vodafone owns 45%, the country's largest mobile network with around 80 million customers. Meanwhile France Telecom, which owns the Orange brand, has been rejected after offering to buy Scandinavian telecoms giant TeliaSonera. [Vodafone press release; TeliaSonera press release]

Orange announces new UK plans

Orange CEO Tom Alexander has announced a number of changes to the way the company works in the UK. He said it would improve quality for customers, it would expand Orange sales channels, it would expand its 3G HSDPA network, and it would offer new services. There'll be new products including Orange-branded laptops, there'll be more focus on offering customer service using UK call centres, and there'll be more Orange shops. It's also changing its management structure, which could see the loss of around 450 jobs. The company is dropping its "the future's bright, the future's Orange" advertising tagline. [Sources: Press release; Mobile News; Guardian.co.uk]

Orange and Nokia to form "strategic international partnership"

Orange and Nokia have said they're extending their current working agreement to form a strategic international partnership that'll see them co-operating with music, mobile gaming, maps, advertising and location-based services. As part of the deal, Orange will be launching a range of Nokia phones that offer access to the Orange Music Store, Orange games, N-Gage games, and Nokia Maps. [Press release]

Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile top JD Power survey

Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile have come out as the top networks for customer satisfaction in the 2008 J.D. Power UK Mobile Telephone Customer Satisfaction Study. Tesco Mobile ranks highest in customer satisfaction with pre-pay mobile telephone service, while Virgin Mobile ranks highest among contract mobile phone customers. Overall, customer satisfaction in the pre-pay segment has decreased slightly while customer satisfaction in the contract segment has increased. Orange came bottom of both sets of results. [Press release]

Orange survey shows mobile TV up, ringtones down

The latest Orange Digital Media Index - the company's third such survey - has shown a 35% increase in mobile internet page impressions compared with its November 2007 survey. TV watching was up even more, with total mobile TV viewing hours increasing by 87%. Ringtone downloads fell from 117,000 in December 2007 to 100,000 in January, while full-length music track downloads hit a new Orange record of 289,000 in December. [Sources: Press release, Guardian.co.uk]

Orange launches ad-funded download trial

Orange is launching an ad-funded download service on its Orange World mobile internet service. 800,000 Orange customers in the UK will be able to download music to their phone at a discounted rate or completely free. The three-month trial will display advertising banners while customers download their music from a choice of 500 tracks. Advertising company ScreenTonic, which was bought by Microsoft last year, is managing the banner ads for the campaign. In addition, Orange says it's done a deal with film website Icewhole.com to allow customers to download short films for £1.

New edition of 'The Fonecast' now online

This week's free edition of The Fonecast, a weekly downloadable podcast about the mobile industry (in partnership with Mobile News), is now available to download from TheFonecast.com. Our main feature is an interview with Jez Harris about the new Orange commission clawback changes that'll affect dealers. There's a quick look at the new Sony Ericsson C902 Cyber-shot camera phone - and you'll also discover the latest mobile industry news and gossip. Each broadcast can be downloaded by including us in your RSS reader, by using iTunes, by visiting TheFonecast.com or by visiting the Mobile News website.

Ofcom updates Sitefinder cell site database

Ofcom has reached an agreement with 3, O2, Orange, Vodafone, Airwave and Network Rail (but not T-Mobile) to publish the location of GSM, TETRA and UMTS mobile phone base stations on its Sitefinder web site. The regulator says it anticipates a High Court hearing about its legal obligation to reveal full details of the database, which led to the networks withdrawing their support last year.

Vodafone and 3 lead the UK's mobile portals

A new research report from Strategy Analytics called "UK Mobile Portals: One Click Access and Simple Layout Enhance Experience" has taken a look at the mobile internet portals operated by the UK's networks. 3's Planet Three and Vodafone's Vodafone Live! both achieved a 4-star rating (presumably out of a maximum 5 stars) for their overall portal experience, with O2, Orange and T-Mobile all receiving a 3-star rating. 3 and Vodafone performed particularly well for portal discoverability, while Vodafone was commended for its News & Info service and 3 for its Mobile TV offering. Strategy Analytics said Full Track Music and Games downloads were significant areas of weakness in terms of user satisfaction across all networks.

Vodafone and Orange update network sharing deal

Vodafone and Orange, which announced plans to work together last year, have issued a new statement listing their joint aims. As well as saving money they plan to:

• begin sharing 2G and 3G mobile mast sites this year
• jointly improve network coverage in the UK
• cut the number of mast sites by 15% in the first two years

[Vodafone press release]

Orange and T-Mobile plan new UK mobile TV service

Orange and T-Mobile have said they'll test a new mobile TV service in London during the second half of this year. It'll use the TDtv standard, transmitting up to 24 high-resolution television channels to TDtv-equipped handsets. TVtv uses spare capacity on the 3G network without affecting existing voice and data services. [Orange press release]