Electricity by SMS

Rwanda's national electricity company, Electrogaz, has been selling prepaid electricity scratch-cards since the beginning of last year. Customers buy a card, scratch off the serial number, send a text message and receive a unique code that lets them add the credit to their electricity meter. Apparently 30% of the country’s electricity consumers now purchase their electricity this way. [Source: Nathan Eagle via Telco2.net]

Top-up your phone from your online bank

OneVu, which provides online bill payments for the UK, says it's preparing to launch mobile phone top-up facility available for internet bank users. The service is expected to be available from Spring 2009. [Press release]

O2 cuts mobile broadband prices for prepay users

O2 has priced its new prepay USB broadband modem at £29.99, with data charges starting at £2 a day for 500MB, rising to £7.50 a week for 1GB or £15 a month for 3GB. It's describing it as the "UK’s leading priced mobile broadband Pay & Go service". The deal also includes unlimited access to over 6,000 WiFi hotspots across the UK through The Cloud. [Press release]

Prepay phones to lose anonymity

New legislation will require prepay phone owners in the UK to confirm their name and address when they buy a handset, according to a report in the Sunday Times. The Communications Data Bill, which will enable the government to track electronic communications in the UK, is expected to be announced next year. [Source: TimesOnline.co.uk]

Update: The Home Office and Vodafone have both denied the story, according to ZDNet.co.uk, which suggests it may have been a government 'leak' to gauge public reaction.

Prepay sales outselling 'post pay' 2 to 1 worldwide

Sales of 'pay monthly' contracts may be increasing in the UK, but things are different in the rest of the world. Informa Telecoms & Media says prepaid mobile services are outperforming the traditional 'contract' market at a rate of two to one. They say there were 2.33 billion prepaid subscriptions in the world at the end of 2007, generating $241.9 billion in revenue. Annual growth in prepay sales will drop to around 9% from 2007 to 2013, but will still account for over 80% of new connections. In addition, almost 29% of mobile connections in 2008 aren't expected to be the customer's main number but will be an additional handset. [Source: Telecoms.com]

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]

Prepay 3G iPhone launch confirmed

O2 has announced that the 3G iPhone will be available on a prepay tariff from 16th September. The 8GB model will be £349.99 and the 16GB will be £399.99. It’ll be available from O2 stores, The Carphone Warehouse and Apple stores. The price includes unlimited web browsing and WiFi for the first 12 months, with additional use charged at £10 per month. [Source: Mobile News]

Asda cuts prepay costs

Supermarket chain ASDA has introduced a set of call charges for its prepay mobile phone service. It's cutting UK call charges to 8p a minute and texts to just 4p, saying this makes it Britain’s lowest-cost 'pay as you go' operator. Last week Ikea launched a mobile network with calls at 9p and texts at 6p. [Press release]

Vodafone top-up boycott ends

The organiser of a campaign to boycott Vodafone after the network cut the amount of commission it paid for top-ups has ended his protest. Kevin Hunt said he was disappointed he hadn't managed to change Vodafone's opinion but he didn't want to continue inconveniencing his customers. He said some retailers were considering a surcharge for Vodafone top-ups but his business wouldn't be charging any extra. [Source: Mobile News]

New podcast: top ten tips for taking your mobile abroad

This week we've recorded a special Mobile News podcast for the summer holidays. We've included advice about 'roaming' charges, Voicemail use, top-up services, prepay SIMs and loads of other useful guidance. Download it and discover our top ten tips for taking your phone abroad: essential information whether you're advising customers or planning your own escape! As always, the broadcast can be found at TheFonecast.com, on the Mobile News website, via iTunes or on our RSS feed.

Ofcom research on visual impairment and communications services

Ofcom has published research on the problems experienced by visually-impaired people when using communications services. It says mobile phone users often require help from friends and family - and they are frequently unable to use all the functions on their handsets. Problems with topping up prepay phones were highlighted, as were difficulties when using call centres. [Research; audio summary]

Shopkeepers boycotting Vodafone top-ups

Almost 3,500 shopkeepers in the UK have said they'll temporarily stop selling Vodafone TopUps for prepay customers because the company is cutting commission payments by 1% to 5.5% from August. Nick Birtwistle, Head of Channel Partners at Vodafone UK, has responded to feedback from retailers by promising there'll be no further cuts for at least two years. [Source: Telegraph.co.uk]