Vodafone steps up broadband competition

27-08-2007

by Ciara O'Brien

Vodafone is upping the ante in the mobile internet market, offering flat-rate access to its Irish customers and forming partnerships with well-known websites.

The operator's 1 million customers will be able to access the internet through their existing handsets for EUR0.99 a day for prepay customers, subject to a 50MB per day cap, and EUR9.99 a month for post-pay customers, with up to 500MB access per month.

The 50MB limit will allow customers to access up to 75 minutes of YouTube videos, or up to 1,000 internet pages a day, the mobile operator said.

The operator has implemented technology on its network that adapts web pages for mobile use, enabling users to access familiar sites while on the move.

Meanwhile, the company has inked deals with YouTube, eBay, MySpace and Google to provide content to customers. The new partnerships will allow Vodafone subscribers to check bids, download clips from video-sharing site YouTube and search the web through their mobile handset.

"We've upgraded our network and put the capability into the network to make the web and web content more accessible," Carolan Lennon, Vodafone Ireland's consumer director, told ENN.

The firm is hoping that a combination of the upgraded network and its partners will be a killer blow in the marketplace. "[The partner sites] are in the top 20 sites," said Lennon. "You can't underestimate the power of the four partners."

eBay has more than 500,000 registered users in Ireland. John McElligott, managing director of the auction site's Irish operations, said the firm was excited about the new alliance. "Our whole thing is about enabling people to do things, enabling people to buy and sell to each other." The plan is to eventually offer the mobile application for download from eBay's website, he said.

Vodafone is confident that its customers will welcome its new partnerships and services. "This is stuff everyone is doing every day," said Lennon. "We're not trying to sell people content they aren't interested in."

The mobile operator has already enjoyed some success with its mobile internet product, with 30,000 customers signed up by the end of June. However, it faces competition from rivals O2 and Three Ireland, who have also launched mobile broadband services to their customers.

"Demand has exceeded expectations," said Lennon, "but we have stayed ahead of it."

Vodafone has also upgraded its SafetyNet web control tool, which parents can use to limit which content their children can access on their handsets. The tool now includes a "teen profile" for 15-to-18-year-olds, which is less limited than the under-18s filter previously applied.