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Written on 29th June 2009
0 COMMENTS 
Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
Today, Nimbuzz are celebrating and with good reason. The Dutch startup has become the first social messenger to see their application preinstalled by a Tier 1 Global Mobile Network, in this case, O2 Germany.
Its with thanks to an initially agreed partnership with Toshiba in February that the application was initially incorporated. With 25% of the 85 million mobile users in Europe, the deal is somewhat of a coo for Nimbuzz who will see their application pre-installed by one of the worldsleading mobile players, with potential for further integration into international markets.
Accessed via a central icon on the home screen the app integrates seamlessly (more…)
Written on 9th June 2009
47 COMMENTS
Martin Bryant, Co-founder, Social Media Café Manchester
So, the new iPhone 3G S has been announced and Apple fans are keenly expecting to upgrade upon its release on the 19th of June. Keen, that is, until they find out the cost of upgrading.
In the UK, O2 is telling iPhone customers that they’ll need to buy out of their existing contract before signing up on a new deal for the 3G S. For customers who bought an iPhone 3G on release day last year with 7 months left on their 18 month contract, that’s at least £245 (if you’re on the cheapest monthly price) that you’ll have to pay before signing up for a new contract and maybe paying towards your new phone too.
Last year, there was none of this. Existing iPhone users could upgrade to the 3G version without having to buy out of their existing contract, simply signing up for a new one. It’s understandable that these people were assuming that they could simply do the same this time.
Now they’ve found out they can’t there’s a bubble of anger building. The hashtag #O2Fail is trending highly on Twitter this morning and a petition has been launched asking for “A reasonable way to upgrade to the iPhone 3GS”.
Unfortunately, these people are missing a pretty obvious fact. The original iPhone wasn’t subsidised; you had to pay full price for it. The 3G, on the other hand was subsidised heavily by O2 meaning that part of the money you pay to them monthly covers the price of the handset.
This is how it usually works in the UK. You can pick up a top-of-the-range Nokia for free because you pay for it monthly in your contract. If you want to upgrade early you have to buy your way out of the contract because you committed to it.
Whether it’s a fair system or not, that’s the way it works. Apple fans had it good last year, but O2 doesn’t owe them anything. There’s no way they could take the hit of writing off all the money they spent on iPhone 3G handsets last year just to satisfy their customers’ gearlust. The iPhone offers the best user experience of any phone on the market but that doesn’t make it immune from economic realities.
Tech humour site TechChuff has the right idea. Their alternative petition hits the nail on the head.
Written on 4th September 2008
4 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
About a week ago, I reported about Rebtel, a Luxembourg and Sweden-based start-up that provides cheap international mobile calls, had been blocked in Germany by operator O2. It didn’t look like it was going to be an easy fight for O2, as Rebtel blogger Alexander Drewniak wrote a post in which he promised Rebtel would fight back as hard as they could. Of course Alexander asked for help from the crowd, in the form of complaining by the operator. The crowd did so, and.., victory is Rebtel’s:
Without your personal support, blogging, Tweets, Diggs, Facebook status messages, emails to O2’s CEO and phone calls to their support staff we could never have made our voice loud enough for O2 to hear us. With the Rebtel community being able to come to terms with O2 on this matter we have proved that together we are strong. We held our ground and the persistency surely paid off.
So guess what, in these times, it sure pays off to make a lot of noise via the web and email. You’ll even get a giant like O2 on its knees.
[Via the redesigned ArtcicStartup]
Written on 26th August 2008
1 COMMENT
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Rebtel, a Luxembourg and Sweden-based start-up that provides cheap international mobile calls, has been blocked in Germany by operator O2.
Rebtel has found a way to take expensive international calls out of the hands of the mobile operators and make them cheaper by using the Internet. The Word Wide Web functions as a rerouting system that connects local calls around the globe. Users receive an alternative number that’s connected to the number they want to call. There go the operator’s margins.
Here’s Rebtel’s side of the story, as expressed on their blog:
The reason why O2 wants to stop Rebtel is pretty obvious. They have very high margins on their international calling and want to stop any threats to that. Their actions violate not only the crystal clear EU-regulations but are also a breach of your contract with O2(!).
The mobile technology company has now started a so-called “race” with O2. Like a true reb(t)el would, they’ve just launched another series of numbers. Which, of course, O2 will block as soon as possible. Although Rebtel’s fighting spirit is admirable and charming, the service does become unreliable for O2 users. We’ll keep you posted on how the race develops.
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