TELECOMS & MOBILE
O2 unveils service to rival Vodafone Live
30-05-2003
by
In a bid to compete with Vodafone and its rival Vodafone Live service, mmO2 has launched O2 Active.
The company's new service, which will debut in the UK, Germany and Ireland next month, is primarily a menu of options that allow for easier access to O2's suite of mobile data services. Using O2 Active, subscribers will now be able to access games downloads, ringtones, instant messaging, entertainment and weather services, as well as picture messaging functions, through a single interface.
"This is essentially our answer to Vodafone Live," Simon Gordon, mmO2's press relations manager, told ElectricNews.Net. "We already offer all of the same services as Vodafone, but now we are just putting them together."
The idea of combining all mobile data services into a single interface has proven to be a success for Vodafone. Between November 2002 and March 2003, Vodafone Live drew one million users. In Ireland, there were over 38,000 Vodafone Live customers at the end of the first quarter and over 800,000 picture messages were sent. Over the period, 50,000 Java games and 200,000 polyphonic ringtones have been downloaded by customers in the Republic and 800,000 e-mails have been sent over Vodafone mail.
Gordon said O2 held off on launching its Active service until there were more handsets on the market that supported advanced features and had the requisite colour screens. At the launch in June there will be 15 handsets spread over the three O2 markets that support O2 Active, with all the necessary software pre-installed. Users with older devices that support O2 Active features will be able to download the software and settings for their phones on O2's WAP site.
Gordon also said that the company had worked with different handset makers to optimise the service for each type of phone. What's more, some new models will be shipped with an "O2 Active button," offering a one click option to launch the menu. On certain Nokia phones, holding down the zero button will launch O2 Active.
In Ireland, the service will be available on five phones in June, including Nokia models 3650, 7650 and 3510i. The Samsung V200 will also carry O2 Active, as will the Siemens S55. By July, O2 Active opens to five more Nokia models in Ireland and to the Motorola T720i
"With O2 Active we aim to build on our leading position as the 'home of text' to become the 'home of advanced data services and colour content,'" commented Kent Thexton, chief marketing and data officer, mmO2. "More than 350,000 customers will be able to access O2 Active at launch, and we expect this to increase rapidly - in April more than 50 percent of handsets sold through our UK on-line channel were colour devices."
Thexton said that O2 Active's icon language was "highly intuitive" and had a look and feel that complements the O2 brand. "O2 Active icons are simple, colourful and easy to understand, and our research shows that they are very appealing."
Using the subject line to get noticed: Denise Cox argues that to get results you have to make every word work in a subject line.
