A1c
11-11-2004, 08:32 PM
From The Guardian (11/11/2004):
The chief executive of mobile phone company 3 has hit out at rival Vodafone for doing little to excite customers with its new 3G offering and warned it will face substantial teething troubles introducing the technology.
Mobile veteran Bob Fuller, who alongside Hans Snook was heavily involved in the successful launch of Orange, warned the world's largest mobile operator not to be too over-confident about introducing 3G.
Mr Fuller hit back at comments from the Vodafone chief executive, Arun Sarin, that the company would avoid the pitfalls faced by 3 in launching the technology.
"We've been very thorough, very careful, we're here today and we're launching. We're not expecting any roadblocks at all," said Mr Sarin, who added that Vodafone's 20 years of experience in the market meant it had planned for all eventualities.
Mr Fuller replied: "For them to make a comment like that is silly. There's a whole raft of technical and customer issues they'll have to attend to. You can test a network as much as you want but it's different in a live situation."
Hutchison-owned 3 was the first UK company to launch a 3G service last March and endured a troubled start as it battled to steal market share from established operators Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, O2 and Virgin Mobile.
It suffered early on from a shortage of handsets and difficulties with dropped calls when customers moved from an area with 3G coverage to one without.
But following a management shake-up, including the appointment of Mr Fisher, a series of price cuts, the introduction of new handsets and a shift of marketing emphasis, it has started to make headway. The newcomer now has 1.2 million customers in the UK.
While welcoming the entrance of Vodafone into the 3G market as a means of raising the profile of the technology, Mr Fuller also claimed its initial pricing was "underwhelming" for consumers.
"When you get down do it, then what customers want is choice. From their point of view it's utterly uninspiring. It's clear they've got significant network issues in managing a 2G [the existing network] customer base while migrating them to 3G," he said.
Like some analysts, Mr Fuller said he believed that Vodafone could find it difficult to balance the need to continue to make money from its existing customers while also convincing them to upgrade to 3G.
In reply Vodafone chief marketing officer Tim Yates said Vodafone had decided to launch a service based on what customers want and providing "value" rather than undercutting its existing prices.
He described the company's UK network coverage as "deep pan" rather than "thin and crispy", saying that although it would work for only 60% of the population rather than 3's 80%, it would be much more robust.
The new 3G service aims to build on the success of Vodafone Live!, offering customers downloads of the latest film clips, video football goal updates, video calling and music downloads.
News updates from ITN, the latest goal clips from the Premiership and Champions League, coverage of next summer's Ashes, a "film of the week" clip and other video content will be included in the packages of content included in bundles priced at £40 or £60.
The new 3G service will also offer full-length music downloads for the first time as well as 3D games and specially commissioned video content from 20th Century Fox and MTV.
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,1348453,00.html
The chief executive of mobile phone company 3 has hit out at rival Vodafone for doing little to excite customers with its new 3G offering and warned it will face substantial teething troubles introducing the technology.
Mobile veteran Bob Fuller, who alongside Hans Snook was heavily involved in the successful launch of Orange, warned the world's largest mobile operator not to be too over-confident about introducing 3G.
Mr Fuller hit back at comments from the Vodafone chief executive, Arun Sarin, that the company would avoid the pitfalls faced by 3 in launching the technology.
"We've been very thorough, very careful, we're here today and we're launching. We're not expecting any roadblocks at all," said Mr Sarin, who added that Vodafone's 20 years of experience in the market meant it had planned for all eventualities.
Mr Fuller replied: "For them to make a comment like that is silly. There's a whole raft of technical and customer issues they'll have to attend to. You can test a network as much as you want but it's different in a live situation."
Hutchison-owned 3 was the first UK company to launch a 3G service last March and endured a troubled start as it battled to steal market share from established operators Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, O2 and Virgin Mobile.
It suffered early on from a shortage of handsets and difficulties with dropped calls when customers moved from an area with 3G coverage to one without.
But following a management shake-up, including the appointment of Mr Fisher, a series of price cuts, the introduction of new handsets and a shift of marketing emphasis, it has started to make headway. The newcomer now has 1.2 million customers in the UK.
While welcoming the entrance of Vodafone into the 3G market as a means of raising the profile of the technology, Mr Fuller also claimed its initial pricing was "underwhelming" for consumers.
"When you get down do it, then what customers want is choice. From their point of view it's utterly uninspiring. It's clear they've got significant network issues in managing a 2G [the existing network] customer base while migrating them to 3G," he said.
Like some analysts, Mr Fuller said he believed that Vodafone could find it difficult to balance the need to continue to make money from its existing customers while also convincing them to upgrade to 3G.
In reply Vodafone chief marketing officer Tim Yates said Vodafone had decided to launch a service based on what customers want and providing "value" rather than undercutting its existing prices.
He described the company's UK network coverage as "deep pan" rather than "thin and crispy", saying that although it would work for only 60% of the population rather than 3's 80%, it would be much more robust.
The new 3G service aims to build on the success of Vodafone Live!, offering customers downloads of the latest film clips, video football goal updates, video calling and music downloads.
News updates from ITN, the latest goal clips from the Premiership and Champions League, coverage of next summer's Ashes, a "film of the week" clip and other video content will be included in the packages of content included in bundles priced at £40 or £60.
The new 3G service will also offer full-length music downloads for the first time as well as 3D games and specially commissioned video content from 20th Century Fox and MTV.
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,1348453,00.html