Birdstep can be involved in this project from British Telecom. They are allready involved with several companies involved in this project. They have offical agreements with Alcatel and Ericsson, and they have also confirmed talks with Motorola.
BT teams up with Vodafone in mobiles
Tue 18 May, 2004 17:16
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By Santosh Menon
LONDON (Reuters) - BT is to launch a new fixed-to-mobile service that will use Vodafone's cellphone network and target 1.0 billion pounds in annual revenue in five years.
BT said on Tuesday it will offer customers a handset which will hook on to its own fixed-line system when used at home or in the office but elsewhere would switch automatically to Vodafone's wireless network.
The service, dubbed "Project Bluephone", could help the former monopoly re-enter a high-growth area after years of falling revenue at its core fixed-line business.
BT spun off its mobile arm in November 2001 but returned to the consumer mobile market last June and has around 170,000 mobile customers, two thirds of them business subscribers.
It has so far relied on offspring mmo2's network for its business mobile user base, while regular customers have piggy-backed Deutsche Telekom unit T-Mobile's UK network.
BT's Bluephone handsets would use Bluetooth chip technology, which creates a high-speed wireless link between cellphones, computers and other devices over short distances.
"It removes the need to own more than one phone, as customers will be able to use a single device that can switch seamlessly between networks, giving more convenience, a better service with more guaranteed coverage and lower overall costs," BT said.
BT's retail arm chief Pierre Danon said the link-up with Vodafone, the world's top mobile service provider by revenue, was the "first relationship of its kind" in the world.
Vodafone said the tie-up would help it "maximise its network and service assets while generating additional revenue from a new source".
Analysts said BT's move was aimed at stemming the loss of its fixed-line user base.
"It is a classic example of innovation to defend market share," said Andrew Darley, analyst at ING Financial Markets.
"What they ultimately want you to have is a wireless broadband phone line at home, which means you're going to end up with broadband from BT, fixed-line from BT and...you'll never really think of getting rid of fixed-line, never think of leaving BT," he said.
Fixed-line carriers have for long seen customers trade up to the convenience of mobile phones. BT, which has more than 72 percent of the UK's home phone market, has also been losing customers to rival fixed-line services.
Bluephone, which is supported by telecom equipment makers Alcatel, Ericsson and Motorola, has undergone successful trials over the past two months and BT said it was planning a soft launch in the summer, with a full launch later this year.
BT shares were up 0.7 percent to 170-1/2 pence in afternoon trading
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