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Vodafone goes 'live' in six European countries

Joris Evers, IDG News Service\Amsterdam Bureau
October 24, 2002, 03:10






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(10/24/2002) - Vodafone Group PLC, one of the world's largest mobile telephony operators, launched its Vodafone live mobile Internet service in six European countries on Thursday.

The service, which operates on Vodafone's GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) networks, is entertainment-oriented with such features as chat, downloadable ring tones and games, but also offers access to e-mail and information services such as financial news, through content partners, Vodafone said in a statement.

"Vodafone live is targeted at the consumer," said André van der Elsen, a spokesman for Vodafone in the Netherlands.

Vodafone live is "inspired by, but not a copy of" the mobile Internet service offered by J-Phone Co. Ltd. in Japan, Vodafone said at a press event here. J-Phone, Japan's number two cellular carrier, is majority-owned by Vodafone of Newbury, England

Three handsets supporting the service will be available initially; Sharp Corp.'s GX 10, Nokia Corp.'s 7650 and the Panasonic GD 87 from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. All handsets have built-in cameras, color screens and polyphonic ring tones. Only the Sharp and the Nokia handsets support download of Java games, Van der Elsen said.

Vodafone has ordered 1 million handsets to support the introduction of its mobile Internet service until April 2003, said Frank Rövekamp, marketing director for Vodafone in the Netherlands.

The mobile operator has 103 million customers worldwide and expects 20 percent of its revenue to come from data services by the end of its 2004 fiscal year, he said.

Vodafone live, introduced in the U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands today, will also be launched in Portugal, Sweden and Greece before the end of the year with Australia and New Zealand following in early 2003, according to the Vodafone statement.

Pricing for the mobile Internet service is per kilobyte of data transferred, with no subscription cost. In the Netherlands, one kilobyte costs €0.0244, which comes to €25 (US$24.42) per megabyte of data transferred, Vodafone said. Mobile service subscribers, but not prepay customers, can also buy data bundles, starting at €5 for 250 kilobytes.

Pricing for the service in other European countries was not immediately available. Handset pricing varies depending on what mobile subscription plan a user buys. In the Netherlands, Vodafone will sell the Sharp GX 10 for €299 when a customer buys 180 minutes of call time per month and a €10 data bundle, Vodafone said.

Vodafone live will rival the services based on I-mode, launched in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands earlier this year and coming to France soon. I-mode was imported from Japan, where it has attracted millions of users on the network of its inventor NTT DoCoMo Inc.

Moreover, Vodafone is also in the driver's seat when it comes to the hardware. To date Vodafone Live! service is available on three handsets: the Nokia 7650, the Panasonic GD87 and the Sharp GX-10. The Sharp handset has been developed according to Vodafone's own specifications, and is exclusive to Vodafone for six months from the launch. Moreover, the Sharp device boasts a specially developed "hot button" for rapid access to the Vodafone live! menu.