Orange Unveils ‘Unik’ - UMA-based FMC Service

On September 25th FT Orange group made a series of announcements concerning the imminent arrival of its Unik or Unique services across the UK, France, Spain and Poland, from 5 October onwards. The services (to be branded ‘Unik’ in France and ‘Unique’ in the UK and Netherlands) offer consumers a single device service, with a single voice mail, address book and sales and support channel.

Recommended Competitive Responses

► The Vodafone Group should consider a near-term launch of its flagship homezone service (as represented by Vodafone Germany’s Zuhause and Vodafone Italy’s Casa) in the ‘Orange’ markets on the Unik roadmap to offset FMC aggression.

► T-Mobile NL should reserve all the marketing resources it can muster for its near-term ‘Thuis’ launch.

► All competitors should consider a services future in which ‘location-based’ tariffs play an important role. To date, the ‘home environment’ has been the key target of both homezone and FMC UMA service launches, but this concept also has plenty of mileage in the SOHO space.

► FT Orange’s competitors should anticipate the arrival of an Orange consolidated loyalty scheme, which allows users to collect and benefit from points accrued from multiple services.

► Competitors should note that Unik/Unique is already demonstrating a roadmap to service bundling. Orange has been careful to accrue a portfolio device of three UMA-ready handsets optimized for music, TV/video and messaging/mail, respectively.

Recommended End User/Customer Responses

► The primary benefits of the Unik/Unique services are well spelled out within the service providers’ own marketing literature: A single handset, a single voice mail, single billing and support. The drawbacks, however, relate to IT complexity (the end user must self-install and self-manage a Livebox), weak handset choice and the hassle of churning away from multiple service contracts at the same, given moment. End users must be sure to look beyond the headline pricing proposition before making a purchasing decision.

Virgin Mobile TV Offers Popular Broadcast Channels

On September 7th Virgin Mobile announced the launch of its new Virgin Mobile TV service, taking place on October 1. The service, which is provided by BT’s wholesale mobile broadcast entertainment service, BT Movio, will also broadcast DAB digital radio, offer ‘red-button’ interactivity and feature an exclusive seven-day electronic programme guide (EPG). Virgin Mobile TV will broadcast BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4 and E4, offering consumers a wide range of high-profile channels and TV programmes.

Recommended Competitive Responses

► The mobile TV technology debate is not yet over and rivals need to tout the merits of their own solutions to ensure continued customer satisfaction and take-up of these services. However, the industry needs to come to some agreement over technologies to ensure that consumers can view a range of their favourite TV programmes. With broadcast channels becoming increasingly available via other solutions (such as Freeview, cable and satellite), it is unreasonable to expect consumers to be content with a subset of these channels only being available from a mobile TV service on a handset.

► Rivals need to consider the pricing for their own mobile TV services in light of Virgin Mobile’s aggressive contract and prepaid pricing. With Vodafone only offering access to Sky TV in four different content packs, costing GBP 5 each on the new Your Plan, and Orange charging GBP 10 per month, both these offers look expensive compared to Virgin’s free offer on contract.

Recommended End User/Customer Responses

► Consumers looking for their favourite broadcast TV programmes should try out the new Virgin Mobile TV service. However, to get the best deal, consumers need to consider a contract subscription at greater than GBP 25 per month.

► Consumers should question rival operators as to the availability of popular broadcast TV channels or radio channels as part of their existing mobile TV services. As with all of these types of services, consumers need to ensure that the channels and programmes on offer suit their needs and interests.

BT Global Services Takes Pole Position with BT Corporate Fusion – an Enterprise FMC Service

On September 14th BT launched BT Corporate Fusion service to strengthen and further build its presence in the fixed-mobile convergence space. The service will initially be launched in the UK and Italy in early 2007, followed by a phased international rollout in Germany, Benelux, Spain and France.

Recommended Competitive Responses

► Vodafone UK and T-Mobile UK should tout that their leading business Mobile VPN solutions both offer an Indirect Link option, essentially allowing businesses to enjoy cheaper inter-colleague fixed-line calls along with cheaper mobile.

► Orange Business Service should highlight Business Everywhere, its UMA product, and keep an eye on BT’s alignment of MobileXpress and Fusion; WLAN MobileXpress voice-functionality could start to appear across Europe in 2007.

► Competitors should remind their respective corporate customer base that BT Global Services’ FMC solutions for the corporate sector have yet to be made commercially available, and any ‘reference customer’ is merely piloting the solution at present. Competitors should claim the business case for FMC services has yet to be made, and early piloting is merely exploratory.

Recommended End User/Customer Responses

► Large enterprises and MNCs that have significant deployments of VoIP and WiFi should give serious consideration to BT Global Services’ FMC offering. In addition, they should discuss with BT Global Services an end-to-end mobility solution offering as this will enable better control over their mobility requirement and expenses.

► SMEs and SOHOs for whom cost is the paramount criterion should give serious thought to BT Fusion and evaluate their operating telecom expense. In addition, they should consider asking BT Global Services for bundled offers with BT MobileXpress.

► Given that WiFi will be used for making calls within office premises, customers should check on basic technical metrics such as handover delay, QoS hardening and packet drop rate to ensure that they have a strong service in the offering. Also, they should check as to how many simultaneous calls the network can sustain and the end-user density which a single pico cell can support. This will ensure that the enterprise end-users will not have to re-adjust their talking habits because of a solution change.

O2 Germany Unveils Bundled Services, with DSL

On August 31st O2 Germany unveiled a mobile and broadband services portfolio at the IFA Berlin trade show. The three packages will be commercially available at the end of October, and will feature three packages of mobile, DSL landline telephony and Internet access via DSL, with consolidated support and billing.

Competitive Concerns

► O2 Germany is now forced to share the bundled service limelight with two key competitors – Vodafone Germany and T-Com. Furthermore, Vodafone Germany’s DSL service will be commercially available two weeks earlier than O2 Germany’s announced October 27 launch date.

► O2 Germany’s decision to offer DSL services in three sizes (S, M and L) is confusing. Consumers are asked to pay EUR 10 extra a month for the ‘M’ offer, but the only real difference between ‘S’ and ‘M’ is in the pricing for DSL telephony (‘minute-based’ pricing with the ‘S’ offer, as opposed to flat-rate pricing with the ‘M’ offer). Vodafone Germany’s DSL pricing is simpler, and more transparent.

► O2 Germany’s bundled service portfolio puts strong emphasis on DSL Telephony, and this will make O2 Germany more vulnerable from a competitive attack from new quarters – namely, from T-Com, T-Online and numerous pure-play DSL providers.

► O2 Germany’s DSL Surf and Phone service has a high start-up cost.

► O2 Germany has failed to create a distinctive offer for the family. Vodafone Germany has beaten it to this initiative with ‘Zuhause Family’ (EUR 54.95 per month, including an extra SIM card).