Ricky here!

Ewan and the podcast team have been giving Orange a hard time recently about mobile data, especially about their unlimited Bebo. You can read about his rant’s here, here and here.

It seems that Orange have listened to its customer and is now offering all £35+ plans unlimited free data which is 500mb fair usage. This is available to existing customers as well; all eligible customers will be migrated on their July bill date and be sent an SMS and information in their bill. If you want to be upgraded straight away just give customer services a call, and you account will be upgraded to include the extra benefits. There have been reports that some operators are telling customers it is only on new connections, this is NOT true and ask them to check with someone senior. My understanding is this is also applicable if you receive a discount on your tariff i.e. retention offer or online discount as long as your plan is a stupid animal and then 35 or higher you will be eligible.

Not only have Orange improved data on their tariffs they have also altered some of their other plans. The Racoon Plan (god these names are stupid) will get an increase of 75 and 100 minutes respectively on the £25 and £30 tariffs. Canary Plans will increase the amounts of texts by 100 to 500 texts.
Wow, what an improvement last month they were offering customers 30mb for £8 a month, and now they are including data in all their higher tariffs. I am sure the podcast team will be discussing this in further detail, but it seems that orange have now started to take data seriously. Let us know your how you get on upgrading to the new tariffs especially if you are having trouble.

I’m very impressed with Orange. Very.

I was just checking out the cost of an Nokia N82 and browsing the price plans when I got a little window pop-up on my screen asking if I needed help.

My gosh! A mobile operator, trying to help folk online!

Vodafone famously has a brilliant ‘Forum Intervention Team’ — but they intervene (as per their name) rather than pop their head in the door when you’re browsing their site online.

It seems Orange have gone all modern on my ass.

Fresh from announcing a fair use bundle of 500mb of data on most of their price plans, they’re now helping customers who are browsing their site. Smart. Very smart.

It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been calling for mobile operators to add this sort of service for a long time. I’d actually like to see something even better — a kind of ‘mobile concierge’ so that if you’re thinking of joining an operator, you can pop into chat with someone and, provided you’re spending a decent amount of cash, say 100/month — someone will hold your hand through the entire process and sort it out for you.

Anyway here’s my experience with the Orange Live Chat adviser….

System@Orange: Welcome, thanks for your question, we’ll be right with you

System@Orange: Christine M has joined this session!

System@Orange: Connected with Christine M

System@Orange: Welcome, thanks for your question, we’ll be right with you

Christine M@Orange: Hello Ewan MacLeod, I’m Christine

Christine M@Orange: How can I help you today?

Ewan MacLeod: Christine, good to hear from you

Ewan MacLeod: I’m wondering about Unlimited Data

Ewan MacLeod: is that integrated into your price plans now?

Christine M@Orange: It is a bonus feature on some of our fantastic tariff’s at the moment. Is there a specific tariff you have been looking at?

Ewan MacLeod: not really — I’m thinking something at around 30 odd pounds per month, with an Nokia N82

Christine M@Orange: Let me just look into that for you.

Ewan MacLeod: excellent

Christine M@Orange: What do you use your phone for at the moment other than browsing and downloading from the internet?

Ewan MacLeod: a range of calls and texts Christine

Ewan MacLeod: I don’t have a specific bundle in mind

Christine M@Orange: We have an excellent range of tariffs designed to suit you needs. Would you say you call or text more?

Ewan MacLeod: gosh, I don’t really mind Christine

Ewan MacLeod: what do you have there? the key for me is the monthly cost and unlimited data

Ewan MacLeod: the rest, well, I really enjoy unlimited landline calls

Ewan MacLeod: and I’d like a few hundred texts at least

Christine M@Orange: For ? we have some excellent tariff’s. With the dolphin packages for ? you receive 600 anytime minutes and unlimited texts with the unlimited mobile browsing as a bonus.

Ewan MacLeod: ah now, can I ask you a slightly geeky question Christine

Christine M@Orange: Of course.

Ewan MacLeod: when you say ‘unlimited mobile browsing’ — I like to take photos, videos and the like and send them straight up to the internet

Ewan MacLeod: so the majority of my data usage would be ‘data’ and now mobile browsing

Ewan MacLeod: sorry, i mean, ‘and not mobile browsing’

Christine M@Orange: That’s absolutely fine within this tariff. You would be able to do all of that within your allowance. Is there a specific phone you are looking at just now as there are some I can recommend that would be good for using the internet.

Ewan MacLeod: The Nokia N82 has been calling my name, Christine

Christine M@Orange: I think that tariff would be the best for you and the phone is free on this tariff.

Ewan MacLeod: remind me of the cost per month of that one, Christine?

Christine M@Orange: That tariff is the Dolphin 35 for only ? per month, including VAT.

Ewan MacLeod: On my screen, the cost figure comes through as a fancy japanese character!

Christine M@Orange: That’s saving you ?each month if you bought instore rather than online. How does that sound?

Ewan MacLeod: ? — that’s what it looks like — could you tell me the number of pounds per month (sorry!)

Christine M@Orange: ? per month. Let me know if that figure doesn’t come through.

Ewan MacLeod: i’m afraid it doesn’t!

Ewan MacLeod: could you type the numbers as a word! weird!

Ewan MacLeod: (Could be my apple machine)

Christine M@Orange: Sorry.Thirty pound per month. How does that sound?

Ewan MacLeod: ah perfect

Ewan MacLeod: that’s good

Christine M@Orange: If you add the phone and tariff to your basket you will continue through the easy steps of buying your new phone.

Ewan MacLeod: ok i shall do that

System@Orange: The session has ended!

Now, I did as told. I added it to my basket, only to get another screen up asking me if I’d like to add an Orange Data Bundle:

Deary me. Not joined up at all, as yet. Hmmm.. Should I continue to Order? I think I’ll hold off.. I’m not filled with confidence as yet.

Interesting. Orange UK have implemented pop-up customer services chat.

I was browsing their site and a little window popped up to ask if I needed help… cool! More soon..

SMS Text News reader Ross Derrick emailed me the other day to share his (positive!) experience with Orange after I solicited opinion. It’s good to read positive stories about Orange. It’s really depressing when you look at their offering, still. Anyway, over to Ross…

- - - - -

I’ve been an Orange user for 3 years now. i currently have an n95 (fourth handset! will explain)

Call quality and coverage has been great for me.

I have been quite impressed by the custoemr service. When i first had a problem with my n95 they replaced it the next day with a new unit.

However this handset got stolen! I rang Orange expecting to pay £300-400 for a new handset (this was when the HS had just come out) Indeed I was right. However the guy offered that If I take out an Orange Care contract for 12 months It would only cost me £100 for a new n95. So in total it cost me £172 to get my beloved nokia n95 back.

So the n95 went wrong a couple of weeks ago. During calls it would make a buzzing sound and also the gps had never worked. I phoned them up and explained. She apologised they couldn’t get a new handset to me the same day but offered to get me a new handset delivered in the morning between 9 & 12 pm.

BTW i phoned orange today to upgrade my price plan. Ive been put onto dolphin 35 for the same price im already paying! (£25/month)

I asked the guy if Orange have any decent data tariffs. I specifically referenced the great vodafone deal (500mb/month) He said, of course, they don’t but did say to me that a new data tariff will be coming soon to rival the vodafone deal!

I hope this is true otherwise, despite my good experience’s, I love the sound of the vodafone data deal.

So am I the only satisfied Orange customer then?

- - - - -

Thank you for contribution, Ross!

After my call for opinion on Orange UK, I’m pleased to be able to publish this viewpoint from reader, Kat, who reckons they’re actually pretty good. Kat has even taken out their 250mb data plan…

I’ve been with Orange probably for the last 10 years and if I’m honest I haven’t really had a problem with them. I recently upgraded to a shiny new N82 (having read Whatleydude’s review on your site) and while I did that, I also added on the 250MB per month data bundle.

Admittedly it was a new bundle so they struggled to find it on the system (the shop knew about it but upgrades didn’t) and me being untrusting called to check later that day to find they’d only put a 30MB bundle on, but that was fixed straight away. It could of course have been pretty messy had I not checked and then over used my data allocation. So when my bill arrived yesterday I wanted to be absolutely sure that it was all OK, it was, everything had been corrected, my 100MB unused has been carried over for next month and in total my bill was the grand sum of £65.

For those that are interested that breaks down as £35 Canary (giving 500 texts and 300 mins), a 15 photo bundle which off the top of my head is £5, the £8 - 250MB data package and the £15 I pay for 3GB of 3G data via my laptop dongle. Throw in my Magic Number usage (almost free calls to other named Orange users) and I barely use any of my calling minutes, I also struggle less for coverage on Orange than I do on Vodafone (work phone)

I guess that makes me an Orange fan!

Thank for this comment Kat!

After Ewan’s rants about Orange and its stupid data plans here, here and here, we’ve had a tip from a reader to say that Orange are looking to introduce new data plans to rival Vodafone’s.

Anyone able to confirm this?

I’ve been thinking for a long time about signing up with Orange and getting an account with them. I have an account with each UK operator, with the exception or Orange and, as I’ve commented here before, I think it’s important to get an account to actually experience their service.

To date, apart from one or two brief experiences in the past, I’ve been living vicariously through the opinions and stories of others.

Every time I meet someone, I rarely part company with them without querying what kind of handset they’ve got and on which network operator. I know this might sound strange but it does give me phenomenally good feedback from everybody and anybody. I draw the line at asking folk at the checkout or anyone that I can’t have at least 5 minutes worth of conversation with. But taxi drivers, hairdressers… almost anyone I come into contact with, I ask them about their mobile phones.

Across the last year or so, I’ve noticed an increasing trend — dissatisfied Orange customers. Me? Well, the main thing I’m unsatisfied about is that they don’t seem to be focusing much at all on data (although, if you look hard enough, there is an ‘unlimited’ 250mb plan for 8 pounds — I think — per month), their handset range looks a little dated and you still need a passport and copious proof-of-address nonsense to sign-up for a contract account.

The dissatisfied customers typically report words to the effect of ‘Orange were great, but now…’ and then insert some type of complaint.

I’d like to discover the experiences of the SMS Text News audience. How are you getting on with Orange? I’d like to understand both the plusses and the minuses. If you’re an Orange customer (current or recent), and you’ve got a few minutes, please could you knock me over your experiences?

I’m ewan@smstextnews.com. We’ll get them published as soon as we can.

I just still can’t believe that Orange UK can, with a straight face, publish a poster in its shop windows offering customers free evening and weekend mobile browsing.

What about during the day? Just ridiculous.

I kid ye not, though. This is actually an offer. A genuine offer. People keep emailing me (James from California, this morning, for example) and asking if I’m joking when I say that Orange UK is offering clients free evening and weekend mobile browsing.

Do you seriously mean to say that a mobile operator is offering ‘off peak’ data? What value is that to anyone?

Here’s video proof from the shop downstairs:

Orange has decided it’s time for a change and has announced a new strategy that it hopes will mean improvements in everything from its network to its sales staff.

Here’s the summary of what’s happening from Orange:

• new customer service strategy implemented including 500 new customer- facing roles in UK customer centres & shops; launching new contact options including IM, web and in-store service; stopping off-shore customer service expansion
• Retail expansion plans to reach 400 stores plus new on-line virtual shop
• new investment in 2G and 3G network quality and coverage
• new super-fast network to go live in 2009 offering speeds of up to 14.4mbps
• new “totally connected” product line – including laptops - to build on fixed & mobile broadband capabilities
• focus on stopping duplication which is likely to result in reduction of up to 450 roles

Being a network nerd, I’m particularly happy to see UK operators aiming to get speeds up to some of their international rivals (although it’s worth noting that there’s still a lack of handsets available that can cope with 14.4Mbps). I suspect, however, others will be more excited by the promised improvement in customer service.

So here I am again commenting on Orange and data.

Whilst we’ve had some educational fireworks with Vodafone over the past few days, at least it works. At least the company is committed to mobile data. At least they’re talking about it — more than that, they’re advertising the hell out of it.

Orange, on the other hand. Dear me. I went into the Orange shop again. I’m a strong believer in paying for stuff (especially if I’m going to be hammering it here on the site). I should, I reckon, at least experience it, no? I’m going to pop into the shop downstairs later and get an N82.

Dan Ilett, editor of Greenbang and my partner in blog services firm, Tollejo Media, sits opposite me. When he’s not writing for the FT or The Telegraph, he’s doing media training or advising clients on how to manage their blog relations. He’s got an Orange-branded Nokia N95. It works. It’s got a data capability. He doesn’t like the Orange interface that they’ve invented and stuck over the standard Nokia one. But he appears satisfied. The only issue, when I see him QIKing I have a virtual heart attack wondering what crazy amounts of money it’s costing him.

Because data clearly isn’t Orange’s forte. Not at all. I picked up a copy of their brochure when I was in the store earlier. I’ve just had a flick through it. Shocking. Hardly a mention AT ALL of mobile data or even mobile browsing. This is MAY 2008. It’s all about text messages and minutes. I find this unreal.

So much so I’ve used The Flip to do a video to show you how crazy it is:

I just popped down to the Orange UK shop to get an account setup there.

The chap said, “Sure sir, no problem, we just need a proof of ID and a proof of address.”

“A what?” I said, momentarily stunned.

“We need a passport, driving license, something like that and a utility bill.”

“Er, you … you what?” I was still stunned.

You can walk into any Vodafone shop in the country and get an account in 10 seconds, more or less. Give’em your address and they do a credit check with that and your Maestro/Switch bank card. Done.

But Orange?

Goodness me. It’s like being back in 1990 again. A PASSPORT? You want a PASSPORT? What?

Turns out I’ve got my passport in the office, and a wayward BT utility bill. But could I be arsed to take it downstairs?

No.

This kind of inefficient bollocks doesn’t deserve my business. No wonder they’re monumentally screwed at the moment. How many opportunities do you want to give your potential customers — your valuable PAY MONTHLY potential customers — to think again and choose another supplier? Crazy!

Yet. I still want to get the ‘Orange’ experience so I can truly discuss it accurately. I need to cool off first though.

Nokia’s Ovi platform has wooed another operator: Orange announced yesterday that it’s struck a new three-year strategic agreement with the handset maker that will see Orange run ten Nokia handsets as part of its Signature range as well as selling Ovi services.

The ten Signature handsets will give users access to the Orange Music Store, both Orange and NGage games, as well as Nokia Maps, through Orange’s traditional user interface. It looks like the companies are betting big on maps in particular: the pair say: the Nokia “Mobile Maps platform and GPS technology will be introduced to a wide portfolio of Nokia handsets in the Orange Signature range” with a view to signing up 10 million users before 2010.

It’s looking pretty good for Nokia’s Ovi right now: getting 10 million maps users from Orange alone is not to be sniffed at (although for a company with one third of the world’s phones, you’d hope they’ve got some bigger targets in mind). But there’s another reason for Nokia to be pleased with itself: Orange’s Signature devices have always been, by and large, Windows Mobile handsets.

So, the Guardian carries a rather positive viewpoint about Orange and Nokia getting into bed to do ’services’ together. One click access. 10 different phones. Blah-bloody-blah.

Here are the first two opening paras:

Orange has signed a three-year deal with Nokia to bring the Finnish phone maker’s mobile maps and games services to its customers in nine European countries, including Britain, this year.

The deal, to be announced today, is a step back for Nokia, which had threatened the position of mobile phone operators with the launch of its own suite of mobile services under the Ovi banner last year.

Nothing wrong with The Guardian’s reporting. The issue is that this is press release bollocks from both companies. Orange is busy making sure every single one of it’s mobile subscribers DOESN’T use mobile internet services by charging them through the roof for doing anything other than ‘browsing’ and by making the service — literally — unavailable (it’s been offline for most UK customers for the last 6 days).

The amount of times I’ve seen Orange vomit out YET ANOTHER RUBBISH CONCEPT in the many years I’ve been watching them, geez. Music service after rubbish service after rubbish half-working nonsense.

This is an eat-my-hat moment.

I really hope that there are some smart people in both organisations who are going to deliver a series of services that their customers will LOVE and adopt tomorrow. Rather than shovelling out half working, half interesting, generally irrelevant proofs-of-concept that your average normob doesn’t care about.

Will I eat my hat if that happens?

You know, I retain a degree of positivity. Here’s hoping it’s all going to be good. You never know.

Seriously. El Reg has the story…

Orange mobile broadband takes six-day break | The Register

Orange mobile broadband customers have been without internet access since Thursday, and the company cannot tell them when it will be restored.

First to go was access to secure websites like Hotmail and Amazon on Thursday of last week. By Saturday there was no internet access at all.

The Orange UK handset range is just terrible, isn’t it? Have you taken a look recently. I only just formally recognised this today after talking with reader Amy. She emailed earlier to say she’s due an upgrade on Orange and is thinking about the Nokia 6500. What did I reckon, she asked.

I had a browse through the available selection. Paltry. There’s a Nokia N95 — the first version, not the 8GB one. Great handset but it’s YEARS old. They’re even trying to flog a Nokia N73. Again, still a good phone — but it was top of the range back in two-thousand-and-SIX!

Hugely disappointing. No E-Series. Boring choice of N-Series. Any suggestions for Amy? I was reduced to confirming her 6500 choice. And I reckoned she should negotiate-like-hell with Orange on her price plan.

I popped into the Orange shop on Oxford Street today.  I thought it was about time I had an Orange connection.  I’ve got handsets and price plans on all other UK networks and, well, it’s all about putting your money where your mouth is.

I walked in and had a browse at the rather small selection of pay-monthly mobiles.  The pay-as-you-go section was double the size!

My attention was drawn to the latest HTC Touch that comes complete with a keyboard.  I wouldn’t have minded that.  But let’s talk data.  A sales person came over to me after giving me about a minute’s worth of browsing time.  Good strategy.  He gave me enough time to have a poke about, then asked if I needed help.

I thought I’d get stuck in.

“Talk to me about your data charges?” I asked. The chap looked a bit put out.

“Do you mean browsing?”

“Ah, no,” I said, “I mean pure data.  The last time I was in an Orange shop it was 4 quid a meg… what’s it now?”

“Oh, er, a pound (a quid) per meg,”  he replied, quickly.  Good.  Good knowledge.

“Aye but do you have an unlimited style 1g service plan?”

“On our data cards it’s 3GB per month,” he replied.

“But on your handsets, on a standard service plan?”

“A pound a meg.”

Hmm.

“Are you sure? You don’t do some sort of 7 pounds a month, 100 meg or 1,000 meg offer?”

Insert look of panic on the salesman’s face.

“Errrrr,” he said, “You’ll er… no,”  [He was about to get a brochure], “No, it’s not in the brochure. You’ll need to phone.”

“Phone?”  I prompted.

“Yeah, er, phone up.  Phone up and ask.  They’ll know.”

Right.

Can’t be bothered.   Next.

Check out this story from Mike Smith — he’s added it as a comment to this post from last April: SMS Text News » Archives » Unlimited data on Orange UK for £8 a month. No, I’m not kidding!

Unbelievable!!! I was on a £4.00 per month unlimited GPRS wap package with Orange for 4 years. When I say unlimited, it was subject to a fair usage policy of 10mbs per month. So much for unlimited!!! I was actually using 400-500mbs per month, on a regular basis, and no one said a word.
I then upgraded to a Nokia N95, not one of my better decisions, but I needed access to Orange internet, not wap. I was offered a £5.00 per month unlimited off peak bundle, or an anytime 30mb bundle for £8.00 per month. 30mbs, I would have got through that in an hour!!! I reluctantly opted for the off peak package, at least I wouldn’t need to re-mortgage the house at the end of the month!

Just by chance I rang customer services (now there’s a breach of the trades description act) to see if any new data plans had become available that would be more suitable. To my surprise, and great delight, I was offered anytime unlimited usage for £8.00 per month. Now that’s a bargain in anyones book, so I grabbed it straight away.

Knowing Orange of old, they may suddenly realise just how generous that is and withdraw it, just like they did with my £4.00 wap package. The bottom line is, they can withdraw the offer, but if you are already on the plan, they can’t take you off of it. My advice would be to grab it while it’s available, and if you change your service plan, don’t be talked out of giving it up. Make it plain you keep want to keep the data bundle no matter what. £8.00 per month unlimited internet usage is a very good deal indeed, now if only it was possible to get a connection………………………………:-))

Are you on Orange? What’s your story with mobile data? I always thought Orange was the black sheep of the UK operators with a ridiculous set of data rates.

More news on the convergence front - Cable and Wireless has signed a deal with Orange to provide national roaming services to its fixed mobile convergence (FMC) customers. The five year deal will let customers use Orange’s mobile network when they’re outside the office and then switch back to using IP over a Cable and Wireless network once they’re inside their workplace.

Orange has its own FMC service, called Unik, but the pair shouldn’t clash as C&W will be targeting multinationals rather than consumers with its offering. I’ll be watching this one closely - this will pit C&W against BT in FMC services. BT’s own service, Fusion, is in for a bit of a refit at the moment, and should be due out in a more data-centric incarnation some time soon.

Orange has decided to get on the “ultramobile PC” bandwagon, and is set to carry the HTC Shift from next month. The Shift is a cross between a normal mobile and a Lilliputian PC, with a flip top, 7 inch screen, full slideout QWERTY keyboard and a stripped down version of Windows Vista running alongside Microsoft Windows Mobile.

The device, which Orange has created execrable category of “mob top” for, also sports HSDPA and wi-fi connectivity. For the paranoid, there’s also a fingerprint reader to protect those precious contacts.

While it’s a little on the chunky side compared to most smartphones - the Shift is a bit too big slip into your pocket - HTC still makes a nod towards phone-dom with SMS functionality. The Shift is a gorgeous looking gadget, and the reviews have been stellar so far, but I can’t help thinking it would have been nice to see some voice action as well, so users don’t need to carry a normal voice centric mobile around too.

While there’s always VoIP, the Shift’s pricing starts at £999 on top of the data tariff. For that sort of price, I’d want the Shift to bring me tea in the morning too.

Bebo, the other MySpace/Facebook, is now accessible for a fixed fee of £3 per month. Meh. Whatever. Next.

It’s a little uninspiring for the mobile industry, I feel, if you spend a ton of effort educating people that they can pay £3 to access Bebo on their mobile… then you nail them for a few pounds a meg on every other mobile site they visit. Bill shock will just put more and more people off. Before you know it, you’ve got an MMS on your hands. (That is, you kill the introduction of a service particularly as a result of stupid pricing).

Mobile Choice has the details….

Link: Mobile Choice Blog: Orange offers Bebo Mobile for £3 a month

For £3 a month, Orange customers can sign up to Bebo Extra, which gives them unlimited access to Bebo’s mobile internet site without paying any data charges. They’ll be able to send comments via SMS, receive notifications back in return, and also send Bebo Mails by text.

Check out Orange’s Bebo profile.

In a unique collaboration between Orange World and the 5th Estate mobile portal, Nigel Slater fans will now be able to interact with his new book Eating for England whilst on the move.

The site is being promoted across Orange’s Orange World portal throughout October and is designed to specifically target mobile users that fit Nigel Slater’s target audience. It will also be tagged on the forthcoming Underground poster campaign for Eating for England.

By texting NIGEL to 80880, mobile users will be able to access extracts from the book, recipes, wallpapers, mobcasts and an exclusive interview with Nigel. They will be given the opportunity to click through to amazon.co.uk and buy the book directly from their mobile as well as entering a competition to win a free copy.

“Everyone talks about innovation the whole time, but few people actually get on with it and dip their toe in the water. Nigel’s brilliant new book provides us with the perfect opportunity to launch this exciting new collaboration” John Bond, MD Press Books, HarperCollins Publishers

Written in Nigel Slater’s trademark style, Eating for England is an entertaining, detailed and somewhat tongue-in-cheek observation of the British and their food, their cooking, their eating, how they behave in restaurants and their idiosyncratic attitude towards the fine art of dining. It is a celebration of the glory, humour, eccentricities and embarrassments that are The British at Table.

This new innovation is a first for HarperCollins Publishers and we are very excited to have this recognised brand working in conjunction with one of our major authors.

Hot on the heels of their recent deal with Orange for the provision of it’s targeting and advertising solution to power the operator’s My Personal Offers System, Irish company Xiam Technologies have just announced a deal with Vodafone Ireland.

Vodafone Ireland is using MPOS technology to serve interactive third party advertisements on their newly revamped Mobile Internet portal. “We see mobile advertising as a significant opportunity to augment revenues whilst improving the portal offering” says Chris Handley, Head of Mobile Internet and Content at Vodafone Ireland. “Xiam’s proven commercial and technical know-how will bring the best to the channel for both
advertisers and subscribers.”

The two deals come as a ringing endorsement of Xiam’s leadership position in the market. As Colm Healy CEO at Xiam explains, “The mobile phone is a uniquely personal device and mobile marketing must be personalized. As a high reach, low noise channel the mobile experience must deliver individual relevance if it’s to succeed. Xiam’s solutions focus on treating each customer as an individual, dramatically improving both the users experience and the uptake of operator services”.

Link: Deutsche Telekom buys Orange Netherlands for €1.3 billion - International Herald Tribune

As reported here a couple of weeks ago, T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom have concluded a deal to buy the Dutch operations and network of Orange for €1.3 billion (about $1.8 billion, or £900m).

According to reports, Deutsche Telekom expects the takeover to result in savings of about €1 billion over the next few years - mainly down to network integration and reduced marketing expenses. The European Commission say that the merger will make T-Mobile the second larged operator in terms of subscribers and third largest in terms of revenue in the Dutch market.

Orange has signed an agreement with Xiam Technologies, for the provision of its My Personal Offers System (MPOS) which will give customers real-time recommendations across the Orange World Portal.  MPOS will help Orange World customers to discover personalised content that is relevant to their own specific interests.MPOS will ensure Orange customers discover and consume a broad range of content and services that are both relevant and meaningful based on their unique profiles. For example a football fan could expect to be offered ‘FIFA 2007’ game and a ‘Chelsea’ wallpaper based on the club they follow, then be presented more subtle, unexpected recommendations based on usage patterns identified by MPOS and filtered according to individual user profiles. MPOS can recommend content across different categories and suggest content that the customer may not otherwise find.

Jim Small, Portal Relevance Manager at Orange UK said, “It is the first time our customers will be able to access a diverse range of content services through a tailored recommendations page on Orange World that is based on the intelligence we have gathered from each user’s previous visits. For us it is about enhancing and personalising the customer experience, whilst increasing customer loyalty and content revenues.  We believe that Xiam’s MPOS technology will help us do this”.

Colm Healy, CEO of Xiam explains, “Xiam’s MPOS will help Orange Customers to find the content that interests them. It has been developed to address the need to treat each individual subscriber on a one-to–one basis and this is central to the recommendations solution which will present individually customised content suggestions for each customer coming to the Orange portal. Based on the premise that in the fast moving world of mobile content, with a small densely loaded interface, helping the customer to get to the right content in an easy and efficient way is vital in providing a meaningful portal experience.”

Xiam’s system will provide a number of different recommendation mechanics on the Orange Portal enabling customers to access content across all content silos, in their own personal recommendations page, irrespective of their location on the portal. This aids content discovery and navigation by linking together different but related content formats. For example a user could access ringtones, games and wall papers from the same location.

Link: Apple turns to Orange in France | The Register

In another of those ‘oh what a surprise’ announcements, it’s been revealed that Orange will be marketing the iPhone in France.

The announcement was made by France Telecom (Orange’s parent company) Chief Exec Didier Lombard during a conference in Hanoi.

No details on pricing as yet, and the Orange France website is surprisingly lacking in information - a quick search revealed “0 réponse pour iphone”. It won’t be a surprise if the price is the same as the T-Mobile/Germany deal of €399.

What’s curious is all the announcements so far have involved the current or former wireless divisions of incumbent operators - France Telecom (Orange), Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile), BT (O2) and AT&T (er, AT&T). Working on this theory, should we expect Vodafone (ex Telecom Eireann) for Ireland, O2 (Telefonica) for Spain and KPN in the Netherlands? Or is it just coincidental?