O2 Reveals 4G Tariffs and Perks

O2 has unveiled a range of tariffs and a few perks that it will offer come the big 29 August 4G switch on, although the operator appears to have struggled to match Vodafone’s fanfare. 

O2’s 12-month 4G SIM-only packages start at £26 for 1GB of data -  that’s one less than Vodafone’s opening deal -  and go up to £36 a month with 5GB of data. Vodafone’s top SIM-only plan offers 8GB for £36. Additional bolt-ons will cost £6 for 500MB and £10 for 1GB from O2. 

Standard 4G plans include the opportunity to switch your phone at a whim, called O2 Refresh, and for a 24-month contract, prices start at £22 a month for 1GB of data and go up to £37 for 8GB. There are 'additional charges' for the different devices on offer of between £10 and £25 per month - so people will end up paying upwards of £32 per month for the cheapest 4G plan. O2 says it will have 10 handsets to choose from, Vodafone has just three, with neither currently offering 4G on iPhone.  

If people sign up quickly for an O2 Refresh contract of 3GB or more, they will get additional free data for the duration of it. Existing O2 customers that don’t have a 4G handset but want to upgrade will get 25 per cent of the contract buyout cost paid by O2. O2 customers can also trade in their old device for up to £300. Vodafone says it will knock 75 per cent off the remaining contract charges if people have an iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3 or a Galaxy Note 2 and want to upgrade.  

O2 hasn’t managed to secure the launch partnerships that Vodafone has  – which include Sky and Spotify. It does however offer 12 month's free access to O2 4G Tracks, with music and video from the top 40, as well as Priority Sports content. The company has also secured a deal with Gameloft for O2 customers to play some popular mobile games without using up their data. 

O2 customers also get free access to 9,000 O2 wi-fi hotspots and can sign up for Priority Moments. O2 will launch 4G for pay-as-you-go customers before the end of the year.

Written for Mobile Marketing Magazine and published here: http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.com/content/o2-reveals-4g-tariffs-and-perks#ArWvYk5BZeCJoVUS.99

Vodafone’s 4G Showdown with O2 on 29 August

Vodafone has announced that it will be launching its 4G network on exactly the same day as rival O2, revealing a range of tariffs, benefits and milestones in a bid to outdo its fellow operator. 

Although it has only promised a London launch on 29 August – compared to O2’s additional Leeds and Bradford – is says it will have 12 more cities live by the end of the year, where O2 pledged 10. After London, launches in Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield are expected from Vodafone before the end of the year.

EE, O2 and Vodafone have all promised 4G coverage for 98 per cent of the UK population, with EE committing to the end of 2014, Vodafone to the end of 2015 and O2 not yet venturing a date. While O2 limited its detail on customer deals, Vodafone has fully outlined plans for its 24-month, 12-month and SIM-only 'Red 4G-ready' payment options.  

All Vodafone Red 4G-ready plans come with either Sky Sports Mobile TV or Spotify Premium, plus unlimited calls and texts. They also have unlimited data for the first three months, followed by either 2GB, 4GB or 8GB per month – double the standard allowance on Vodafone's standard plans.  Vodafone's 24-month plans start at £34 with a handset, while 12-month plans start at £52. 

Anyone on a standard Vodafone Red contract that has a 4G-ready device can upgrade for £5 to get Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile TV, double the amount of data and get 4G access. Customers who have a 4G-ready device can get SIM-only deals from £26 a month for 12 months, costing £3 more than EE’s lowest deal, while offering 2GB of data and the free perks for six months, before a charge is added to their plan. 

Vodafone is also offering a range of 4G tablet plans, starting at £31 per month for the eight-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, or the Sony Xperia Tablet Z at £37 per month. 

Vodafone spent considerably more acquiring its spectrum than O2 - £802m compared to £550m - which it says is down to buying both low-frequency for going further and working better indoors, as well as high-frequency spectrum, giving it greater capacity in densely populated urban areas. 


Written for Mobile Marketing Magazine and published here:  http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.com/content/vodafone%E2%80%99s-4g-showdown-o2-29-august#MvgpXmPybOxWLx7g.99

O2 4G Switch On 29 August

O2 has announced its 4G switch on date, with London, Leeds and Bradford the first cities to be covered when the service launches on 29 August. Having spent nearly a full year becoming increasingly overcome with fatEEgue, O2’s announcement could not come a moment too soon.

But it is clear that the second operator to go live with superfast broadband has a lot of catching up to do – EE has already signed up 500,000 customers and its network covers 55 per cent of the population. After launch, O2 has promised 10 more cities by the end of the year: Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool, Nottingham, Leicester, Coventry, Sheffield, Manchester and Edinburgh. 

Although O2 has announced plans to match EE’s commitment to reach 98 per cent of the population -  and has highlighted that its valuable 800MHz frequency will ensure the service works ‘both indoor and outdoor’ - the company has not yet ventured a deadline for this.  EE has pledged to reach 98 per cent of people by the end of 2014, and owns 36 per cent of the country's total 4G spectrum compared to O2's 15 per cent. 

Tariffs will start at £26 per month – most likely a SIM-only, 500MB-data option akin to the £23 option EE introduced in May - with pay-as-you-go and business packages on the way. EE already has 2,000 UK businesses, including the likes of Renault and Ikea, on its books. 

In a clear drive to differentiate itself, O2 has announced a mystery live launch performance at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire to coincide with the switch on, with early-bird ticketing on offer for its Priority Moments customers. 4G customers will also be able to get a free, year-long music package when they sign up direct with O2. 

O2 says it spent £550m to secure one of the highest proportions of the lowest frequency spectrum as it travels further and can move better through solid objects. Data usage by its 22.9m existing UK customers has already more than doubled in the last twelve months, the company said. EE, which formed in 2010 from Orange and T-Mobile, revealed it has 27.5m customers in its last earnings call.

Written for Mobile Marketing Magazine and published here: http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.com/content/o2-4g-switch-29-august#bOOEGeCZ8ujVtR4b.99

Women in WirelessLondon -on startups at the Wayra Academy #WiWstartups

Telefonica’s Wayra startup hub couldn’t have been a better choice for Women in Wireless London’s first panel discussion. Wayra was started in South America, and is so-called because the word means a change of breeze, or a change of direction. There has been a great deal of attention of late around the question of women in the boardroom. Promoted onto the agenda by the publishing of a government review, the Evening Standard and then the BBC have both taken a stab at answering one of modern life’s most pressing questions: ‘why aren’t there more women in top jobs?’

This panel went some way to offering an alternative. Voted for by the audience at the Women in Wireless launch back in April, it appears many women want to be their own boss. Chaired by Olivia Solon, Associate Editor of Wired.co.uk and one of TechCrunch’s 100 Tech Women in Europe, but with her magazine confined to the ‘men’s interest’ section of WHSmith, she knows only too well what it’s like to be a woman in a bloke’s world.

She was joined by:

Michelle Gallen – co-founder and CEO of Shhmooze - the people discovery app for professionals- and TalkIrish.com an Irish language learning platform

Michelle likes straight talking, dark chocolate and Irish whiskey. She had delivered a project for the BBC ahead of schedule and under budget,  “it rocked”. Would she get a bonus? No. “I hadn’t a thing to go to and I walked”.

Claudia Dreier-Poepperl – founder and CEO Addafix – a caller ID service

Claudia wasn’t happy for a long time. The startup she had been a member of since day five had been acquired and acquired again. She was in the UK. Its HQ was in the US. “If I can put all that energy in to make somebody else rich – I can try for myself”.

Muriel Devillers – LUMU Invest – a provider of seed funding and mentoring

Muriel Devillers “married had children and then had a divorce… I thought I had to do something”.  She went on an adventure and started four pirate radio stations. She is now a business angel, advising and supporting startup projects.

Yael Rozencwajg – founder and CEO YOPPs Digital Media

Yael had a ‘typical life’ and was well-known among Paris nightclub scene. After two years, she decided to earn money from it.

Sabrina McEwen – communications executive for Hiyalife – a platform to co-create your life story using memories, a Wayra startup

Sabrina went from a corporate to… a funkier business, but still corporate… and had a difficult boss. She wasn’t intending to join a startup but hasn’t regretted it one bit. At Hiyalife, she is surrounded by “passionate people who want to succeed… interesting and full of ideas”.

Olivia: So you’ve got your idea on the back of a napkin… what do you do next?

Muriel: It’s not an easy one – I was travelling the world for over five years looking for the disruptive ideas. I listen. When I say ‘wow’ I’ve fallen in love with the idea. I get into the team to push, open my network, make you work.

Michelle: There was a gap in the market. There were 59 million people with an Irish passport and I was leaning Irish from 40 year-old books… Perhaps I wouldn’t sell my house… But today you can test your assumption. If you’ve got 50 people signed up… go for it.

Claudia: I had to find techies, to test whether the task was a yes, no, or a possibility. They have to be on the same wavelength, can you trust them? Perhaps find them from a previous job. Can you build something, a prototype without any funding? You don’t need a big amount of funding to get you through that. The further you get, the more impressed any business angel will be.

Olivia: Once you had launched – what was the biggest misconception about having a start-up?

Yael: Don’t be afraid of failing. Don’t worry about the money. The idea, the project has to be the main thing at every step. I strongly advise you to make mistakes – we learn after making mistake, misunderstanding the marketplace and failing.

Claudia:  Everything takes about 10 times longer than you think – time, energy, money, contingency is never enough. Over the years you become more relaxed about that – four weeks waiting on a contract from a big corporate is like four years for you.

Muriel: Invest your own money – this is showing in your guts that you believe in it. Use crowd funding – especially when you start. Friends and family support will show you are right and boost you to go further.

Michelle: No one tells you about maternity leave when you’re starting out on your own.

Sabrina: But there is actually lot of support.

Olivia: So what about the pitch process? What’s the worst pitch you’ve seen?

Muriel: 27 slides, loads of numbers. The best way to pitch? Please show me your guts. I don’t care about slideshares. I need to feel the love in three, four, five slides – don’t ever put your speech on it.

Olivia: How do you get a work/life balance?

Claudia: You don’t. You have to force yourself to stop – travelling all the time is bad for your health.

Michelle: 9am-11pm and then drinks gives me five hours in the week to see my baby. I want my friends to call me out on it.

Yael: You need time management – take distance from your project and see your friends.

Olivia: Studies show that men are better at multi-tasking. No?

Muriel: We are multitasking!! Pregnant, working… To risk and invest, I think we do it better.

A lot of VCs are male but business angels are mostly women. When you believe in it you go for it. We know how to push it to minimise the risk.

Olivia: Woman in tech – more men than women – advantages/disadvantages?

Yael: In tech, there is a big opportunity for women to reach the men’s table. Keep in mind – women have the power to connect and support each other. We trust in ourselves, focus and bring our self-confidence.

Muriel: I am a woman in a man’s world. The financial world. And I disrupt that. I shout. I put my fist on the table. What I want to see is teams build projects together – men and women together – we have qualities and men have qualities. We can approach it from 360 degrees.

Why do we get married and have children? Because we are complimentary – in your children, you integrate your qualities together.

Claudia: It depends on the situations. There are always so many men at tech conferences. If you are trying to sell something, I love it!

Muriel: There are now more than 60 per cent women studying tech in universities.

Michelle: There are no queues for the toilet when you’re a girl in tech! You can start doing the ‘I’m the only girl in the village’ bit. Try not to analyse - just be. Support everyone and call them out on things. When guys say ‘you have to have balls’, I say ‘talk to me about guts and I’ll show you them’.

To the audience.

My start-up isn’t working…

Michelle: I spent my 20s having really crap relationships. I was late to the party when it came to settling down. Be slutty as a startup – split up, lose it. You say it’s your baby, but it’s not. You wouldn’t be so precious about it.

Muriel: Branding is 60 per cent of your budget. There are co-working spaces all over the world – be together as much as possible, all you need is a place with a table, wifi, people to talk with and that’s all.

Do women think big enough?

Michelle: If you’re going to put the hours in, you have to care about it. If you’re ironing, you go for it, same if you want to be the next Facebook.

Claudia: The business has to be scaleable.

Muriel: Dream global before dreaming local and you will succeed. Make us believe in your dreams.

Yael: The world is not open to you; you have to open the world.

Olivia: One tip for the future?

Michelle: Always do your pelvic floor exercises and never fake an orgasm

Claudia: If the others can do it you can do it

Muriel: Believe in your dreams

Yael: Live them

Sabrina: Don’t bother convincing the non-believers