krug3r
14-09-2003, 10:52
Germany’s smallest wireless operator, O2, is to switch on its UMTS network on 17 November, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. A soft launch is scheduled for the first quarter next year but the service will not be marketed “Big Style” until Christmas 2004, according to its CEO Rudolf Gröger. Once the network is up and running, the company is planning a pilot with 1,000 test customers.
In preparation for the arrival of 3G, all mobile operators in Germany have introduced massive price cuts to stimulate consumer demand for mobile data applications. As of 15 September, O2 is offering its O2 Active Portal subscribers a flat rate tariff for mobile internet and email access of just Euro4.95 a month in a deliberate move to drive down mobile data prices. Email-only access will be charged at Euro2.95 a month.
O2 said a survey carried out on its behalf found that for 70 percent of respondents cost was the key factor influencing their use of mobile data services. A further 70 percent saw email as the most important mobile data application, followed by internet access with 45 percent.
The operator currently derives just under 20 percent of its revenues from data services, a share it hopes to increase to 25 percent over the next year. Its CEO stressed that the price cuts would not undermine the company’s target to increase its 2002 profit margin of 3 percent to two figures in the current financial year. “The new tariffs aren’t suicide”, Gröger said.
In preparation for the arrival of 3G, all mobile operators in Germany have introduced massive price cuts to stimulate consumer demand for mobile data applications. As of 15 September, O2 is offering its O2 Active Portal subscribers a flat rate tariff for mobile internet and email access of just Euro4.95 a month in a deliberate move to drive down mobile data prices. Email-only access will be charged at Euro2.95 a month.
O2 said a survey carried out on its behalf found that for 70 percent of respondents cost was the key factor influencing their use of mobile data services. A further 70 percent saw email as the most important mobile data application, followed by internet access with 45 percent.
The operator currently derives just under 20 percent of its revenues from data services, a share it hopes to increase to 25 percent over the next year. Its CEO stressed that the price cuts would not undermine the company’s target to increase its 2002 profit margin of 3 percent to two figures in the current financial year. “The new tariffs aren’t suicide”, Gröger said.