Mobile networks broaden their services as the number of mobile phones keeps on rising

In Britain at present there are over 50 million mobile phones; that's double the figure counted 6 years ago, and the number only looks set to keep on rising. With an increasing number of mobile network providers in the UK market, the pressure is on to expand the goods and services offered by these companies, with many British mobile networks trying desperately to outdo each other.



A perfect example of mobile networks working against each other is shown in the recent controversy surrounding TV broadcasts on mobile phones. ITV signed a deal earlier this month with network operator '3', which allows them to broadcast primetime ITV shows on mobiles as they are simultaneously being broadcast on television. The service is available to '3' customers for only an extra £5 a month, or 99 pence a day, and was at first expected to be used by other networks as well, once the 6 month exclusivity deal with '3' customers is over. However, developments since have seen Vodafone, the world's largest mobile network provider, actively discourage mobile phone makers from putting mobile TV chips in their handsets. Apparently, this is because it wishes to encourage the use of its own 3G network, with new HSDPA and HSUPA for mobile TV, as well as other multimedia capabilities. By discouraging phone makers from using DVB-H and T-DMB TV capabilities, it is effectively setting the trend for mobile TV handsets. Steve Harrop, the technical architect for Vodafone's mobile applications and content services, said:

"There is an obvious risk disintermediation, and that's a background business reason for us choosing this approach. At the end of the day we have 16 million customers in the UK and we decide which phones we are selling them."



Other leading mobile network providers in Britain - most notably, 02, Orange and T-Mobile - have been experimenting with unique products and services as well. In the US, T-mobile appear to be branching out into a range of other services, most specifically launching a new generation of Internet phones, in order to attract customers away from wi-fi and land-line services. Similarly, Orange recently launched the "Unique" phone; the company's first converged service, the Unique phone offers the benefits of a fixed-line and mobile phone in one handset, exclusively to customers in Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland. The idea is that you have one phone for all your requirements; in your home, the handset connects via wi-fi to the Orange Livebox, and outside the house functions as a normal Orange mobile. Best of all, you can move between home and mobile conversations on the same phone without interruption.



02 have gone in a slightly different direction, by developing their own branded mobile handset; the 02 Ice mobile phone comes complete with their 3G bells and whistles and, with its slim, clean white appearance, is generally expected to appeal to the "fashion buyers" in the phone market. In Britain, with mobile phone companies like dial-a-phone continually making mobile phones more affordable through a never-ending series of special offers on both pay monthly and pay as you go phones, the mobile revolution doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon.