
Mobile data card launches with continuous connectivity
By Jo Best
Published: 12 February 2004 12:35 GMT
Vodafone has today announced the launch of its first flirtation with European 3G. The mobile operator has gone for the cash cow of the moment, data services, with the debut of its Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS data card.
The card has data rates of up to 384kbps and allows laptop users to access their mobile office - email, web, calendar and the like - as much as ten times faster than the GPRS equivalent. UK users will be able to get their hands on the data card in the next four weeks, as will those in other European countries, including Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden.
While the rollout of 3G networks is gathering momentum, in the event of a mobile worker finding themselves out of 3G coverage, the card will swap to GPRS. The Mobile Connect card will initially be offered to Vodafone's corporate customers, with a rollout for smaller businesses planned later.
The card has been in the works for several months, with the operator's CEO, Arun Sarin, talking about Vodafone's new baby at ITU Telecom World last year. Speaking at the event, Sarin said that consumers weren't interested in the "alphabet soup" of flavours of wireless but were more concerned about being online, whatever the method. Most "customers don't care - they just want connectivity," he said.
'Continuous connectivity' may tempt Vodafone's customers but, until recently, crossing the Atlantic brought problems for data-services users. While Vodafone's data cards had worked using GSM networks, US carrier Verizon used CDMA, leaving users in a hole. A new data card was launched in August last year that could work with both network technologies.
Plan 2G and 3G transmission and connectivity using Vodafone Planning Tools. Dealing with 2G and 3G network enhancement tasks, deployment and planning ...
A history of minimum new business sales and/or account management in Carrier/Telecom/IT or related industries, i.e.cold calling, prospecting, ...
Our clients systems connect to c40 exchanges so a strong background in multi - exchange connectivity is essential. A senior team leader (VP level) is ...
Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.
Stories from the web...
Copyright © 2008 CBS Interactive Limited. All rights reserved. Top of page
Natasha Lomas Exclusive: Jimmy Wales on what's next for Wikipedia Why Wikipedia needs geeks and why a life unplugged is unthinkable
Peter Cochrane Peter Cochrane's Blog: United breaks guitars? Customer service has changed forever