Palm Pre to be on o2

Mobile phone operator O2 has sealed another exclusive deal on a highly desirable handset Palm Pre. The exclusing deal covers UK and Ireland. O2 who also have the exclusvive agreement to sell Apple’s iPhone seem to get highly sought after handset deal tied up ahead of its rivals which included Vodafone, T-Mobile and 3.

O2 said the phone would be available in the UK in time for the winter holidays. No details have been given of how much it will cost when it goes on sale. The Palm Pre smartphone is seen as a rival to Apple’s iPhone because of its web-centred operating system and innovative interface.

At launch, the phone cost about £129, after a rebate, and buyers were tied into a two-year contract when purchasing the phone. About 300,000 Palm Pre phones are now thought to have been sold. It is though that it may cost more than £129 when it finally gets to UK. You can find out more about the launch date by registering at o2’s website.

According to an article on BBC’s website Vodafone is considering buying T-Mobile. The article follows:

Mobile phone operator Vodafone has declined to comment on a report that it is considering buying T-Mobile UK.

The Financial Times reported that the company was interested in acquiring T-Mobile’s UK operations, even though a deal may be blocked by regulators.

Any such move would make Vodafone the biggest mobile operator in the UK, with a 40% market share.

Vodafone has a 25% share of the UK market, behind O2. T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom, has a 15% share.

Deutsche Telekom has appointed JP Morgan to advise on “strategic options”, the newspaper said. Deutsche Telekom said it did not comment on market rumours.

Shares in Vodafone ended the day up 1.2% at 117.60 pence.

T-Mobile UK reported a 21% fall in sales in the first three months of the year. According to the FT, it has an estimated enterprise value of between 3bn euros and 4bn euros ($4.2bn-$5.6bn; £2.5bn-$3.4bn).

A combined Vodafone/T-Mobile operation with a 40% UK market share in the UK would leapfrog the current UK market leader O2, which has a market share of about 27%.

Although the creation of one company with 40% of the UK market would almost certainly lead to competition questions, such large operators already exist in France, Italy and Spain.

Earlier this year, Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao said that his company was willing to play an active role in consolidation between operators.

In February, Vodafone and Hutchison Whampoa, which owns mobile operator 3 in the UK, announced plans to merge their Australian mobile phone businesses.

you can read the rest of the report at bbc .co.uk

The good news is that a path breaking technology which would enable mobile phone subscribers to get continuous network coverage has just been unveiled and rolled out by Vodafone to its customers.  This technology called ‘Femtocell’ functions by allowing the subscribers to connect to their respective mobile network through the internet, thereby avoiding the black spots that have become such a problem and ensuring 100% network coverage within their homes.

Though it is not very economical at 160 pounds and you also require a good broadband internet connection to make it work, this technology is a boon for people living in houses that are susceptible to loss of mobile network signals due to the location and topography of such houses.  People living in such houses only manage to get signals in some specific portions of their houses making it extremely inconvenient for them to carry on a conversation on their mobile.  They then have to resort to using their landline phones to call back the mobile to continue the conversation leading to high costs.

However, this new technology is set to change all that.  Users who have tested this technology have experienced 100% reception on their mobile and have not felt the need to call back or look at missed calls.

The feeling amongst some people is that mobile companies must constantly plough back their profits into the business to keep improving network coverage instead of making their subscribers turn to new technologies like Femtocell.  On the other hand, Vodafone seems to be throwing its hand up in frustration and is expressing their inability to provide continuous reception throughout the UK.

Opinion is divided.  Some feel that a service like Femtocell is worth it if you can spare the money, while some others feel that the mobile company must package this service at a competitive rate and offer it to its subscribers for a lasting solution that is mutually beneficial.