news National mobile telco Vodafone has confirmed a report by News Ltd newspaper The Australian that it’s planning to cut members of its executive team, in a wide-ranging restructure that could affect a number of mid-level executives at the company.

The Australian has published several articles on the restructure and has published substantial sections of an internal Vodafone memo on the issue. If you have a copy of the memo, we’d love to see it too — drop us a copy through Delimiter’s anonymous tips line here.

In a statement this afternoon issued after the newspaper’s stories, Vodafone confirmed that it would make “changes” to its organisational structure and executive team over the next few weeks. “Sales and Marketing functions will be combined into a single organisation, reporting in to one director, Noel Hamill,” the telco said. “The Communications and Corporate Affairs Team will also report into sales and marketing.”

“While the restructure will result in changes across most functions in the company the outcome will be a Vodafone that is more responsive to customers and more cost effective in a highly competitive market.” Vodafone said the restructure had already seen its chief marketing officer John Casey and director of communications and corporate affairs Tanya Bowes made redundant. “We are currently exploring other opportunities for both of them,” the company wrote.

The news comes as Vodafone has been making a fair degree of progress in rectifying technical problems with its network that had caused a large number of outages, dropouts and poor coverage across its network in the closing months of 2010 and in early 2011.

In November last year, the telco said it had sent 900 mobile sites live on its new 850MHz network. Additionally, 2,000 sites in the existing network had been upgraded with new radio equipment from Chinese vendor Huawei. By mid-2012, the company will have carried out equipment replacement for 8,000 sites and the new 850MHz network will be powering 1,500 sites. The upgrades are part of several initiatives at the company which are seeing it replace all of its wireless network infrastructure with new hardware by Chinese vendor Huawei and build new network infrastructure as well.

Nigel Dews, CEO Vodafone Hutchison Australia, said in November that the benefits of the company’s fast-tracked investments were beginning to be evident. “We are bringing customers a network that delivers better indoor coverage, faster downloads and a stronger signal than before from Vodafone,” said Dews.

However, it does not appear that customers are yet signed on to the Vodafone rejuvenation story. A Commonwealth Bank analyst report reported on by a number of media outlets over the past week has estimated that in the December quarter, Vodafone added just 1,000 new mobile customers — compared to some 342,000 for Telstra and 115,000 for Optus. In August 2011, Vodafone revealed that its total customer base had declined by 375,000 customers over the previous six months, although some 110,000 of those customers lost were due to changes in the way Vodafone reports customer numbers.

opinion/analysis
Everyone’s dumping on Vodafone right now (well, actually it’s become a national sport over the past 12 months), but in my opinion, the company’s actually not doing too badly.

Certainly in Delimiter’s statistics through our product comparison site, I’ve seen a constant level of ongoing interest in Vodafone products and services, and the flood of complaints from readers both on Delimiter itself and on Twitter appear to have dampened down massively over the past nine months. “Vodafail” is no longer a buzzword and hasn’t been for six months.

Is the company completely healthy? Of course not. Most Australians are probably still quite cynical about it, and approach it warily when they’re looking to buy mobile services. Its massive network rejuvenation isn’t yet finished and hasn’t yet substantially started to affect the public consciousness around Vodafone’s ‘troubles’. And of course its numbers haven’t started to head upwards yet — it will be a while yet before its finances start to recover from the massive hit they took.

But don’t count Vodafone out yet. This week’s changes are more or less business as usual, to my mind, and I’m very interested to see what the big V can pull out of its hat by the end of 2012. Telstra, you may remember, cut some 950 middle managers in October 2010. And it seems to be doing all right.

Image credit: Matt Wakeman, Creative Commons

news National broadband company iiNet revealed late last week that it had installed a Wi-Fi service throughout the Perth central business district that would let any customer of its growing family of brands access free Internet in the area.

“Over the past few months we’ve been busy working behind the scenes to install a number of wireless hotspots around the Perth CBD to make life a little easier when you’re out and about,” the company’s operations manager of its business division, Balmik Soin, wrote on its blog last week.

“There are 15 hotspot locations across the city. Whenever you’re near one of the hotpots with a wireless compatible device in hand, simply select the ‘iiNet’ WiFi network and log in with your account details. You don’t even need to know your primary account username and password – any email address and password associated with your account will let you onto the WiFi network.”

The service is branded ‘iiNet’, but customers of most brands within the iiNet group (including Westnet and Netspace) will be able to access the service, with the company to add access for customers of its new acquisitions TransACT, Internode and AAPT soon.

Soin appeared to hint that the iiNet Wi-Fi service could be coming to other cities shortly. “This is just the start of our Wi-Fi rollout plans. Keep an eye out for further announcements on where you can access ‘iiWiFi’ (say it out loud, it has a nice ring to it!) as we’ve got a couple of new locations in the pipeline already,” he said.

Further information about iiNet’s Wi-Fi coverage is available here.

iiNet has not historically invested much in Wi-Fi networks around Australia, preferring to focus on its direct broadband offering. However, rival Internode, which iiNet recently announced it would acquire, operates a large number of Wi-Fi hotspots around Australia, which are free to access. Internode has also partnered with companies such as CityLAN, cafe chain Cibo Express, airports in Darwin and Adelaide and others, in order to broaden its service nationally to some 400 locations.

At various stages over the past few years, a number of Australian Governments and other organisations have offered or planned to offer free Wi-Fi services in CBD locations. In November 2006, for example, then-NSW Premier Morris Iemma announced that the CBDs of key cities in NSW would get free Wi-Fi broadband within the succeeding three years. The project was eventually scrapped.

Many in the telecommunications industry believe that in large part, the popularity of 3G mobile broadband, either through dedicated USB dongles for laptops or through tethered smartphones or tablets, had made the need to offer Wi-Fi services fairly redundant. However, new Wi-Fi services such as iiNet’s are still launched at regular intervals in Australia.

Image credit: iiNet

news One of Optus chief executive Paul O’Sullivan’s bitterest telecommunications industry rivals has returned from a stint working overseas to become his chief lieutenant at SingTel Optus.

As the chief executive officer of Hutchison Telecommunications Australia from 2001 through 2007, Kevin Russell occupied a maverick position in the Australian mobile sector. Hutchison was the main company pushing the new generation of 3G mobile technologies during that period, competing strongly with rivals Telstra, Optus and Vodafone and stimulating them to follow in implementing higher speeds on their broadband networks.

If it hadn’t been for the entry of Hutchison into the Australian market in that period, with the strong push it made with its ’3′ brand, many in the industry believe, it may have taken Australia’s other mobile telcos a longer time to develop their networks to take advantage of the wave of 3G upgrades available from global networking vendors.

Today, Optus announced that Russell would return from a stint leading Hutchison in the UK to become Optus’ chief operating officer, effectively becoming second in charge at the company and reporting directly to O’Sullivan himself.

“In the newly created role of chief operating officer, Mr Russell will be responsible for the day to day operations of the mass market segments of Optus’ business, as well as the wholesale and satellite division,” the company said in a statement this afternoon. “As such, he will be responsible for the Optus consumer, Optus small and medium business, and the Optus wholesale and satellite businesses, as well as Optus’ wholly owned subsidiary, Virgin Mobile.”

Russell said in Optus’ statement that he was returning to Australia “at a very exciting time” in the industry, with the rollout of 4G speeds at the major telcos, in addition to the deployment of the National Broadband Network. “I’m looking forward to working with Paul and the Optus team to take full advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead,” he said.

O’Sullivan added: “We are proud of our track record as Australia’s leading investor in telecommunications competition and our success as a market innovator. Kevin’s experience and this appointment will strengthen our ability to take full advantage of the opportunities emerging in our market. His track record in the industry speaks for itself and I am delighted to welcome him to the Optus team.”

A number of commentators (including the writer of this article) have speculated about O’Sullivan’s future with Optus over the past year, with the executive having led the company as CEO since 2004. It is likely that Russell’s appointment will add to this speculation.

Image credit: Optus

news After dropping a series of hints about the matter over the past week, Telstra finally confirmed this morning that it would launch Samsung’s highly anticipated Galaxy Nexus handset in Australia this week, claiming pole position locally with sales due to start tomorrow (Wednesday morning).

Both Optus and Vodafone have started taking pre-orders for the handset through their websites, with an official launch for the device to take place later this week by Samsung itself.

The Galaxy Nexus is the first smartphone to run version 4.0 of Google’s Android platform, dubbed ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’, which features a number of improvements over the previous ‘Gingerbread’ version of the platform — ranging from an improved user interface to better multitasking, system and application notifications, to the ability to respond quickly by text message when an incoming call arrives, a voice recognition engine, better camera, voicemail and calendar handling and facial recognition features for unlocking the screen.

However, in terms of its hardware, the device is not as powerful in some areas as other handsets which have been available in Australia for some time, with reviewer Jenneth Orantia writing in Delimiter’s review of the device that power users would be better off looking at Samsung’s existing Galaxy S II handset, which has been on sale in Australia for some time and is now subject to discounts by the major carriers.

In a statement released early this morning, Telstra said it would place the handset on sale from several Telstra stores — its shopfronts at 400 George St in Sydney and at 246 Bourke St in Melbourne — and online from tomorrow (Wednesday). Other Telstra stores and Telstra partners (including JB Hi-Fi and Fone Zone) across Australia will commence selling the Galaxy Nexus from this Thursday 15 December.

The company will sell the handset on its $59 Freedom Connect plan for $10 a month handset repayment costs over a two-year contract (for a total of $69 a month), or for zero dollars per month on a $79 plan or above. The $59 option assumes customers are using what Telstra describes as its ‘MRO Bonus’. It’s not immediately clear what this refers to. Customers can also buy the handset on similar business plans.

On Telstra’s network, the Galaxy Nexus supports the telco’s high-definition voice feature.
“Telstra customers have been counting down to the launch of the world’s first Android 4.0 smartphone and we’re delighted to be able to offer this groundbreaking device ahead of Christmas,” said Andrew Volard, Director, Telstra Mobile.

“Our customers are going to love the beautifully redesigned Android 4.0 operating system which features a more modern user interface, resizable widgets and improved web browsing and multitasking. The super-thin Galaxy Nexus with its extraordinarily vivid 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display is the perfect smartphone to experience Google’s most intuitive operating system yet.”

“Our customers will also enjoy superior web browsing on the Galaxy Nexus thanks to Telstra’s HSPA+ mobile download speeds. Customers can pull down web pages faster, stream video with less buffering, and access their social networks more quickly.” It is not clear whether the Galaxy Nexus supports the 1800Mhz frequency Telstra is using for its 4G/LTE network, but the company has not specifically announced the handset as supporting LTE.

Telstra’s Galaxy Nexus pricing:

Image credit: Samsung

news Vodafone and Sony Computer Entertainment this week announced a partnership that will deliver Vodafone preferred provider status for 3G connectivity for the PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) handheld console in Australia.

The exclusive global carrier arrangement follows the recent announcement of a partnership covering Ireland, the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and with Vodafone’s partners in France. PlayStation Vita will launch in stores across Australia on February 23rd, 2012. Sony has introduced a pre-order campaign for PS Vita from November 17th.

Vodafone Australia recently announced an improvement in customer experience thanks to its accelerated network and service enhancements kicking in. Its new 850MHz network currently has 900 sites live, and provides service to mobile broadband devices, smartphones and Vodafone’s soon-to-be-launched mobile gaming device. Vodafone had also announced that new equipment had been installed at 2,000 sites in its existing network. The company plans to have 1,500 sites in the new 850 MHz network and 8,000 sites where equipment will be replaced by mid-2012.

The 3G/Wi-Fi model of PS Vita sold through retail channels will have a Vodafone SIM card to enable users to immediately enjoy mobile social gaming experiences. The PS Vita 3G/Wi-Fi model will also be available directly from Vodafone channels, both in-store and online, for $449.

Vodafone is offering an exclusive range of plans that includes the option of a $0 upfront payment on contract for the PS Vita 3G/Wi-Fi model. Flexibility in data plans has been introduced to meet users’ needs. Vodafone will announce more details about data plans and pricing closer to the PS Vita launch, and it has invited customers to register at its website for more information. As a bonus, customers connecting with Vodafone will get a free PlayStation Network voucher for downloading the high-speed, anti-gravity racing title WipEout 2048 from PlayStation Store.

Ross Parker, General Manager of Devices at Vodafone Australia said, “Next year’s launch of the Sony PS Vita on the new Vodafone 3G network marks an exciting new direction for us as we move into the world of personal mobile gaming.”

opinion/analysis
Several questions re raised by this partnership. Firstly, given that it appears you’ll be able to use other SIM cards with your PS Vita, what impact will this have upon Vodafone? I’ve seen a huge amount of interest in the PS Vita through Delimiter’s traffic logs whenever we’ve published an article about it. Will this translate into some great sign-up numbers for Vodafone? I’m not sure yet.

Secondly, will people actually buy the 3G version of the Vita, as opposed to just getting the Wi-Fi version? I’m not sure. Previous portable gaming consoles haven’t really utilised 3G mobile broadband much, but the Vita is more built around Internet access than previous handhelds. Of course, many Australians already have 3G smartphones capable of sharing Internet access through wireless tethering. If I was going to buy a Vita, accessing the Internet through my other devices would be a no-brainer. I am hazarding a guess at this point that most Australians don’t want yet another 3G connection plan. It’ll be interesting to see.

Image credit: Sony. Opinion/analysis by Renai LeMay

news The maverick owner of national broadband provider Exetel has speculated that Telstra may be planning to provide wholesale access to its flagship Next G mobile network to get around the clause in its contract with NBN Co that will prevent it advertising its mobile broadband services as an alternative to the NBN fibre.

Unlike Optus and Vodafone, Telstra has previously proven reluctant to provide wholesale access to its mobile network, seeing the infrastructure as a competitive advantage. However, over the past several months it has softened its stance, confirming this week that it was planning to open up the network over the past six months. Speculation has thus far focused on the idea that the company will provide wholesale access to the normal HSPA+ sections of its network — but not the higher-speed sections based on the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) areas it is currently building, also referred to as fourth-generation mobile or 4G.

However, in a blog post yesterday, Exetel chief executive John Linton speculated Telstra may have ulterior motives for opening up access to its infrastructure.

“If I was a conspiracy theorist, which I’m not by any definition of that term, I would say that the only reason that Telstra would wholesale a high speed mobile service should be taken in the context of the strange clause in the “break up agreement” that forbids Telstra from “advertising its high speed mobile service in competition with the ‘NBN2′,” wrote Linton.

When Telstra unveiled its NBN contract in late June, it revealed a segment of the contract stated that part of the NBN deal is that it “may not promote wireless services as a substitute for fibre-based services for 20 years” from the commencement date of the contract. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission believes the clause has the potential to harm competition. Optus has similar constraints in its own contract with NBN Co, although the terms of its arrangement are different.

Linton also questioned why it would take six months “to do something that requires no thought at all” beyond the decision to wholesale the service, and noted that he did not expect Telstra’s prices to be reasonable. Exetel currently wholesales 3G mobile broadband access from Optus.

“Does anone seriously think that Telstra will provide ‘real wholesale’ pricing for 4G mobile any more than it provides “real wholesale” pricing for any other product?” Linton asked. “If you do then perhaps you need to change your medication for something less mind-transforming.”

So far, Telstra is only known to have approached cut-rate ISP Dodo to re-sell Next G, although a number of other ISPs, such as iiNet and Internode, have also expressed their interest in gaining access to the company’s infrastructure.

Linton, however, didn’t appear to be confident that the opening up of Telstra’s network would generate positive outcomes for competition in the telecommunications sector. “… a ‘wholesaled’ Telstra high speed mobile service will be as effective in generating competition as a currently ‘wholesaled’ Telstra ADSL2 or PSTN service … totally ineffective,” he added.

opinion/analysis
This may sound strange, but I believe both Telstra chief executive David Thodey and NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley when they say the wireless marketing clause in Telstra’s NBN contract won’t be a huge deal for the company in terms of Telstra’s ability to go to market with mobile broadband over the next decade.

As the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission noted yesterday as it released its annual report into the telecommunications sector, wireless broadband is becoming increasingly popular, but fixed-line broadband dominated the actual amount of downloaded data via broadband in Australia. In short, mobile broadband is primarily for light internet use at the moment, while fixed-line is for heavy downloading.

It will make sense for telcos — especially those which operate their own mobile networks — to focus on ‘bundled’ plans in future — offering a combination of fixed broadband over the NBN alongside mobile broadband through 3G and 4G.

However, it must be said that Linton’s question is a very interesting one — and one I was planning to raise this week myself. If another telco markets a re-badged Telstra Next G mobile service as an alternative to the NBN fibre, does that place Telstra in breach of its contract with NBN Co? I would think surely not … as the contract only binds Telstra. But it would be a fascinating situation that would highlight just how foolhardy that particular clause of Telstra’s NBN deal is.

Kudos to Linton — constantly an out of the box thinker — for raising the idea.

Image credit: Telstra

Telstra this morning announced it would place the first 4G mobile broadband modems commercially available in Australia on sale to business customers beginning August 29.

Dubbed the Telstra USB 4G, the mobile modem will be the first Telstra device to work on its new 4G network, which will initially cover Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney city centres and was initially announced at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona earlier in the year.

Telstra notes 4G or Long Term Evolution (LTE) coverage — the next-generation mobile standard which can better cope with the huge growth in data-intense smartphones — will initially be available within 5km from the GPO in each city, with speeds theoretically capable of reaching up to 100 megabits per second. However in most situations it’ll range between 60 and 80 megabits per second, Telstra CEO David Thodey said earlier in the year.

The 4G USB modem will run on both Telstra’s 4G and 3G HSPA networks, meaning in regions where the 4G roll-out has yet to occur, customers will be able to use the device on Telstra’s existing 3G network which covers nearly 99 percent of Australia’s population. Telstra will limit the initial August 29 availability of the devices to just 2000 business customers, saying the roll-out forms a “commercial pilot” ahead of a full-scale launch later in the year.

“Australian businesses already tell us they want fast, reliable mobile broadband with more than two million customers connecting to our network for internet on the go,” Thodey said in a statement this morning. “Our investment in next-generation 4G mobile technology will help meet Australia’s growing demand for faster speeds and create additional capacity in our network.”

Account managed business and enterprise customers will be able to purchase the 4G modem through their Telstra Business or Telstra Enterprise and Government account managers from the 29th August. While the telco is still remaining coy on when exactly the 4G network will become available for consumers, it’s now created a notifications page which will allow those keen to be amongst the first to experience the network to be contacted by Telstra closer to the date.

Other Australian carriers are also slowly adding 4G capabilities. Vodafone Hutchison Australia says it’ll be ready to turn on 4G services when they feel “the time is right” thanks to their multi-million dollar network upgrade works, while Optus is also believed to have undertaken a series of 4G trials.

Image credit: Telstra

Earlier this week, Australian shopping giant Woolworths announced a new prepaid mobile service utilising the Optus 3G network, with several handsets manufactured by Chinese vendor Huawei as well as LG Electronics to be sold as part of the service.

Australians can now purchase a Woolworths Mobile Prepaid $29 or $49 cap that includes data, text and voice calls and utilises Optus’ 3G network. The $29 recharge will offer $500 value, including 5GB of data per month, $250 of calls or SMS to any Australian network and a further $250 for calls or text messages to other Woolworths Mobile or Optus customers.

For $49, users will receive the same amount of data, but double the amount of calls, with $500 available for calling any phone on another network and a further $500 for SMS or calls to Optus or Woolworths Mobile customers.

Both packages expire after 45 days, with Greg Foran, director of Woolworths Supermarkets, welcoming the new initiative and calling the new 3G services a response to increased demand by customers eager to use the latest smartphones including Apple’s iPhone and the range of Android devices now on the market.

“Everywhere you look people are using smartphones so we have responded to this demand by offering our customers a great value 3G Prepaid Cap,” Foran said of the initiative. “For the first time, we’ll be offering our customers the latest Android 3G smartphones so customers who may have been thinking about upgrading their 2G phone to a 3G phone can do so at their local Woolworths store at a great low price.”

Two unlocked Android handsets — the LG Optimus ME and Huawei Sonic — will be offered by Woolworth, BIG W and Dick Smith stores alongside the prepaid SIM cards for $138 and $188 respectively. The company has confirmed the special microSIM cards required for use in Apple’s iPhone 4 are also now available for the prepaid program.

Customers using Optus’ 3G network through the Woolies program won’t have unmetered access to Optus Zoo services with a spokesperson confirming Woolies customers accessing Optus’ normally unmetered sites will count towards the 5GB data allowance.

It’s not the first phone service launched by Woolies. Last year the company began using Optus’ 2G network to provide the Woolworths Everyday Mobile program, that offers cheap prepaid SMS and voice calls across the country. At this stage both programs are expected to continue running together.

Image credit: Huawei

The nation’s number two telco Optus has ramped up its trial of femtocell technology into a fully-fledged commercial service offered across all of Australia’s capital cities and large regional centres, with the flagship offer over the service seeing customers pay as little as $5 a month for unlimited calls nationally.

Femtocells are small devices which customers install in their homes, connecting them in to their home broadband network. The devices then act as a small 3G mobile base station, funnelling mobile traffic back from customers’ phones through their broadband connection to their telco of choice. They have not previously been commercially sold in Australia in quantity.

Optus’ launch yesterday of a commercial femtocell service, dubbed the ‘Optus 3G Home Zone’ service, follows a trial the telco conducted from April this year in a number of major cities. “With today’s launch, Optus is extending the service to all major capital cities as well as large regional centres,” the telco said yesterday.

The telco will market the solution as a challenge to the fixed-line telephony market which it also plays strongly in, alongside its major competitor telco. Other rivals such as iiNet and Internode have chosen to tackle the market by offering consumer-grade internet telephony services, which Optus does not currently offer.

For $5 a month over 24 months, on top of selected $59 and above mobile plans, Optus will offer the femtocell service, which will come with unlimited “standard” national mobile calls to fixed lines and Australian mobile phones. It is also guaranteeing “five bars” of reception in customers’ homes with the service.

“As many Australians struggle with the rising cost of living, Optus is delivering new innovations to help our customers stay connected and, in the process, pay less,” said Optus Consumer managing director Michael Smith. “We believe today’s announcement signifies the biggest challenge to the Australian home phone since services began nearly 130 years ago.”

“As our major competitor raises line rental costs1 Optus is providing a great value alternative for the home calling needs of our customers. Customers involved in our recent trial love the fact that they are receiving personal and dedicated coverage where they need it most.”

However, not everyone has been as keen on the femtocell technology as Optus. Vodafone offers a similar service to businesses, but has not launched a femtocell offering to consumers, while Telstra had harsh words to say when Optus kicked off its trial. “Femtocells are a means of compensating for poor coverage,” the company told the Sydney Morning Herald at the time.

A number of online commentators have highlighted the fact that Optus’ network does not currently offer the coverage or speeds that Telstra’s does, and also the fact that Optus’ trial femtocell solution could charge customers for calls placed using broadband connections which they were already paying for. However, others have seen the femtocell solution as a valid option for those who want to ensure good coverage in their homes or workplaces.

Image credit: Optus

Over at our sister site Delimiter Marketplace, we’ve posted an article examining the options for buying a SIM card (3G mobile broadband access) for your Apple iPad. There are quite a few choices — you can choose between Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Virgin, Amaysim or even iiNet or Internode. And you can also choose between pre-paid options, ongoing monthly plans, or even sharing data between your iPad and your smartphone. Check out the article to find out what we think is the best option.

Image credit: Apple