Mobile Phone Market in Ireland

GfK Retail and Technology have published a report on mobile phone market in Ireland. Here are some interesting facts:

• More than 234,000 mobile phones were sold from January to April
  
• 1.9 million handsets were sold last year
  
• In January, one in every four handsets sold was a touchscreen and now it is nearly 1 in 3
  
• sale of smartphones has doubled as a percentage of overall sales since the beginning of the year from 8% to 16%
  
• Market Leaders are: Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson

Nokia Bicycle Charger Kit

Nokia announced bicycle-powered charger for mobile phones. It’s good news for all eco-conscious users, but this product is initially aimed at emerging markets - places where electricity may be scarce, unreliable or expensive. Official Nokia Blog states that in many areas, a bicycle-powered charging service might create a sustainable micro-business for some individuals. More info on Nokia website.

Next Generation Mobile Broadband Trial

Consumers in Ireland have been taken a step closer to super fast mobile broadband. Ericsson (facilitated by ComReg’s test and trial licensing programme) has performed a mobile broadband test and achieved speeds ten times faster than experienced by consumers today.

Using Ericsson’s leading edge technology, LTE, drive tests were completed around Dublin, which demonstrated High Definition TV and video conferencing over mobile broadband at speeds greater than 80 Megabits per second.

Ericsson Ireland has been supporting these tests and trials as part of a global Ericsson programme for LTE. "With speeds such as this, there are very few services that cannot be delivered over a mobile broadband connection in the future. Think of this as a preview of the way consumers will consume broadband, TV and radio services in the future", enthused John Hennessy Country Manager and Managing Director, Ericsson in Ireland.

Cheaper Roaming

Under the EU's Roaming Regulation, from 1st July 2010, roaming charges for calls made from mobile phones whilst in another EU country will fall to 39 cents per minute for calls made and 15 cents per minute for calls received, excluding VAT. Also, from 1st July 2010, to protect people from 'bill shocks' for surfing the Internet with their mobile phones and laptops while travelling in other EU countries, operators will have to impose a €50 cut off limit per month for those customers that have not yet set their own cut-off price limit for downloading data. Since March 2010, operators have had to offer customers the possibility to set their own cut-off price limit per month for downloading data while travelling in other EU countries. Thirdly, from 1st July 2010 the wholesale cap of €1 per MegaByte down or uploaded introduced in 2009 will fall to 80 cents per MB. Finally, operators will not be able to charge their customers for the receipt of a voice mail message while roaming in another EU country.

BlackBerry App World 2.0

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) unveiled the latest version of its mobile application store, BlackBerry App World 2.0. Update will bring some great new features, like:

• “Top 25” screen - featuring the Newest Apps, Recently Updated apps, Top 25 Free Apps, Top 25 Paid Apps, and Top 25 Themes. These lists update every 24 hours, and are based on a combination of number of downloads and user ratings.
  
• Scan a Barcode – point the camera of your BlackBerry smartphone at a QR barcode and the details page for the app you’re scanning pop right up! New menu option allows opening the details page simply by pointing the camera of your BlackBerry smartphone at a QR barcode.
  
• Billing options - Until now, the only way to pay for BlackBerry applications was to use a PayPal account. Now in addition, users can use credit card or carrier billing.
  
• Blackberry ID - device-independent user identification allows to easily download and purchase apps, then manage them in My World.

Blackberry ID is network and device independent, “so you can always have the apps you need, when you need them!”

3 Reached Half Million customers

Mobile network 3 has hit the milestone of more than 500,000 customers subscribing to its voice and data services.

Part of the Hutchison Whampoa group, 3 entered the Irish mobile services market in 2005. The business is continuing to grow. Company is planning to open 28 new stores around the country, and create 90 new jobs. 3 will have 50 3Stores nationwide by the end of 2010. Hutchison Whampoa group has 26.8 million customers worldwide and is present in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Macau, Norway, Sweden and the UK.

3 Reached Half Million customers

Mobile network 3 has hit the milestone of more than 500,000 customers subscribing to its voice and data services.