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O2 has announced an agreement with Twitter which will allow O2 customers to receive SMS alerts from Twitter for free from August. This joins existing agreements O2 has with Facebook and Bebo, meaning that O2 customers can enjoy free SMS alerts from all three main social networking sites*.
The Twitter deal allows O2 customers to receive tweets from chosen friends, @mentions, and direct messages via SMS. They can also send and reply to tweets by text which will come from their bundle or be charged at the standard network rate**. Customers can already access their Twitter account using their mobile phone and as part of the agreement, Twitter’s mobile site will be heavily promoted on O2 Active.
Social networking over mobile is currently experiencing phenomenal growth. Over a million customers per month now access social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook using O2 Active. This is in addition to the hundreds of thousands of iPhone customers who have downloaded social networking applications. Over 12 million messages from Facebook are received by O2 customers every month.
“We believe that mobile will soon become the most popular way of accessing social networking sites, giving real time access to tweets and status updates wherever you are,” said Antony Douglas, Head of Content at O2. “The agreements we now have in place with Twitter and the other key sites brings this a step closer, making it quick and easy for O2 customers to access their favourite social networks straight from their mobile.”
The agreement with O2 in the UK will form a framework for future agreements between Twitter and Telefónica operations globally.
[*Subject to excessive use policy. Users will be asked to moderate their use of the service if they exceed 600 messages per month. **Text messages cost 10p each out of bundle]
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
