As I mentioned when I joined IntoMobile, occasionally I will be writing commentary or editorial on various areas within Mobile. Today it’s the turn of O2 (NYSE: TEF), with their Broadband offering – yes, those tentative steps towards convergence are occurring apace within the industry (as you might or might not know, O2 bought Be – an ADSL2+ Broadband provider).

I actually ordered O2 Broadband about 2 weeks before Christmas – the idea being that whilst I was off from work (and having a baby!), that it would be less inconvenient – however, I was concerned that being the Xmas period, there were going to be problems with logistics (activation, and equipment delivery) – I need not have worried…..

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In a new section for IntoMobile, I am going to take a regular look at the state of the UK MNO homepages – in terms of what’s on them, their arrangement (user interface), and anything else that I think pertinent.

Web has grown to become it’s own respectable channel for purchasing, services, support, and CRM, so it’s only fair to spend some time taking a look at what’s on offer – if like me you browse mobile shops in the UK to see what is being promo’d, this would be the interweb equivalent!

First of all, we are going to take a look at two of the big boys – O2 (NYSE: TEF) and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD):

O2

O2 has the cool blue colour theme to it’s website – it’s easy on the eye, and the nice contrast of colours makes things stand out. There is always a battle between how much text you have on a page, but I would say the balance is pretty good. Promo-wise, the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N95-8GB is featured, as O2 has just started selling them (Vodafone had the exclusive before). Interesting there is no sign of the iPhone on the homepage, but instead links to O2’s convergence offering of broadband….

Vodafone

Vodafone is (obviously) rocking the red colour scheme, and has adopted a not-dissimilar approach to O2 with the navigation options -horizontal menu banner, and columised categories. The feature phone is the (exclusive) Samsung F700. A Flash Tariff promo is also draws the eyes on page-load.

So that’s two of the big guns in the UK – Vodafone and O2 – their websites are functional (i.e. they serve the need), branded, and relatively clear – but do they do what you expect from them?

With the advent of AJAX-based ‘web 2.0′ pages (I had to toss a cliche in there!), should they be adopting a more interactive, and personalisable experience? Thoughts on a virtual postcard (the comments section) please….!

Ben

All those European-iPhone naysayers are sure to love this little tidbit coming out of the UK.

The Financial Times is reporting that “people familiar with the situation” have indicated that O2 (NYSE: TEF) UK, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s British iPhone partner, has moved something like 190,000 iPhones out its doors in the first two months of iPhone-sales – which is pretty much on track with O2’s goal of selling 200,000 iPhones in the first 8 weeks of sales.

O2 declined to comment on actual sales numbers, but has said that it is “delighted with the response to the iPhone, which has seen unprecedented levels of customer satisfaction,” adding that the Apple iPhone is O2’s hottest-selling mobile phone “by a significant margin.”

The report comes amid speculation that iPhone sales have been sluggish in the UK. But, this new report seems to fall in line with Ben’s assertion that the iPhone has sparked an upturn in O2’s subscriber-count. We all know that the iPhone lacks in the features department, but that fact actually makes a stronger case for the iPhone’s impact on the global mobile phone market.

Well done, O2. Now, just make sure you snag the 3G iPhone contract, ‘kay?
[Via: MacDailyNews]

3 sufffered a setback on Friday (18th Jan) when a judge ruled it could not have access to it’s rivals documents and emails. 3 hoped this access would prove that Vodaone, O2 (NYSE: TEF), Orange, and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) colluded to slow down the process of customers keeping their number when they ported networks….

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2ergo has won a five-year contract with O2 UK to provide mobile marketing services, utilising it’s multisend platform. As the name suggests, the platform will allow O2 (NYSE: TEF) to communicate with it’s end-users, over SMS, MMS, and Email.

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This isn’t a post about how many iPhones have been sold (since people don’t leave that kind of data laying about!), but rather about the knock-on effect in O2 (NYSE: TEF) stores in the UK. It’s been reported that there has been a three-fold (that’s 3x for those of you that like to abbreviate) increase in the number of people coming in to stores since the wonderphone’s release….

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Turns out that O2 (NYSE: TEF)’s claims of the iPhone being the fastest selling device in the carrier’s history wasn’t all marketing-talk. O2’s head honcho recently paid his Jobs-ness a visit in Cupertino, California to presumably give each other their “high-fives” over how well the iPhone is doing in the UK. Despite reports of slow-sales, O2’s Matthew Key told Steve Jobs that O2 should move around 200,000 iPhones by the end of January (we should note that other reports indicate that iPhones have been selling very well).

More importantly (especially for O2), Key told Jobs that the iPhone has spurred incredibly high data-usage rates on the UK network. With 60% of iPhone users clocking more than 25MB of data per month, O2’s data revenue has gone through the roof (compared with 1.8% of O2’s general subscriber base using 25MB of data every month).

With data-revenue the key money-source from O2’s iPhone customers, it’s pretty much a lock that O2 will be picking up the 3G iPhone when it launches next year.

Good for you, O2. Way to meet your iPhone sales goal.

[Via: MocoNews]

If there’s one thing that gets people riled up more than details on how well the iPhone is selling, it’s news that the iPhone is out-selling the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N95 in Europe. The iPhone clearly outsells these handsets in the US, but Europe has been regarded as a reluctant market for the iPhone, given it’s lack of critical hardware features.

We previously mentioned that the iPhone has shown disappointing sales figures in the UK, but it seems that even “laggard” iPhones sales on UK’s O2 (NYSE: TEF) network are still outselling rivals. In fact, all three European markets are reportedly seeing sales of the iPhone outpacing those of its closest, and highly subsidized, competitors – a group that includes the HTC Touch, LG Prada, Nokia N95, and Nokia’s E-Series handsets. Michael Abramsky, an analyst with RBC Capital, is reporting that iPhone sales in the UK, Germany and France have proven strong. He notes “solid European iPhone momentum,” adding that the “iPhone appears to be an early hit with European Smartphone consumers.” Despite selling only 10,000 iPhones on launch day, many of T-Mobile (NYSE: DT)’s 700 German retail stores are reporting 15-20 iPhone sales per week. France’s Orange Wireless, by far the iPhone’s strongest EU market, has reported that approximately 63,000 customers have registered their interest in the iPhone, with reports of some Orange stores running out of iPhone-stock.

Most notably, and sure to draw the ire of Nokia fans (especially those with Nokia N95’s – the author excluded), the iPhone has been outselling the feature-packed Nokia N95 in Europe – which has sold 1 million handsets since its launch in March (not a sluggish seller, to be sure). Keep in mind that the iPhone is still only available in three European markets (at least officially) and has largely been sold on-contract and locked to a particular carrier.

All these factors led Mr. Abramsky to raise his previous forecast for Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) to sell 12.1 million iPhones in 2008 to a new target of 12.5 million iPhones – higher still than Apple’s own goal of 10 million iPhones.

And, this is all before the next-generation iPhone, with 3G in tow, has been officially announced (brain-farts from AT&T CEOs excepted). We have to believe that Apple had forecasted sales performance in this range, and has purposely kept details on the 3G iPhone under tight-wraps in an effort to curb cannibalization of current-generation iPhones.

[Via: Tech Trader Daily]

Now, let’s start this one off with a little disclaimer – the US iPhone launch did not go as smoothly as it could have gone. Don’t get us wrong, the US iPhone launch was in incredible example of Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s logistical prowess, but AT&T (NYSE: T) seemed to have largely underestimated the stress that more than a hundred thousand eager-beaver iPhone customers would place on their network.

In addition O2 (NYSE: TEF)’s own iPhone activation nightmare and dealing with less-than-stellar iPhone sales (to put it nicely), it looks like O2 is having problems keeping its UK iPhone fleet connected to their network. Reports are coming in that O2 iPhone users are having problems acquiring a good signal in the UK, or any signal for that matter – many users are reporting that their iPhones usually present a “No Service,” or an occassional single-bar of wireless reception, status.

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Having witnessed the ridiculous hype and initial demand for the iPhone here in the States, overseas iPhone carriers are going to have a hard time matching the feverish rate of US iPhone sales. But, that didn’t stop O2 (NYSE: TEF) from expecting to sell/activate upwards of 100,000 handsets during the O2 iPhone’s initial launch window.

So, how did O2 fare in their initial iPhone sales? Not as well as they would have liked, apparently. “Slow” would be one way to describe iPhone sales in the UK. The Register reports that initial iPhones sales figures have yet to break 30,000 units – with 26,500 iPhones having been activated in the two weeks since the iPhone’s launch on O2. Carphone Warehouse reported sales of 11,000 units over the launch weekend. And, an unnamed source told AppleInsider that the premier Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) Store in the UK, located on Regent Street, was still working to sell the entirety of their initial iPhone stock – which was shipped to the store prior to the iPhone’s UK launch on November 9. The Regent Street Apple Store has reportedly been selling a laggardly 100 iPhone handsets per day (compare that with the LG Shine that effectively sold more than 10,000 units worldwide for every day it was on the market this past year).

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