 | O2
customers get active with mobile data
Number of customers actively using multimedia and
GPRS services continued to accelerate over the last two months
1 July 2003
The number of customers actively using multimedia
messaging services (MMS), Java games and GPRS services continued
to accelerate over the last two months mmO2 revealed today. Growth
in new mobile data services and plans to deliver significant customer
benefits through enhanced market segmentation were detailed by
mmO2 at a presentation today to city analysts and the media.
mmO2 almost doubled the number of MMS active users
to more than 180,000 and saw the number of Java games purchased
to date increase from 278,000 to more than half a million since
its last reported figures at the end of March 2003. In the same
period, active GPRS users jumped by 120,000 to 643,000 as more
customers took up O2's Blackberry 'email on the move' solution,
with 27, 000 units sold to date, and sales of the xda from O2
grew to 64,000.
Launched on 2 June 2003, O2 Active has gained more
than 60,000 active users and now around 580,000 customers have
compatible handsets. O2 Active is an easy to use service, offering
ringtones, MMS, games, music, video, information and pictures
through a colour icon driven menu.
The success of these services and the continuation
of the explosive growth in text messaging have been further boosted
by the company's sponsorship of Big Brother 4 and other events.
mmO2 carried around 2.2 billion text messages during April and
May and UK customers alone sent around one billion SMS's in the
same period.
In addition, mmO2 made a number of other key announcements
today in the fast growing mobile data market. These include:
- Plans for the commercial launch of wLAN in the UK and extended service offerings in Germany and Ireland. The company aims to offer access to around 1,000 sites across Europe by the end of this year supported by international roaming through a common O2 interface.
- Results from its recent customer trials of video over mobile and music over mobile. mmO2 found that breaking news was the most popular video service and Avril Lavigne topped the music chart.
- The introduction later this year of version two of the xda from O2 - a combined colour PDA and mobile handset
- A group-wide agreement with America Online to bring AOL's popular instant messaging to O2 customers across Europe.
Peter Erskine, chief executive of mmO2, said: "The mobile data day is all about providing a greater depth of understanding of the activities that will contribute to our target of achieving 25% of revenues from data by the end of 2004. We will provide an insight into how mmO2 will continue with its strategy of growing new mobile data customer propositions and maintaining our lead in SMS and online services, while keeping strong financial discipline."
O2
|  |  |
| |  |
