Vodafone product manager says decision not “Anti-Blackberry”
Visto, the mobile email rival to Blackberry, is celebrating the news that it has won a global contract with Vodafone to provide its Mobile5 with ConstantSync push email platform for the delivery of push email to mobile handsets.
Visto, which is in legal dispute with competitor Seven about alleged patent infringements, won the contract following full assessment of competitors, according to Paul Bates, Head of Business Messaging & Applications at Vodafone Group. Vodafone already sells Blackberry’s handsets and corporate solutions, but has added Visto to provide email access to other, non-Blackberry mobile devices.
Bates said that the decision to go with Visto followed an “extensive evaluation from a technical and commercial perspective”.
Visto’s ability to offer its solution as a white label, brand-able service was crucial in the decision, Bates said.
“On balance Visto was in the place we wanted to be for a true push experience,’ he said. “We are looking to provide a Vodafone branded customised solution, really integrated with other services. It’s about managed services and real mobile applications, with control of the relay and service — offering service differentiation over the way RIM controls and manages services for all its operators.”
Asked if Vodafone also considered Blackberry’s Built-In or Connect solutions, Bates said there had been some customer interest in Built-In from customers, but said that the Visto decision is not an “anti-RIM” decision. “There’s definitely clear space for both solutions in the market,” he said.
He added that the current spate of litigation in the mobile push email market was not of great concern to the operator.
Vodafone will manage the NOC for the service within its networks, and will offer the service as an ISP service to SoHo customers, as a work group solution for a small team or as a full enterprise solution.
Pricing will be on a flat rate, per user basis, and the operator will also produce white papers on the security functionality of the service.
Vodafone says the service will be launched first in Germany, Italy, Greece, and within its SFR and Elisa subsidiaries. Other territories will join in at later dates. During the launch phase handsets that will support the service will be the Vodafone v1620, Motorola MPx220, the Nokia 6630 and the Spny Ericsson P910i. Other devices will be available in the coming months, the operator said. Visto Mobile is compatible with the following operating systems and platofmrs: Symbian, Palm, Microsoft Windows Mobile, J2ME MIDP 2.0, IMAP4 and SyncML.
One point of interest is that Vodafone is initially marketing the service at business users. Visto has been talking recently about making push email a mass market feature so keep your eyes peeled for further news on that front.
RIM’s non-Blackberry device support
Below is a list of European carriers that have announced BlackBerry Connect or Built In availability. (All available devices are Connect except for Siemens SK65)
T-Mobile Germany, Netherlands and Austria – MDA2 and MDA3, Siemens SK65, Nokia 6820, Sony Ericsson P910i
T-Mobile UK – MDA
O2 UK and Germany – XDA, Nokia 6820, Siemens SK65
Telefonica Spain – Nokia 6820 and SK65
BT Mobile UK – SK65