Pick your winners here
It’s a Friday, and not just any Friday. So let’s have a Mobile Europe World Cup Round-Up. Yes, this is your cut out and keep guide to all the PR teams out there battling for supremacy at the World Cup.
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GROUP A: WE’RE HELPING OUT
IMImobile
IMImobile has completed one of the industry’s largest and most challenging multi-territory deployments with MTN across 21 countries. Faced with the immoveable deadline of the FIFA World Cup IMImobile helped Africa’s largest mobile operator launch their new mobile entertainment service MTN Play.
MTN is launching the service across 21 countries and in 6 languages. At the same time, MTN has managed to portray a consistent brand across all of these countries and services so all subscribers experience the same quality of service.
Rating: Potential finalist
Wapple
The tidy mobile website outfit has lent its skills to the 1Goal education charity campaign to develop a mobile web site that will promote the importance of education for all in the fight against world poverty. Look out for some serious device recognition and content handling capabilities, as well as willingness to get stuck in for free.
Rating: Goodwill may take them to the quarters
MaxRoam
MaxRoam has launched a World Cup SIM pack which comes with up to 100 minutes of calls to any EU country for £50. Irish born Director of Product & Innovation at Cubic Telecom, Pat Phelan added, “These rates even apply to our friends in France.”
Rating: Just happy to be there
Unicom
England fans in South Africa will be able to share the euphoria of goals with friends andfamily for free, thanks to telecoms provider Unicom. Unicom is giving calls and texts to and from South Africa free to its mobile phone customers during the World Cup.
Rating: Should see off rival MaxRoam, but further progress unlikely
GROUP B: CAREFUL NOW
Symantec
Many fans visiting South Africa in the coming weeks for FIFA’s 2010 World Cup football extravaganza will be relying on their mobile phones for communication, news and recording their experiences. 2010Netthreat.com, in conjunction with Symantec’s Candid Wüest, has compiled a simple checklist, which fans can use to ensure their mobiles are protected against cybercrime:
Rating: Look secure for the semis
Trafficmaster
Thousands of England Fans, concerned at the potential dangers in South Africa this summer have been flocking to the Trafficmaster web site to check out International Rescue. This new service offers peace of mind for anyone visiting South Africa via a GPS based support service. By downloading a simple application, users can access a ‘soft key’ on a mobile that instantly contacts a 24/7 helpline should they get into difficulties. Uniquely, this sends their GPS co-ordinates to the operator who can then dispatch local security personnel, instantly.
Rating: Let’s hope they’re not required
Telcordia
So, the World Cup starts and there is a lot of concern about the local performance of 3G and WiFi networks as many operators already struggle to supply enough capacity. Operators need to be prepared for what’s to come as users intend to watch games on the go, which will increase network strain and in some cases, create new peak times for data traffic. Telcordia has just announced its Bandwidth Manager solution, which addresses these issues and is essential in reducing network congestion as the demand for mobile broadband continues to surge.
Rating: Huge history in the game. Have they changed enough to get to the final four?
ADC
38 percent of people attending sports events have experienced problems using their mobiles. The World Cup in South Africa draws attention to an issue commonly associated with large gatherings of this kind – the poor service received by end users trying to use mobile devices. Despite music and sports venues often having lucrative contracts with telecommunications operators, there is inadequate wireless infrastructure almost half of the time.
Rating: Long tradition, but a weak warm-up this time
GROUP C: HYPEVILLE
ComScore
“We anticipate that the FIFA World Cup will drive mobile web usage to record levels in Europe.”
Rating: Solid performers, last 16 a minimum requirement
Synchronica
Mobile IM provider predicting a significant surge in the use of IM chat services during the the World Cup, but is cannily refusing to say how much of a surge. Football fans from both emerging and developed regions will use Mobile IM as a handy way to communicate with friends and family and to access online communities such as themed soccer chatrooms.
Rating: Will need to up their game to compete with the big boys
Pyramid Research
A new report Pyramid Research is about to be released, entitled “Mobile TV and the 2010 FIFA World Cup: Scoring Big in Western Europe.” This European Telecom Insider analyses the proliferation of mobile TV in Europe as the 2010 FIFA World Cup approaches. Due to the noteworthy increase in mobile Internet bandwidth across Europe, many Europeans may opt to watch the matches on their mobile handsets, giving operators, broadcasters and handset vendors a stage to display the best of mobile TV and video.
Rating: Optimistic contenders. Out at the group stage
Acision
The 2010 FIFA World Cup provides operators with a perfect opportunity to engage with their subscriber base and increase revenue streams around existing services such as multimedia messaging (MMS), also called picture messaging. “MMS remains an under-utilised messaging channel, despite its enriched experience for the consumer,” says Derek McElhinney, Product Marketing Manager Acision. “For millions, the FIFA World Cup creates the perfect opportunity for capturing unique pictures and video moments and sharing these with friends and family through multimedia messaging.”
Rating: Game plan looks stale. But could yet surprise.
GROUP D IPHONE TIE-INS
Drinksin
Drinksin’s latest Nokia and iPhone applications help you plan where to watch the big games this summer, by leading you directly to pubs showing matches nearby. The applications developed by Drinksin, work anywhere in the UK to bring you bang up-to-date World Cup match information and amazing money saving deals and promotions from pubs and bars across the country.
Rating: They’re only here for De Beers
Paddy Power
Paddy Power has launched a new iPhone web application specifically for customers who wish to access www.paddypower.com with an iPhone or iPod touch. Getting this live before the World Cup should help the many customers who are interested in betting on the tournament in South Africa
Rating: Safe bet for the quarters