Jon Mulholland - Filed under 'orange'

Can a telco that doesn't offer unlimited mobile data be taken seriously?

Would you sign up to a mobile telco that didn't offer unlmtd mobile data? Let @thefeedblog (Orange UK) know. Please Retweet!

via twitter.com

I know I'm going on about this a bit, but in this day and age I really can't believe that Orange are the only UK mobile operator that doesn't offer an unlimited mobile data package! According to their online store "500mb anytime internet browsing" is currently the best web tariff you can purchase.

I want to take Orange seriously, I really do. I'm genuinely impressed by their recent social media efforts. I love the HTC Hero and I'm very tempted to get one - but I can't imagine signing up for a tariff that didn't include unlimited data access. The web is just too big a part of my mobile life to risk it.

For a device like the HTC Hero this really is a no brainer - its built to integrate with the web! 500mb might sound like a lot but when you add together push Gmail & GCal, Google Talk, YouTube uploads, Flickr uploads, Twitter, Facebook, Flash Website support (and hopefully in the future Spotify for mobile) that allowance really won't go far.

So come on Orange - give unlimited mobile data access some thought. The rumor is that you're looking to become THE leading Android operator. There are some great Android devices in the pipeline from SonyEricsson and Motorola but you'll need more than just these to win over mobile geeks!

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Filed under // mobiledata orange twitter

This is the power of good social media...

12 hours ago I would not have written this post... actually if you told me I'd be writing this six hours ago I'd have been skeptical.

I have not been a fan of the UK mobile operator Orange for quite a few years now. Back when I was last a customer they had some decent-ish handsets for the time (remember the Orange SPV range?) but they were expensive, they seemed slow to roll out their 3G network, and their data plans were downright confusing. Over time the Orange device strategy just seemed to disappear of a cliff - I couldn't tell you the last time they had a decent handset to sell, they just didn't seem to be in the game. To summarize; they're not the kind of a network a mobile geek like me would chose.

But right now, this evening, I've decided I'm prepared to give them a chance. I'm at least going to listen to what they have to say and take a look at what they're doing. And no.. this isn't because they've got the new HTC Hero to sell, it's because of how they've embraced the web as a channel for communicating with me and others out there like me.

Sometime after today's HTC Hero announcement I saw this great video by @conorfromorange pop up in one of my RSS feeds. The highest complement I can give is that it's so good at first I didn't clock on that it was official - even though Conor clearly says so in his introduction.

Later on in the afternoon I did a quick Twitter search to see if there was any news on a UK release date for the Hero; I saw this Tweet which I quickly realised was from Orange's official Twitter feed. This linked me onto to Orange's really pretty good 'The Feed' blog which is nicely written, informative and actually useful to a mobile obsessive type like me. Obviously I subscribed to it straight away.

What Orange have done makes me think of something a friend who works for Yahoo! once said to me about social media; "there's really no secret to building online relationships - its actually the same as any other. It has to be two way, you have to be genuine and you have to be prepared to give something to it." You can see those qualities clearly in what Orange are doing.

This is the power of good social media. It's not just that Orange have got something to say, because after all most companies do, it's that the way they are delivering their message is credible, useful and apparently genuine.

And as I say it's got me prepared to take Orange seriously as a mobile operator once again...

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Filed under // htchero orange socialmedia

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Can a telco that doesn't offer unlimited mobile data be taken seriously?

This is the power of good social media...