Aussie Operator Rhetoric Turning To Web On The Go, Walled Gardens Are Out

Operators are coming around to the idea that open access to the internet is the way to get people to use data services… This article from The Age talks about operators being “at war” with each other to get customers, and to do so by promoting the mobile content available on their service. The writer talks to the big four mobile companies in Australia (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Three) and all the rhetoric is about people wanting to access the internet on the go: “We see our role really as an ISP on the move” said Helen Tuffy, head of Vodafone Live Australia. The only one to talk in a way that suggested they thought they offered all the things their customer wants was the spokesperson from Three, which offers special data deals with a lot of big internet brands like Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) and Skype. “I can’t imagine anyone who hasn’t heard of those brands. It really is about using those familiar internet services and us not having to educate [consumers],” the spokeswoman says, although people can access the full web through the X-series service. “Over the last 12 months we’ve noticed a lot more mobile-friendly sites which are stripped of Flash [software] and other things, and render well on the mobile. Overlay that with handsets that are Window devices and HSDPA and the whole mobile thing has moved a lot.”

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