We covered the announcement from Bebo and Telecom New Zealand last month about their upcoming partnership, through the Bebo Open Mobile program. Today Vodafone NZ has announced that it too is joinging the program, and has launched the Bebo Open Mobile Messaging service it’s New Zealand customers
What does Open Mobile Messaging do?
The service allows Vodafone New Zealand customers to control their Bebo page from their mobile, through SMS. Using a short code (2802), users can recieve alerts, update their profiles, add pictures, and use the social networking features of Bebo.
The Open Mobile Program has been doing good business globally. Vodafone is the second NZ carrier to join the program, after Telcom. All the major Canadian MNO’s are on board, along with 3 in Ireland and O2 in the UK. Bebo claimed during March that it’s mobile page views have grown by 44%, and SMS traffic by 13%, each month since the program launched.
Vodafone has also finally released pricing details for the service. Receiving SMS updates is free, and updating your page costs 20c per text.
From the release:
Sean Kane, Global Head of Mobile, Bebo, says: “Text messaging is a primary lifeline for everyone and everything that Bebo users want to connect with on their phones. Bebo Open Mobile Messaging drives great value for operators and users worldwide as it unites ubiquitous text messaging with the Bebo community and the content they care about.”
Vodafone’s Head of Media & Entertainment, Charlie Clementson, says: “The social value of staying in touch with your friends via your community wherever you go is a real win for our customers”
What we think?
First, the Open Mobile program is obviously a tightly-run ship. That’s a lot of high-tier carrier co-operation to acquire in two months. Second, carriers really are desperate to ride the social networking wave and bring that same level of use to mobile. Third, SMS once again proves it is the most reliable, ubiquitous service available on mobile.
Apart from that, the pricing plan introduced by Vodafone is a bit off. I know that Australia and New Zealand are having problems with mobile prices, but when you’ve got social networks like Twitter working on getting free SMS for it’s users, 20c suddenly doesn’t look like all that great a deal. If Vodafone wants it’s mobile social networkers to use Bebo over mobile as much as they would on-line, then that’s something they’re going to have to address.
