Rating: Cautious welcome from 3 UK and CloudSense
Following the announcement, today [September 5th 2012] that the mobile commerce joint venture (JV) between Everything Everywhere {Orange plus T-Mobile), Telefonica UK (O2) and Vodafone UK has received unconditional clearance from the European Commission, there has been a cautious welcome within the UK’s cellular industry. A Three UK spokesperson revealed that the UK’s fourth mobile network operator was looking forward to receiving its invitation to join in with the other three. The triumvirate describe the impending new entity simply as the ‘Joint Venture’ but GoMobile News has learnt that its codename is Project Oscar.A 3 UK spokesperson told GoMobile News, “We are pleased the EC has taken a thorough look at the proposed m-commerce joint venture.”
“We are still studying the detail but we understand that its investigation has found no significant competition issues.”
” We will continue to monitor developments closely and look forward to the invitation to become a customer of the joint venture on the same terms as all participating UK mobile operators.”
Meanwhile, CloudSense – which is a specialist cloud integrator which has worked with a number of the biggest telecoms operators including O2, sound a cautious note of optimism.
Richard Britton, CloudSense’s md, commented, “The decision by the European Commission to give the green light to Project Oscar is good news for telecom operators, the mobile payments industry and ultimately the consumer. ”
“A common set of protocols that will allow for the use of mobile payments across a range of industries has been in demand for some time now. ”
“With a foundation in place through Project Oscar, banks, merchants, wireless carriers and handset manufacturers should all now be willing to commit to the platform, with the momentum behind mobile payments set to grow as a result.”
“However, one factor crucial to Project Oscar’s success is that the operators can quickly integrate the necessary technology into their back office operations and deliver a seamless mobile experience for customers.
” This will be an essential element in persuading interested retailers and banks to sign up to the new platform. ”
“Before they commit fully, partners will want to be certain that Project Oscar offers the functionality and convenience that will benefit their customers.”
