O'Brien battles Moriarty

Longtime Mobile News readers may remember it being set up a decade ago under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Moriarty – a high court judge – to investigate the issuing of the country’s second 3G licence to Esat Digifone (now O2 Ireland).

A key player has been former Esat chairman Denis O’Brien, who came under the spotlight when allegations were made that he had bribed then communications minister Michael Lowry– a charge O’Brien emphatically denies.

Now O’Brien is attempting to ensure that any report published by Justice Moriarty contains only findings that meet the highest standard of proof, rather than the ‘reasoned opinion’ standard employed in Moriarty’s earlier report on the late Irish premier, Charles Haughey.

A further public sitting of the Moriarty tribunal is anticipated shortly for the matter to be debated.

Should O’Brien not get his way this time, he could appeal to the Dublin High Court, which would delay publication of the report.

ComReg reveals radio plan update

Irish telecoms regulator ComReg has published a revised version of its Radio Frequency Plan for Ireland, incorporating changes to the radio frequency allocations that have been made at both national and international level.

The plan details the types of radio services permitted for operation in Ireland and is a primary source of information for consumers, licensees, manufacturers and operators.
It can be viewed at www.comreg.ie.

Tesco gears up for MVNO launch

The countdown has begun for the launch of Tesco Mobile in Ireland next month, the country’s first official MVNO.

Tesco has reached an agreement to piggyback on the O2 network and has been allocated the 089 dialling code for its SIM cards.

It plans a major push for the Christmas market through all 86 stores.

Tesco UK head of brand marketing Tom Britten will head up the operation.

Growth peaks for premium rate

Fixed and mobile premium rate revenues have peaked in Ireland, according to the premium rate telecoms regulator.

In its annual report, RegTel said the industry had generated €94 million (£65.5 million), broadly in line with the previous year.

About 66 per cent was spent on premium SMS, with the remainder on fixed-line calls.

RegTel noted growth in the use of premium rate fixed-line to make international calls.

Earlier this year the regulator ran STOP – an information campaign on how to unsubscribe from mobile subscription-based services – on both TV and radio.

Ninety-four per cent of complaints received by RegTel relate to such services.

Overall, 112 million fixed-line and SMS premium rate calls were made to services including ringtones, logos, wallpapers, competitions, information, tarot and horoscope services.

“Making people aware of how subscription services operate, and how to unsubscribe from unwanted services, is a priority for RegTel,” said regulator Pat Breen.

A revised industry code of practice is due by the end of the year.

RTÉ boosts content on mobile platforms

National broadcaster RTÉ has announced that more than three per cent of visitors access content on its web portal via mobile.

RTÉ head of publishing Muirne Laffan announced the figures, along with news of an infrastructure upgrade that will permit more multimedia content and live video streaming. 3 Ireland recently reached an agreement with the broadcaster to stream live streamed news reports and bulletins on its ‘My 3’ portal.

O₂ Ireland signs to Yahoo! OneSearch

The recent agreement between O2 parent Telefónica and web portal Yahoo! will mean O₂’s 1.6 million Irish customers can access the Yahoo! OneSearch internet search engine from O₂’s mobile web platform.

The agreement is part of a global deal covering 15 countries across Europe and Latin America, with potential to reach more than 100 million consumers worldwide.

O₂ Ireland CEO Danuta Gray commented: “This is an example of the enormous benefit of being part of a global organisation. As we move from being a pure mobile operator to a multimedia company, leading edge partners such as Yahoo! are essential to help deliver a great internet experience to our customers.”

Meanwhile, 200 O₂ customers are taking part in a trial of ‘Fitfone’, claimed to be a unique application to measure and monitor the fitness levels of the user. GPS technology uses additional web-based software incorporates medical algorithms to measure, record and analyse the time and energy they use and the distance they travel.

Triallists have been supplied a Nokia 6110 Navigator handset and data is sent by SMS to a secure website. O₂ Ireland head of new business at Colm Codd said: “Fitfone combines the latest modern technologies and scientific techniques, and demonstrates the significant growth potential for consumer mobile applications and services, beyond traditional voice and SMS.”