Mobile Phones

So it’s no secret that we’re moving back to the US in April. As can be expected, I’m starting to think about all the logistical things that we’ll need when we get there, particularly mobile phones. Right now, Bex and I both have unlocked iPhones. We are prepaid customers with Blau.de, a German MVNO of E-Plus. We spend probably something like a combined €40 a month for prepaid access on our phones. It costs us €0.09 for outgoing calls to…

So it’s a holiday here in Germany, it’s a beautiful day outside and I’m still in my PJs, scrolling through my RSS reader, and two Reuters headlines scream out at me: “Nokia unveils 4 cheap phones” and “Nokia unveils bicycle mobile charger“. Sadly, Reuters doesn’t provide any details, but CNET’s Crave blog does: C1 phone (far left): Two SIM slots, only one line active at a time, six-week standby time (longest by far of any Nokia handset). Built-in LED flashlight!…

Europe’s Information Society: Europe leads the world in mobile phone services with the number of subscriptions in 2008 at 119% of the EU population (up 7 percentage points from 2007), well ahead of the US (87%) and Japan (84%). This is a finding of today’s Commission progress report on the single telecoms market. Despite the economic crisis, the EU’s telecoms sector (worth about 3% of EU GDP) continued to grow in 2008 with revenues estimated at above €300 billion, up…

Financial Mail (South Africa), February 6 2009: Trading looks set to become more difficult in Iran for SA-based emerging markets cellular network operator MTN. The telecommunications group is about to face a spirited new competitor in the Islamic republic in the form of Etisalat. United Arab Emirates-based Etisalat, which claims it has 74m customers, mainly in the Middle East, plans to invest billions of dollars in the next few years building a network to rival Irancell. MTN holds a 49%…

The Estonian parliament (pictured) has just approved a bill to let Estonian citizens vote via their mobile phone. This makes the country the first country in the world to do so, and comes about 20 months after Estonia held its first nation-wide election where the electorate could cast their ballots online. Mobile phone voting, which likely will come via a new secure SIM card to be used in conjunction with the country’s digital ID card system, will take effect in…