On 1 September, Vodafone UK will launch �Your Price Plan’ and �Your Extras’, a new contract offering providing customers with more value and choice than ever before.

Not only is Vodafone UK offering better value on the number of inclusive texts, minutes and extras across its price plans, but it is also giving customers further ways to combine them than any other network, meaning they get more options than any other tariff on the market.

Better Value
Your Price Plan offers great value with new deals across a variety of price points. Your Extras give a variety of options to choose from, including texts and minutes, line rental discounts and six months of the best mobile TV content around – providing significant savings to customers. For example, for just ВЈ35 per month Vodafone customers on an 18-month contract could now combine a number of extras to get the following:

- 750 minutes and 250 texts
- 500 minutes and 1000 texts
- 500 minutes, 500 texts and 6 months free mobile TV

Wider Choice
Nobody likes to be put in a box, and with Your Price Plan, Vodafone contract customers have greater choice to select a package that fits their needs – more fine tailoring than off the peg. But to ensure this doesn’t mean added complexity for customers, Vodafone has trained over 4,000 staff on the new price plan to help customers make the decision that is best for them.

“If you’re cost conscious, make both calls and texts and want to catch up on all the latest music and entertainment, then we would advise taking out a £25 price plan with an eighteen month contract,” says Vodafone UK’s Director of Consumer, Tim Yates.

“With our recommended Your Extras, you would get 150 free minutes plus Stop the Clock minutes on-top, meaning you could talk for up to 60 minutes per call at evenings and weekends and only ever pay for three. You would also get 100 inclusive texts and could choose a six month free Sky Music and Entertainment Mobile TV Pack.”

Tim Yates, added “With Your Price Plan and Your Extras Vodafone customers will get the best choice of any contract offering on the market. We’ve paid close attention to what contract customers want and what the market is currently offering. We believe we’ve come back with something that gives value to every customer – in the way they want it. There really couldn’t be a better time to be a Vodafone contract customer.”

Your Price Plan and Your Extras follow other recent value initiatives for Vodafone customers including Vodafone Free Weekends where pay as you talk customers who spend ВЈ5.00 during the week get free calls to any UK network and texts all weekend, while those who spend ВЈ2.50 receive free texts for the whole weekend.

The Nokia N80 Internet Edition connects you to your on-line life.

Nokia today announced a way for internet users to interact with some of the web’s favorite services while they are away from their PC’s, in a pocketable, easy to use device. Nokia N80 Internet Edition brings together wireless LAN (WLAN), a rubust browser, support for internet calls, a 3-megapixel camera, and quadband GSM WCDMA coverage along with an easy to use WLAN wizard (to make connecting to the internet easy), and a host of other internet services not previously installed together on Nokia devices.

The Nokia N80 Internet Edition comes out of the box ready to create, connect, consume and interact with some of the internet’s most popular services. Use Yahoo! Search in the Mobile Search application to conveniently search for and find most anything on the web, and use the Mini Map functionality of the internet browser to enjoy the pages you find. Browse through thousands of items at Amazon.com, or scroll though a book with Amazon’s MobiPocket Reader. You can also share your moments online – snap a photo and send it directly from your device to your Flickr site for your friends and family to enjoy too. Connect to the Yahoo! community using the Yahoo! Go for Mobile application. Be it shopping with Amazon, photo sharing on Flickr or simply searching for a restaurant with Mobile Search, the Nokia N80 Internet Edition can provide you convenient internet access when you are away from your PC.

“Mobilizing the internet is a major strategic focus for Nokia and I’m excited to see how people can participate on the internet using the Nokia N80 Internet Edition,” said Ralph Eric Kunz, vice president, Multimedia, Nokia. “The internet has evolved from static web pages to communities and people sharing experiences. I believe it will be multimedia computers, such as the Nokia N80 Internet Edition, that will be primary devices for people to participate in this phenomenon, in addition to PCs.”

The Nokia N80 Internet Edition comes loaded with Nokia’s new Download! client. Clicking on the Download! folder allows you to see what new applications are available for your multimedia computer, as well as keeping other selected applications current. The fully featured Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map makes browsing the internet easy and you view the web pages just the same way that PC web browsers display web pages.

If you do not know where to go to chill out for the evening, no problem, just use the local search function in the Mobile Search application, now conviently located on main menu, and find a cool bar, have the device show it on a map, or make one click to call it directly. You can even store address and telephone number directly to your contacts to find the place again next time.

Making an Internet call with the Nokia N80 Internet Edition is as easy as making a regular voice call only the call is carried over WLAN. The VoIP framework (based on the SIP protocol) is integrated into the Nokia user interface, and the Nokia N80 Internet Edition is allows for downloading compatible third party internet call applications. The wireless LAN wizard will help you locate and set up a WLAN connection, when you are close to a WLAN, either at home or a public hotspot.

The Nokia N80 Internet Edition comes in two stylish colors, patina bronze and pearl black, and is expected to be available from mid-September 2006.

All of the features and services listed above are dependent on the network, supported digital content formats, the compatibility of other devices and applications, and are only avaialbe in certain markets. Please refer to the user guide for more detailed information

3G and beyond: New test bed for network technologies, solutions and services, and competence development for professionals and students

Nokia announces the opening of the new Nokia Technology Centre in Bandung, Indonesia, extending Nokia’′s presence in the country. The Nokia Technology Centre will serve as a test bed and a competence development Centre to increase the understanding of GSM, WCDMA 3G, and future mobile network technologies and services in Indonesia.

“The new Nokia Technology Centre demonstrates Nokia’s commitment to facilitate the growth of the networks and services business in Indonesia – and the professional growth of both our staff and other telecommunications professionals – that will ultimately translate into enhanced services that benefit our customers and end-users,” explains Marko Kytöharju, Country Director, Networks, Indonesia, Nokia.

Each year, the Centre will provide hands-on training to over 400 professionals across the telecommunications industry. The training covers Nokia’s end-to-end offerings that enable operators and services providers to maximize their return on investment on their infrastructure and resources. Nokia will share its know-how in network technologies, solutions and services, including consulting and integration, managed services, software, customer care, training, and delivery services. For instance, Nokia’s managed services can help operators to maximize capital efficiency and minimize operating expenses.

“The new Nokia Technology Centre will also conduct joint educational and industry development programs. Today, the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) paves the way with Nokia to develop a series of hands-on training, lectures, and scholarships. These will potentially benefit many tertiary students each year, and inspire them towards an education or career in the telecommunications industry.

“Nokia’s cooperation with technology bigwigs and local universities is one way for Nokia to give back to the community that has supported our growth in this market,” Kytöharju continues. “In addition to demonstrating its commitment to Indonesia by contributing to the development of the nation’s telecommunications industry, Nokia also hopes that the Centre will help cultivate skills and competences in network technologies and services,” Kytöharju concludes.