[3g-g]

No, don't get your hopes up, it aint in this country! Maxis of Malaysia have hit upon the idea of making off peak video calls free to all 3G users 'till the end of November. Do you think a similar move by the operators here in the UK would boost the uptake of 3G services or is videocalling a dead duck?


Malaysia's Maxis Communications has announced that all Maxis postpaid customers can now make free 3G video calls to their friends and family on 012 and 017 mobile numbers during off-peak hours from now until 30th November 2006. During peak hours, video calls will be charged at the same rate as normal voice calls. Maxis anticipates that completely free video calling in the four month period will expand 3G's increasing penetration in Malaysia.
click here!!!

"We are seeing a healthy uptake on 3G services with people coming on board at an incremental increase of 30% every month. We believe free video calling will further accelerate 3G adoption in Malaysia," said Maxis Head of Products and New Businesses, Dr. Nikolai Dobberstein.

As of end July, Maxis has 256,000 customers with 3G mobile phones in its base, of which 150,000 are active 3G users.

"By removing the cost barrier, Maxis hopes to drive up usage among 3G handset owners in its base and counter the prevalent notion of 3G being expensive. With Maxis' continual low pricing strategy, we are turning that around and proving that Maxis 3G is as affordable as 2G," said Dobberstein.

Overseas video calls remain unchanged by this announcement.

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/18683.php

[3GScottishUser]

02 give free video calls (same cost as voice or deducted from inclusive voice minutes). Orange provide all new 3G customers with 30 mins of free videocalling for their first 2 months. 3 have videocalling minutes included in many of their deals.

Has any of the above made much of an impact?

Dont think so. Which is why Nokia have dumped the forward facing camera off of their newest 3G models (6233/4), BenQ-Siemens have followed suit.

It has taken some time but the handset makers have finally concluded that videocalling is not a feature most customers want to pay for and even 3 who made much of the facility in the early days now officially supply the Nokia 6233 direct.

[Hands0n]

Videocalling is, in my opinioin, at the stage SMS was at the launch of cellular telephony. An application waiting for a use, and it was priced out of all perspective at 60p a pop.

I am not suggesting for a moment that Videocalling will match SMS for popularity or use, but it will grow in use as time goes by if, and only if, the price of use comes down. It is priced off most people's agenda.

I use Videocalling fairly frequently to keep in touch and it works well. It is not a substitute for Voicecalling, merely an adjunct to be used occasionally. But I do think that we'll see some polarisation in the handsets market whereby not all 3G handsets will sport Videocall.

[Ben]

Video calling, off-peak at least, needs to be free until there are enough terminals out there and enough active users to justify a charge.

[3GScottishUser]

Agreed.

Interesting to note that Sky News are now promoting the use of 3G phones to send in videoclips and personal comments. I hav'nt quite figured out how you would do that yet but i am sure there must be some explanation on the Sky News Website.

I can definately see a use for videocalling re the above - more authentic if the broadcasters have a face etc to put to the comments.

[Ben]

The BBC have been accepting messages via videocall for some time now. When the quality improves it'll form a very interesting angle of journalism and rolling news.

[Alio]

Video calling, off-peak at least, needs to be free until there are enough terminals out there and enough active users to justify a charge.

Yep the networks need to offer some much much bigger incentives for video calling to take off into main stream usage.......I don't think anyone I know who has a 3g phone actually uses it for this type of call........shame really coz I think if it was free or very very cheap it would get used!

[Hands0n]

I agree.

The networks don't need to get quite as crazy as giving away Videocalling to make it work. They just need to get the pricing down to more reasonable levels - 50p on net and much more off-net are punative and the effect can be seen.

O2 have the right pricing idea, but it is only a promotion and they are doing away with it afaik. People will grow into using Videocalling as the handset technology spreads. It won't explode into being. After all, SMS was not built in a day!

For my part - I get 50 mins of Videocall bundled in with my Vodafone contract. I do not often use all the 50 mins but I do make use of them regularly and whenever I can. As an example, I have just got off a 12 minute Videocall with my eldest daughter who lives some 60 miles away. We talk (audio) and we text, but the occasional Videocall makes for a big difference, seeing the face adds an entirely different dimension to the call.

I've also Videocalled some of my friends and ex-workmates - it can be quite neat to be able to show live stuff that is of mutual interest. For example, I once took a distant friend of mine for a tour of my "fleet" of [3] motorcycles while he showed me his latest and greatest up-and-over shotgun . This kind of interactivity is impossible on audio only - the video dimension was a big plus to the interaction between us.

I have heard of commercial use being made of Videocalling whereby the object is to interact with a remote specialist. The front line operative using the Video to show the problem to the specialist.

We are probably, with Videocalling, at the same stage as the early years of the Fax machine.

[3g-g]

The networks don't need to get quite as crazy as giving away Videocalling to make it work. They just need to get the pricing down to more reasonable levels - 50p on net and much more off-net are punative and the effect can be seen.


No no no, 50p per min for video calling is cheap! Are none of you aware that the operators are trying to make all that money they spent on 3G licences back, and the only way they can is by making things reeeealy expensive. In fact, it should cost more, we wanted video calling, the networks said so, so lets make it £1per/min!!:rolleyes:

Video the same as voice, nice and simple. Cheaper in the evening, and should count the same as inclusive voice minutes. The networks have nothing to fear about a massive upsurge in video traffic, they don't have enough 3G customers out there yet!