London Calling » vodafone

The global road warrior’s new BFF the Huawei E587 mobile hotspot

As many London Calling readers know, I travel a lot for work. I used to travel within Europe extensively, and have done the London-Sydney-London route more times than I care to remember. Lately, my role with PeopleBrowsr has seen me in San Francisco on a regular basis. One of the most popular posts on this [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted November 23, 2011 in mifi | Tagged 3G, AT&T, AWS, data roaming, E585, E586, Huawei, Huawei E587, MiFi hotspot, PeopleBrowsr, R201, t-mobile, three, Three MiFi, Tmobile, Tmobile Sonic 4G mobile hotspot, Tmobile USA, UMTS.4G, vodafone | Comments (4)

London 2012 Olympics O2 sponsor deal is no different from previous games

I read with interest the piece in the Telegraph by Katherine Rushton titled London 2012 Olympics: chaos for mobile phones and the comments underneath the piece from outraged Londoners. For those of us for which this is our first taste of an Olympics in our home town or country, some of the antics such as [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted November 14, 2011 in mobile, olympics | Tagged bt, facebook, Katherine Rushton, LOCOG, London 2012, London 2012 Olympics: chaos for mobile phones, o2, olympics, optus, sydney 2000, Sydney Olympics, telstra, twitter, Visa, vodafone | Comments (1)

I really had high hopes for the BlackBerry Bold 9900. TWO replacement phones later I am not so sure

[UPDATE] I have managed to get the phone back to the brand new state via the BlackBerry desktop manager (the first phone was completely dead). The Vodafone team told me that there is a known issue with the Vodafone Bold 9900 version and they are trying to provide an over the air (OTA) fix, but [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted August 26, 2011 in blackberry, mobile | Tagged 517 errror, blackberry, blackberry 517, blackberry 9900, blackberry 9900 review, blackberry 9900 vodafone review, blackberry bold, blackberry bold 9900, blackberry bold 9900 issues, blackberry bold 9900 review, blackberry bold jvm 517 crash, blackberry crash, blackberry umts bands, bold, bold 9900, jvm 517, jvm error, JVM Error 517, vodafone, vodafone blackberry 9900, vodafone bold 9900, vodafone uk | Comments (0)

PeopleBrowsr Names Andrew Grill as the UK CEO

Strategic Executive Joins San Francisco Based High-Tech Start Up London, England (June 7, 2011) – PeopleBrowsr, the high-tech social analytics and engagement company, has appointed Andrew Grill as CEO of UK operations. Grill joins PeopleBrowsr from Visible Technologies, where he was Head of International Client Strategy. Well-known amongst digital strategists and social media agencies, Grill [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted June 7, 2011 in social media | Tagged 1000 days of twitter data, @andrewgrill, andrew grill, collective intelligence, Fox, Honda, Jodee Rich, Kodak, People Browser, People Browsr, Peoplebrowser, PeopleBrowsr, PeopleBrowsr API, PeopleBrowsr Labs, PeopleBrowsr UK CEO, research.ly, researchly, san francisco startup, SAP, social media, social media command center, social media command centre, twitter api, twitter firehose, twitter UK, visible technologies, vodafone, Westfield | Comments (3)

Best practice for social media in a crisis. Case study: Vodafone UK

Last March, a major Vodafone outage in the UK caused by a break-in by thieves at their Basingstoke facility highlighted how social media can and should be used in a crisis. I am a loyal Vodafone customer (@vodafoneUK would probably call me an honorary Ambassador), so while the outage was annoying, I am not looking to leave [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted March 1, 2011 in crisis management, social media | Tagged @vodafoneUK, basingstoke, Basingstoke break-in, basingstoke facility, basingstoke issues, crisis management, crisis management case study, crisis update, euro star, Eurostar, eurostar twitter, Gatwick airport, gatwick airport closed, gatwick airport twitter, gatwick snow, gatwick twiter updates, gatwick twitter, LGW, social media crisis, social media.crisis management, twitter crisis management, twitter tax, VF UK, VFUK, vodafone, vodafone basingstoke vodafone break-in, vodafone best practice, vodafone break-in, vodafone breakin, vodafone crisis, Vodfone, war room | Comments (8)

Mobile internet growth strong in the UK says Vodafone

Vodafone has declared Britain the “most digitally advanced” country in Europe according to an article in the Telegraph. Vittorio Colao, chief executive, said Britain’s “digital citizens” are much more up to date with the latest technology than mainland Europeans. Vodafone said 70pc of new customers signing up for a contract in the UK demand a [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted February 4, 2011 in mobile internet | Tagged daily telegraoh, facebook, foursquare, infinite, mobile broadband, mobile social, mobile social telstra, myspace, networking, one plan, rupert neate, social networks, telegraph, three, twitter, Vittorio Colao, vodafone | Comments (1)

How to avoid paying data roaming charges on your next overseas trip part 1 – before you go [UPDATED]

[UPDATED November 2011 with E587 details] These tips were featured in the Wired UK September magazine on page 82. Click the image for a larger view. I’ve heard so many horror stories about high data roaming charges from friends and colleagues over the years. This has always surprised me because I’ve managed to keep my [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted January 1, 2011 in featured, mobile broadband, roaming | Tagged 3, 3 mifi, 3G in London, 3MiFi, All Day PA, allday PA, AT&T, AT&T mobile internet, AT&T plans, AT&T prepaid, bis roaming, blackberry bis roaming, blackberry roaming, blackberry roaming tips, blackberry wifi roaming, data roaming, data roaming tips, data SIM, dongle, expansys, handet unlocking, handset unlocking, high data roaming costs, international travel secrets, international traveller secrets, intrnational traveller tips, iPad, ipad data overseas, ipad roaming, ipad roaming in London, iphone, locked handset, Martin Sauter, MiFi, mifi roaming, mobile broadband, mobile inernet, mobile internet overseas, Nokia X3-02, prepaid wireless internet access, prepay mobile internet, roaming, roaming in London, roaming in the UK, sectet travel tips, top tip broadband abroad, top travel tips, travel tips, travelling to the UK, tripit, truphone, truphone charges, truphone data, truphone review, truphone SIM, truphone tips, unlock, visiting London, vodafone, vodafone data roaming, vodafone passport, Vodafone Top up and Go, WiFi alternatives, Wired, Wired magazine, Wired UK, wireless moves, wirelessmoves, world traveller | Comments (29)

How to avoid paying data roaming charges on your next overseas trip part 2 – while you are there [UPDATED]

This posts follows on from part 1, titled “How to avoid paying data roaming charges on your next overseas trip part 1 – before you go” and has been updated in August 2011 to reflect pricing changes and more tips from my travels. Now you have your unlocked phone, cheap 2nd phone, local SIM card [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted January 1, 2011 in mobile broadband, roaming | Tagged 3, 3 mifi, 3G in London, 3MiFi, All Day PA, allday PA, AT&T, AT&T mobile internet, AT&T plans, AT&T prepaid, blackberry roaming, data roaming, data SIM, dongle, ebtropay, expansys, handet unlocking, handset unlocking, international travel secrets, international traveller secrets, intrnational traveller tips, iPad, ipad data overseas, ipad roaming, ipad roaming in London, iphone, locked handset, Martin Sauter, MiFi, mobile broadband, mobile inernet, mobile internet overseas, prepaid wireless internet access, prepay mobile internet, roaming, roaming in London, roaming in the UK, sectet travel tips, top tip broadband abroad, top travel tips, travel tips, travelling to the UK, tripit, truphone, truphone SIM, unlock, Virtual Visa, visiting London, vodafone, vodafone data roaming, vodafone passport, Vodafone Top up and Go, WiFi alternatives, wireless moves, wirelessmoves, world traveller | Comments (7)

What could destroy Twitter? Great customer service

Twitter should not be seen as a problem for companies, instead it could be the perfect solution, but only if we move from hearing to actually listening. Until now, we may have thought it was just ourselves that had a bad experience with companies, as everyone else receives great customer service from their [insert any [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted November 3, 2010 in social media | Tagged ad age, adage, bt, ceo, chief executive, complaits, customer complaints, customer service, customer service issues, destroy twitter, dim bulb, great customer service, hearing, Jonathan Salem Baskin, Listening, newspaper, ombudsman, PR, product development, product feedback, self publishing, social intelligence, TIO, twitter, twitter tax, vodafone | Comments (4)

Do we need influencers or advocates?

Good question. Almost daily I am asked by clients to “find us the influencers” using social media monitoring. However by focusing on those who we deem to be influential are we missing a trick with those who are already advocates for our brand. Michael Brito, Vice President of Social Media, for Edelman Digital and 3 [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted November 1, 2010 in influence, social media | Tagged @vodafoneUK, advocate, advocates, celebrities, Edelman, facebook, influencers, innfluencer, Michael Briro, social intelligence, social media, social media monitoring, social media today, sure signal, suresignal, trust barometer, twitter, vodafone | Comments (6)

The RapLeaf backlash proves consumers still do not trust advertisers with their data

Update: 20 November 2010: Over 3 weeks have passed since I started the $100 RapLeaf experiment – still no word from Rapleaf….and don’t expect to hear from them. Over the last few days, there has been a lot of discussion about a new service called RapLeaf. I first came across the service some months ago [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted October 26, 2010 in privacy, Social Intelligence | Tagged direct mail, firehose, lifestream, mailshot, marketing, online, permission, preference, privacy, rap leaf, RapLeaf, RapLeaf experiment, relevance, security, social itelligence, social media, The $100 RapLeaf experiment, The White Company, tracking, vodafone | Comments (1)

Getting started with twitter – a guide for business

While in Australia in July I had the opportunity to present to a room full of people who had never used twitter. I was also able to sign them up in real time and introduce them to a new medium. This was incredibly humbling as it allowed me to peek into the minds of those [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted October 13, 2010 in social media | Tagged australia, business, corporate, corporate tweeting, Eurostar, getting started with twitter, hotmail, twitter, twitter for business, vodafone | Comments (9)

Do it yourself social media monitoring – not for the faint hearted or the IT department

For the second time in as many months, a potential client has informed me that “the internal IT team are developing and evaluating their own home-grown social media monitoring platform”. This either points to the fact that the entire social media monitoring industry has failed, or the IT departments think they can build a better/faster/cheaper [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted October 10, 2010 in social media | Tagged @andrewgrill, actionable insight, adtech, automated sentiment, coverage, crorporate, data capture, diy, do it yourself, facebook, indoor coverage, insight, iphone, market research, orange, sentiment, Shiva Rajarman, social media, social media monitoring, twitter, twitter.facebook, visible intelligence, visible technologies, vodafone, workflow | Comments (22)

MIPTV in Cannes April 2010 the place to be this year #miptv

I’ve just seen the details for this year’s MIPTV to be held in Cannes April 12 – 16th. From the conference agenda – where else would you find Shine Group’s Elisabeth Murdoch and Joanna Shields, News Corp’s Jonathan Miller, Sky’s Jeremy Darroch to name just a few in the same room. MIP Digital kicks off [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted March 8, 2010 in conference | Tagged aol, bbc, bt, cannes, Channel 4, conference, digital emmy, Elisabeth Murdoch, emmy, facebook, France Télévision Interactive, Hulu, Intel, ITV Marvel Entertainment and RTL Group, Jeremy Darroch, Joanna Shields, Jonathan Miller, microsoft, mipdigital, miptv, MTV, murdoch, news corporation, Nokia, Paramount Digital Entertainment, shine group, sky, Starz Media, The Walt Disney Company, vodafone, Warner Bros, youtube | Comments (0)

Last carnival of the mobilists for the decade #204

I have the pleasure of rounding out 2009 with the final Carnival of the Mobilists for the year – and for the decade! When I think back to where I was and what I was doing 10 years ago in 1999, and where I am in the world now – it has been an amazing [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted December 15, 2009 in mobile | Tagged @cotmobilists, Ajit Jaokar, carnival, cotm, Dr Jim Taylor, mobile, mobile advertising, mobile marketing, mobile social networking, mobilists, msearchgroove, orange, Orange On, peggy salz, Raj Singh, Rudy de Waele, social networking, Thibaut Rouffineau, Tomi Ahonen, vodafone, vodafone 360, Volker Hirsch | Comments (6)

First look at new Vodafone 360 social media initiative & new apps #vf360

Today Vodafone announced their new Vodafone 360 initiative #vf360 to raise the stakes in the mobile social networking and app store battle between operators. Designed as a major refresh of their Vodafone Live! initiative, Vodafone 360 aims to go beyond a simple web portal and instead link Vodafone customers with their favourite mobile applications and [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted September 24, 2009 in social media, vodafone | Tagged 118 118, 118118, ESPN soccernet, facebook, friends, KGB, lbs, location, maps, photos, social media, social networking, Timeout, Timeout film, Tube Exists, twitter, vf360, vodafone, vodafone 360, vodafone facebook, Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes, Vodafone shop, vodafone social media, vodafone social networking, vodafone twitter | Comments (14)

Mobile web take up across Europe up 4% on last year says Forrester

According to a report in New Media Age, mobile internet usage has grown by 4% in Europe. According to the Forrester report, some 24% of Europeans regularly access the internet on their mobile phones. The research found mobile internet use increased over the past year, from 20%, and found the growth in take up increased [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted May 26, 2009 in mobile internet | Tagged 3G, 4% mobile web growth, apple, barriers to growth, browsing, data roaming, Forrester, Forrester resrearch, hsdpa, iphone, mobile advertising, mobile internet pricing, mobile web, New Media Age, nma, sponsored informaton, Thomas Husson, unlimited data, vodafone | Comments (1)

Vodafone Completes Roll Out of Mobile Advertising Services to 18 Markets in 18 Months

Interesting release from the team at Vodafone about their mobile advertising roll-out. Some of the services coming up from Vodafone I have been personally involved with and it will be good to see Vodafone roll these out in a range of markets. The full Vodafone release is here. Vodafone announces today that it has fulfilled [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted May 13, 2009 in advertising | Tagged Accor, Adidas, agencies, Allianz, BBVA, Beiersdorf, bmw, branded applications, brands, Burger King, Cadburys, china mobile, cisco, Citroen, Coca Cola, Diageo, Direct Line, Disney, Ford, General Motors, Heineken, hp, Ikea, lba, lbs, location based advertising, Lufthansa, L’Oreal, McDonalds, Mercedes, microsoft, mobile widgets, Mobilkom, Nestle, p&g, Proximus, Rick Fant, sky, Sony, Unilever, VF, Vodacom, vodafone, zonal marketing, zone detection | Comments (3)

The end game: week 19

Introducing a new section here – the end game. Every week I find things that I’d like to share with London Calling readers – things that are too short for a full blog post, but too long for a tweet. Those of you who do blog will know that it takes a lot of spare [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted May 8, 2009 in mobile | Tagged blog, end game, Forbes, friday review, jonathan macdonald, MAMA, mobile advertising, Nokia app store, Nokia N97, Ovi, Ovi app store, post, symbian freak, tweet, twitter, vodafone | Comments (0)

Australian mobile market perspective part 1

Following a week of intensive meetings in Sydney, I thought I would pull my thoughts and observations together on the differences between the UK and Australian mobile markets. For those not familiar with my background, I am Australian and spent 11 years in Sydney working in the telco and online space. I have spoken to [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted May 5, 2009 in australia | Tagged 3, australia, australian mobile market, australian perspective, capped plans, Jennie Bewes, mobile advertising, mobile broadband, online, optus, part 1, telstra, twitter, vodafone | Comments (4)

Would a TV show about advertising work in the UK?

An interesting question! London Calling was probably one of the first UK websites to break the story of the Australian TV series The Gruen Transfer back in July 2008. This is a show “all about advertising”, and quoting from a recent story in Campaign below The show is named after Victor Gruen, the shopping-mall pioneer. The Gruen Transfer [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted March 15, 2009 in advertising | Tagged ABC, abc tv, advertising, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian TV, bbc, BBC Radio 4, bottom line, campaign, Campaign magazine, Eurostar, gruen, gruen transfer, Guy Laurence, Richard Brown, Sir Martin Sorrell, SMH, sydney morning herald, tv show, victor gruen, vodafone, wpp | Comments (2)

Are app stores just another type of walled garden?

With the flurry of announcements about application stores at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona recently, it got me thinking… At what point does an application store from Apple, Nokia or a mobile operator simply become another walled garden? Let’s check for the signs that app stores are really just a new type of walled garden: [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted February 28, 2009 in app store | Tagged android, Android market, ap store, app store, apple, application store, carrier deck, epoceware, google, iphone, mobile applications, Nokia, o2, operator deck, operator portal, orange, Ovi, symbian, vodafone, walled gardens | Comments (4)

GSMA publish results from UK metrics study on mobile advertising

16 February 2009, Barcelona, Spain: The GSMA and a task force comprising Telefónica, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile International and 3, today unveiled the results of a feasibility study examining mobile audience metrics that will enable media and advertising agencies, brands and publishers to deliver better mobile advertising campaigns. The study, part of the GSMA’s Mobile Media [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted February 16, 2009 in mobile | Tagged 3, GSM Association, gsma, mobile advertising, mobile world congress, moibile metrics, MWC, o2, orange, t-mobile, UK mobile operators, vodafone | Comments (0)

Coming to London soon? Grab a Vodafone prepay 1GB modem pack for £39

If you are coming to London (or the UK) for business or pleasure anytime soon, you may want to look at a new deal from Vodafone that provides 1GB of pre-paid mobile broadband AND a USB modem all for £39. What makes this deal different is that the included 1GB of data has a long [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted December 29, 2008 in mobile broadband | Tagged best tourist broadband deal london, Hotel WiFi alternative, hsdpa, london visitor tips, pre-pay mobile internet, prepay broadband, prepay mobile broadband, Starbucks WiFi alternative, topup and go, vist london, vodafone, vodafone 3G, WiFi hotspot | Comments (2)

Mobile advertising debate summary from netimperitive roundtable

I was invited to a very interesting roundtable organised by Netimperitive, sponsored by Reactor Mobile and held at the offices of Blyk on Tuesday in London. The attendee list below is a who’s who of the mobile advertising ecosystem, and as such some very healthy and lively debate ensued. The most common theme of the debate [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted October 1, 2008 in opinion | Tagged blyk, bmw, debate, dunnhumby, Eyes in the till, jonathan macdonald, mobile advertising, net imperitive, netimperitive, ogilvy, reactor mobile, roundtable, turkcell, vodafone, what is stopping mobile | Comments (2)

3 UK to launch “Facebook phone” for Christmas

Marketing Week is reporting that 3 are going to launch a “Facebook phone” for Christmas. Quoting from the report: Mobile operator 3 is launching the first handset to have a “Facebook button” that will take users directly to the site. It will be part of an “ultimate handset”, which will be launched for Christmas. It is [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted August 27, 2008 in mobile | Tagged 3, 3 UK, facebook button, facebook mobile, facebook phone, Mark Allera, marketing week, three, vodafone | Comments (1)

ad funded mobile offering SMSPup launches in Australia with Blyk type model

ComTel Corporation Limited has launched what they claim is Australia’s first advertising subsidised mobile phone service ahead of the anticipated surge in mobile advertising growth down under. The model looks similar to that of Blyk, currently operating in the UK. Update: Jonathan Macdonald (who was instrumental in setting up Blyk in the UK) points out in a comment [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted August 24, 2008 in advertising | Tagged ad-funded mobile service, australia, blyk, comtel corporation, mobile advertising, sms pup, vodafone | Comments (2)

Britain’s top 10 private media companies

The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London has been running a series on the “Britain’s biggest private companies” over the last week or so – covering the top 10 retailers, property, manufacturers, food and drink, transport and leisure, business services, financial services, utilities, and resources companies in Britain. As quoted from the Telegraph website: Many of [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted August 22, 2008 in advertising | Tagged advertising, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, bbh, british airways, daily telegraph, economist, guardian, jordans, media companies, mobile advertising, symbian, telegraph.co.uk, top 10 britain media companies, top 10 list, top ten, uk companies, vodafone | Comments (0)

The impedance effect of the mobile industry

I’m an Engineer from way back, so for me the concept of impedance refers to “the effective resistance to an alternating electric current arising from the combined effect of ohmic resistance and reactance“. Translated – it means things and people getting in the way. As some of you know, I present at conferences and speak [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted July 17, 2008 in opinion | Tagged facebook, impedance, jonathan macdonald, location, mobile, mobile advertising, mobile impedance effect, mobile industry, mobile monday, vodafone | Comments (4)

Seeker Wireless powers innovative new Local Zone product from Vodafone New Zealand

UPDATE:Read a review of the LocalZone service in New Zealand PC World, were Ted Gibbons says “My verdict: the service works seamlessly.” Auckland and London, July 3, 2008 – Seeker Wireless, one of the leading location based service technology companies announced today that its SeekerZone™ solution has been deployed to power the new Local Zone [...]

By Andrew Grill | Posted July 3, 2008 in PR | Tagged fixed mobile substitution, home calling, home zone, homezone, local zone, local zone review, localzone, nz pc world, seeker wireless, ted gibbons, vodafone, vodafone new zealand, vodafone nz | Comments (3)

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