Client News
Facebook hops aboard T-Mobile's Bobsled service
By Jon Swartz
USA TODAY
April 19, 2011
Facebook's 500 million-plus customers are now able to make live voice calls via Facebook Chat across the world.
T-Mobile's new Bobsled service lets PC and Macintosh users make calls between Facebook pages, add voice to any Facebook Chat and leave voice messages and wall posts on Facebook.
"We're bringing a voice to social networking," says Brad Duea, senior vice president of T-Mobile USA.
The service is fairly simple. No download or log-in is required. All of the calls are free. (Eventually, the service will be available to iPhone and iPad users.) T-Mobile may bring Bobsled to other social networks, Duea says.
"It's a good service for PC, but will be more valuable when it's available on mobile phones," says Yankee Group analyst Tole Hart, who has been briefed on Bobsled. "It should be pretty useful for Facebook's (more than 250 million) mobile users. And it fits T-Mobile's user demographic of young, heavy-duty data users."
Users interested in Bobsled need to go to www.letsbobsled.com. It's also available for free download from Facebook's application page.
Skype, the Internet-calling service most threatened by Bobsled, declined comment.
T-Mobile CEO: Will Continue To Compete Despite Looming Takeover
By Roger Cheng
Dow-Jones Newswires
April 19, 2011
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) — T-Mobile USA said it will continue to embrace its aggressive underdog role despite the looming takeover by AT&T Inc. (T).
T-Mobile is awash in uncertainty as it wrestles with the perception that it could get swallowed up by AT&T in the next year. Given the high-profile nature of the deal, it's unclear whether customers will stick around with the carrier. Many also question how aggressively it will compete against its larger rival.
But for Chief Executive Philipp Humm, nothing has changed.
"We don't see ourselves as lame ducks," Humm said in an interview on Tuesday. "T-Mobile is as aggressive as ever."
Humm said the company will continue to push innovation, as evidenced by the launch last week of a $79.99 plan that includes unlimited talk, text and data services. On Tuesday, T-Mobile unveiled a new Skype-like Internet-based voice service that runs on Facebook, an unconventional move for a carrier that primarily deals with cellular service.
Still, there are hints T-Mobile may be pulling its punches in commercials poking fun at AT&T's expense. Gone from one of its new ads is the balding actor who represented AT&T. In the place of the iPhone is a generic-looking smartphone. The commercial still ends with a comparison of its price versus the other carriers, but lacks the sharp and specific jabs at its rivals.
A T-Mobile spokesman said that the carrier's advertising campaign will evolve, and future creative decisions will depend on the specific message it wants to convey at the time.
"We will continue on the same line to try to get these points across," Humm said.
There was also some recent confusion over T-Mobile's new plan. A second plan priced at $59.99 had leaked a day earlier, but had disappeared during the official announcement, leading to speculation that it had been scrapped because it was too aggressive. Some even floated conspiracy theories that involved AT&T. But Humm said the second plan was something the carrier had been testing in a few select markets, and wasn't intended to be offered across the nation. He said T-Mobile will continue with its plans to test the $59.99 plan, and denied AT&T had a hand in its plans.
"It's very important to understand that up to closing we're independent companies competing against each other."
The plans indicate a willingness by T-Mobile and Humm to tinker with things. Take the Facebook-calling service, which will fall under the carrier's umbrella of new Internet-based services, called Bobsled.
Facebook users can download the application, which allows them to place a free Internet-based phone call on their PC to any contact in their social network. At least initially, it has little to do with T-Mobile's wireless service, and is available to all Facebook users.
The service is a new initiative for T-Mobile. The carrier plans to generate revenue from the free service by serving online ads while they make their PC call, according to Brad Duea, senior vice president for T-Mobile. The company also plans to offer calls from the Facebook application to landlines and cellphones, and could generate revenue through fees charged for outbound calls, Duea said.
On Wednesday, the company plans to sell the Sidekick 4G, which will have a cloud-based text-messaging service that also falls under the Bobsled brand. Users will be able to keep track of text messages on their computers and send out group messages through the new smartphone.
Humm, meanwhile, said that T-Mobile was making progress in its turnaround plan laid out in January. He said that the perception of the carrier's network quality has improved, and customers have shown a higher willingness to sign up for T-Mobile.
There remains a lot of work, however, in improving the rate of customer defection, known in industry parlance as churn, a major priority for T-Mobile, Humm said. The carrier has made some changes, but is still working through the new plan.
"You can't just turn on the light and believe the churn will be on the right level," he said.