Doha, 14 March 2012: Vodafone Qatar will implement a major IT system upgrade that will commence on March 17th at 10PM and last for a duration of 24 hours.
"Customer Care will be fully operational but some services like viewing call records and changes to account details will not be possible during the upgrade window", said Deidre Hutchinson, Head of Customer Care "Customers can reach us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week free of charge under 111 when calling from a Vodafone mobile or +974 7700 7111 when calling from abroad."
Vodafone customers on Freedom plans that are roaming abroad during this time could experience delays in replenishment of their credit.
"The IT upgrade that is implemented on the 17th and 18th of March will ensure that Vodafone Qatar gets ready for future customer growth. It represents a significant investment in our operations that will allow us to bring new products and services to our customers," said Jenny Howe, Vodafone Qatar's Chief Technology Officer.
Vodafone Smart II Offers £70 Android Experience - Social Barrel
Vodafone UK has announced a new low-cost Android-powered Smart II handset for only £70.
The UK mobile operator aims to offer its latest budget phone to consumers who want to jump into the Android community without breaking the bank.
The Vodafone Smart II comes with Google’s Android 2.3 Gingerbread mobile operating system, an 800MHz single-core processor and 150MB of RAM, which means that it will most likely fail to run high-end apps, but Vodafone apparently wants to cover that reality by saying that Gmail, Facebook and YouTube will be preinstalled.
The 12.35mm thick handset will be available in two color variants of white and dark grey and features a 3.15-megapixel rear-facing camera with VGA video recording and LED flash, an FM radio, Wi-Fi, HSDPA connectivity and a 2GB microSD card out of the box.
The Vodafone Smart II is now available on the network’s online store through pas as you go for only £70. Interested consumers need around £5 tops to get a voucher code to use at Blockbuster and Thorntons.
Vodafone Smart II offers a £70 Android experience. (Image: Vodafone UK)
Telecom needs a trickle-down effect - Asian Age
The new telecom policy approved by the Cabinet will be quite a boon for the people if and when it is implemented. The Department of Telecommunication has still to work out the guidelines to put into effect this policy, which envisages one nation full number portability and one nation free roaming. There is a lot of scepticism about the actual implementation of free roaming and free number portability and it is likely that the operators will raise the base price as they are unlikely to provide anything free.
One of the objectives of the new policy is to improve tele-density so it is perplexing as to why DoT is not in favour of district-level licensing. The telecom regulatory authority had in its recommendations devoted 30 pages to why this was necessary and how it would lead to a manifold increase in tele-density. The population at the rural level has its own specific requirements. Young rural village entrepreneurs can provide telecom services as per the needs of groups of villages at the district level, and this way telecom density can be multiplied in a short time, even before 2017 when DoT expects 70 per cent tele-density. It is, therefore, inexplicable why DoT says it will think about this later without giving reasons. What is wrong with now, when such a move could change the quality of life in rural areas and democratise the telecom industry further? The big players are against district licensing as it would eat into their space when they are ready to roll out services in these areas. Perhaps DoT needs to rethink fast as the larger good should prevail over sectoral interests, and this would be in sync with the government’s inclusive mantra.
Apart from this, the new telecom policy is very welcome as, among other things, it brings in transparency and takes away powers of vital decision-making from the telecom minister of the day and vests it with a ministerial panel. Perhaps there should be a time frame set for the panel so that decisions are not in limbo waiting for the panel to meet.
The other laudable provision is to make India a manufacturing hub for telecom equipment. This is a challenge as manufacturers will have to compete with China in terms of price and volume. The commerce minister is said to have expressed some apprehensions as the government would have to give local manufacturers priority over imports, and sops. The commerce minister reportedly feels this would violate the WTO and GATT agreements. This should not be difficult to handle. The US put heavy duties on Chinese solar and wind farm equipment, which were flooding the American markets. There is need to shake off diffidence and push the envelope so that the new telecom policy becomes a success.
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