As mobile broadband becomes more and more popular network providers battle it out to see who can outsmart the competitors and get the edge. Both MTN and Vodacom recently launched their new HSDPA service offering users the ability to access the net at 3.6 Mbps.

MTN thought they had the lead when they where the first to announced that their 3.6 Mbps service was available in the major metro area’s, however Vodacom surprised everyone by announcing a few days later that their 3.6 Mbps connection has launched and is available nation wide, this led to them quickly becoming the obvious leaders in this field. MTN followed up by announcing that their new 7.2 Mbps connection was now also available in selected metro’s.

The question is who is going to win the race. Vodacom with the clear lead when it comes to nationwide coverage and user volumes or MTN with the lead in faster access. Only time will tell.

fringsters it’s going to be very interesting to watch as this battle unfolds over the next few months, don’t miss the action.

Avi Shechter, the CEO of fring has been invited to speak at the Mobile World Congress on the morning of Wednesday 13th February 2008, in Barcelona. The topic of his talk: “Mobile VoIP – friend not foe of the network operator.”

Given the subject matter this promises to be a lively and thought provoking section of the show, and is sure to lend new perspectives and spark discussion, that will help drive the future of the mobile space.

Avi will also be sharing his vision for the next 12 months and beyond, with particular focus on how fring believes consumers will start to re-think the way they use their mobile devices.

As reported earlier, fring has also been invited by Nokia to join its forum Nokia stand, on the second level of the main Nokia stand in Hall 8 of the Mobile World Congress 2008. fring will be doing demonstrations from the stand for the duration of the show, including the unveiling of some new and very exciting features, some of which are genuine firsts for Mobile VoIP. We’ll also be explaining what fringing freedom really means to both consumers and potential partners.

The great thing is that anyone who wants to meet or interview Avi can do so at the show.

2007 was a great year for the giants in the mobile industry. It was also a great year for private individuals like you and me with the introduction of Mobile VoIP.According to news agencies more than 1.1 billion handsets were sold during the financial year. The three leading companies are Nokia with sales in excess of 437 Million handsets, Samsung with just over 161 million and Motorola with a mere 159 million.

After all the hype I personally thought the new iPhone from Apple would come out on tops this year, but funny enough even with all the great free publicity they only got 0.6% market share, selling a whopping 2.3 million handsets.

Google Cheif Executive Eric Schmidt thinks 2008 will be even better with the arrival of what he calls “a truly mobile web”.

‘The arrival of a truly mobile web, offering a new generation of location-based advertising, is set to unleash a “huge revolution”, Schmidt said on Friday.’

“It’s the recreation of the internet, it’s the recreation of the PC (personal computer) story and it is before us – and it is very likely it will happen in the next year,” he told a panel at the World Economic Forum.” News24

fringsters 2008 is definitely going to be a great year in the mobile arena.
Don’t be left behind, make sure to keep up with the latest developments.

For those of you looking to upgrade your handsets in the next few days, look no further!
HTC has just launched the all new HTC Touch Dual.

Apart from all the fancy things like the slide out QWERTY keyboard, The phone comes standard with 3G and HSDPA and thanks to Vodacom’s new 3.6 Mbps connection you can really fring in style.

Starting in February the HTC Touch Dual will be available at retailers nationwide at a price of about R5800.00

What are you waiting for? Go get it!

2008 started on a high note when fring introduced local servers in South Africa to help improve voice quality, but things just keep getting better and better, According to MyBroadband Vodacom has just released their 3.6Mbps HSDPA network Nationwide. The launch of the new service includes free activation for the next three months. This basically means that Vodacom now offers users the fastest nation wide mobile broadband in South Africa and this can only be good news for fringsters.

“From 1 May 2008, Vodacom’s HSDPA 3.6 service will be offered to Contract, Top Up and Prepaid customers as a Value Added Service (VAS) at R49.00 per month (or 30 days), in addition to the current data charge levied.” MyBroadband

To activate your free three month trial of 3.6Mbps on your prepaid handset simply dial *111#, option 8, option 3, option 2, option 1.

Vodacom has also set up this handy speedtest  so users can test their new speeds.

MTN on the other hand is said to be rolling out 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, this however is only available in some area’s of South Africa and terms apply.

fringsters go get your free Vodacom 3.6Mbps connection now!

fringsters in the Limpopo province will be happy to know that Limpopo is set to receive a huge wireless boost after the provincial government announced that they are undertaking to install a huge wireless broadband network in the province.

The project will see more than 6000 sites being connected, including some 4400 schools and rural hospitals, it is said that the project will be completed by March 2010.

According to local government 13 companies have been shortlisted for the tender, the winning bid will be announced on February 23.

This looks like good news for the Limpopo province.

Thanks to News24 for this news.

fringsters this year why not make your mobile phone go green!
How do I do that you may ask.

Easy, instead of charging your phone with a wall socket why not go green and use solar power? There are quite a few good mobile solar chargers now available in South Africa.

Next time you plug in your mobile ask yourself what am I doing to save the environment, then pop over to your local store and do something to go green.

A charger that caught my attention this week is the Plantronics Power Monkey Explorer. This sexy little charger comes with a few tweaks and can even be used to power your ipod, bluetooth headset, digital camera and a range of other mobile devices. The cost you may ask? For a mere R970.00 you can take your mobile green.

Make the smart move, go green today!