- Thursday, 3 December 2009
- INQ Mobile
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Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures - Jessamyn West
BT gets knickers in a twist and calls debacle Fusion
BT SEEMS to be rather confused over its infamous Fusion offering. On the one hand, it's a vehicle for growth. On the other, virtually nobody has signed up for it.
The INQ was rather puzzled by a reference made to Fusion by Ian Livingston, head of BT's retail division. He apparently confessed to the FT that in 18 months a mere 40,000 people had signed up to the service.
This is despite the fact that Fusion employs currently very sexy technology.
A mix between true mobile and mobile VoIP.
So the INQ would argue that Fusion seems to be a thorn in its side. But
somebody should tell that to BT's CEO, Ben Verwaayen.
Only days ago he was quoted as saying, "BT's strategy of providing additional
services, such as its BT Vision television service and its BT Fusion
fixed-to-mobile convergence service, is helping maintain growth and lift
average revenues per user."
What with just 40,000 subscribers? The INQ thinks it can detect a whiff of jealousy here. BT's former mobile arm, O2, operates an established fixed/mobile convergence product in Germany, called Genion.
Exact figures for Genion's success are hard to come by but the company's
latest report said, "With its higher revenues and considerably lower churn rate
compared to other mobile products, O2 Genion is key to our focus on more
profitable customers."
So you can bet that's more than 40,000 subscribers.
Personally the INQ blames BT's decision to go for a Bluetooth version of Fusion before introducing what everyone actually wanted – a Wi-fi version.
And maybe Fusion might get an unexpected boost. BT has just launched a set of
vouchers which enable users to roam onto Wi-fi networks for a much lower price
than normal.
So it will make using a Fusion phone a much more attractive proposition. Or is
this too little too late? µ
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I tried to get hold of this service a few months ago. I have their 'imaginary' 8mb service (averages around 4mb real) and called them up. They checked my account and said that I couldnt have it as my line was only good to 2mb. I advised that all the bandwidth testers said 4mb but they didnt want to know. Great also that they charge me for 8mb but blatantly tell you in their opinion, your line is nowhere near that. I tried another route but it turned out once again with another BT rollout that the IT and sales teams had been told different info. They lost a sale!
I've got BT fusion and Its alright to be honest. £40 a month gets me 2 mobile numbers (one for me and one for my partner) 2x handsets, 200 free texts and fairly low call charges. The phones when they started out were crap, they only offered the motorola lineup which was pants but the service was ideal so I went with the razer v3.

The bluetooth function was easy to setup although it might be a little too difficult for your average jo, but generally the service is good and the call charges when made around home hubs are cheap although of neglidable value.

The only time i'm likely to use my mobile within the range of a homehub with fusion enabled is when I am at home, but who is likely to use their mobile and pay a higher rate when I have the BT Hub Phone (piece of sh*t) and a number of other phones that give me free calls evenings and weekends?

The most attractive thing about the service is multiple phones on the same contract for the same monthly cost. All you have to pay for is the additional handset.

Overall i'm happy with the service, its a lot better than my old Orange service.

Keep up the good work.

chris
Or maybe its because no-one can be arsed spending hours on hold waiting to buy one of their products. Idiots...
Twonks still havent sent me my broadband starter pack after 2 months. Not prepared to spend the rest of my life on their poxy help lines I ended buying my own modem.

I have to agree the service is hardly advertised to its full advantage,(google bt fusion 3/4 of the links still refer to the older bluetooth version). 

Like all new technology BT have had problems with Fusion, but I found the help and support far better with Fusion than some other mobile providers I have been with.

Con Fusion reigns in UMA especially here in UK. We worry about mobile masts, we worry
about wifi, "my god fusion uses both I will grow two heads if I use the service!" How
comes the rest of the world does panic?

IMHO Fusion is never going to immediately get the 'yoof' market, as it does not yet
supply the sexiest handsets. But if they were to push its advantages in the right way,
even using the annoying 'BT family' they could open up the service

For example 4 for 1 minute when in a wifi zone, the never loose signal(I am spoilt for
that as I live in one of BT's wireless cities). The multiple handsets for families, 
(Dad has one phone for home and work the kids upstairs in the bedroom calling friends
cheaply, texting their fellow dude's etc). Snap & Send where you can send mobile phone
photos to your vault area etc 

I cant think of any of the other mobile network in UK that can provide the whole.

It can only be a matter of time before other providers jump on BT notion (yes I know
that orange in the UK and t mobile in europe already have), and they'll love clearing
some of the traffic off the mobile network onto wifi, while on the other hand 3G seems
to be squeezing in broadband 

I work in IT support and it pigs me off when people diss a service or product that they
choose without thinking about it, or realising its potential/real usefulness.

It would be nice to see BT Fusion's service improved on, but while the mobile market
is driven by users wanting the best in the play ground, for the moment it will always
be in the rear of the pack. I use and love the service, it saves me a fortune