Telecom operator traffic goes through the roof using Opera
Oslo, Norway – October 7, 2003
On June 4 this year, the Portuguese telecom operator Optimus pioneered the mobile Internet by launching their own branded version of Opera’s Smartphone Edition on their Nokia 3650 phones. The preliminary results are now in, proving Optimus’ hunch correct. Data shows users loving Opera on their phones, and data traffic sharply rising.
From May to August GPRS data traffic on Optimus’ network increased a whopping 416%. Considering that Opera is merely on a small number of Optimus’ phones, subscribers with Opera on their phones generate thousands of percent more data traffic than subscribers without Opera’s full Internet experience.
“Already just three months from deployment we clearly see that the combination of launching Opera has been an unconditional success,” says Miguel Almeida, Optimus Marketing and Sales Executive Administrator. “Opera’s Web browser has contributed significantly to this huge increase in GPRS traffic. Feedback from our users has also been extremely positive. Subscribers are surprised that they can access the same Internet they are used to from their PCs on their mobile phone, and that it’s just as easy to use.”
Excited about Opera’s breakthrough Small-Screen Renderingâ„¢ (SSRâ„¢) technology, other operators in Europe, the US and Asia will in the next few months launch customized, operator-branded Opera browsers on their phones. SSRâ„¢ technology has made the full Web available on smaller smartphones for the first time. Before Opera introduced SSRâ„¢, mobile phone users were restricted to use stripped down WAP browsers based on XHTML for which there is not much content available. SSRâ„¢ massages HTML Web pages to fit on a smaller screen, eliminating horizontal scrolling, making the full Web useful on small screens for the first time.
“The data proves what I said in June, that dynamic companies like Optimus will shape the mobile industry in the years to come. Optimus dared to be the first operator to take the plunge with us,” says Rolf Assev, Executive Vice President Marketing and Strategic Alliances, Opera Software. “Now other operators are also getting ready to deploy Opera on their phones, immediately benefiting subscriber satisfaction and simultanenously increasing average revenue per user.”
Opera for your device
For more information about Opera’s SSRâ„¢ technology or to contact Opera Software ASA about including Opera on your device, please see our smartphones page.
About Optimus
Since its launch in 1998, Optimus has been continuously growing in the Portuguese market with one goal in mind: To lead the Portuguese telecommunications market by making peoples lives easier. By the end of first quarter 2003, Optimus had already achieved more than 2.1 million customers and reached a market share of 22.4%. Optimus is the only telecommunication’s operator in the world to have received three GSM Awards for three consecutive years and has been recently recognized by the national telecommunications regulator as the best network operator in the Portuguese markets. Launching new products and services in Portuguese market – mobile portals, SMS information services, entertainment services, GPRS services – Optimus is also in the lead on the deployment of new technologies. For more information about Optimus, please visit the corporate Web site at www.optimus.pt.
Contacts
Optimus Telecomunicações S.A.
Isabel Borgas
Public Relations Director
Te. +351 93 100 20 20
Fax: + 351 93 100 22 04
iborgas@optimus.pt