Sony Vita deal major boost for Vodafone's embedded strategy
New mobile console will ship with the carriers' 3G links across Europe, but users will still need to pay data fees
Published: 24 November, 2011
READ MORE: Europe | Vodafone Group | Games
Large operators are eager to extend their activities in devices with their wireless links embedded, since these represent additional connections to target, over and above their usual customers. AT&T has often boasted of its success with e-readers, and is now heavily focused on smart grid and other machine-to-machine sectors, reporting 1.5m new wholesale and connected device additions to its network in the third quarter. Vodafone has also been stepping up its embedded devices push, and aims to leverage its pan-European presence in a way it has often failed to do in handsets. Ereaders, smart meters, games consoles, health monitors and other gadgets are all on its list, and its latest win is Sony's PlayStation Vita console, which will come with Vodafone 3G incorporated.
Importantly, Vodafone has netted a pan-European deal with Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) to be the preferred provider of 3G for the new Vita - a feat it failed to pull off when the Kindle came across the Atlantic, despite many reported rounds of talks with Amazon. Insiders say that Vodafone has become more flexible recently about the fees it will charge for embedded wireless and now has a structure which is attractive to device/content partners like Sony (Amazon launched its European Kindle with a roaming wireless deal with its US provider AT&T).
The Vita will ship in February in key markets, complete with a Vodafone 3G SIM card to enable online and multiplayer gaming, and for downloading new apps. The carrier said this was the first deal of its kind in the 3G-embedded mobile console space, and part of a rising trend for all forms of consumer devices to feature wireless connectivity, often via Wi-Fi but increasingly with 3G or 4G. Unlike Sony Ericsson's Play phone and other games-oriented mobile gadgets, the Vita will not support voice calls.
Vodafone Group's terminals director, Patrick Chomet, told Mobile Today: "We want our customers to have the best choice of devices and PlayStation Vita is a great addition to our range. We know from our application downloads that games are hugely popular with our customers, so we're delighted to be SCE's preferred connectivity partner for 3G Vita devices sold across Europe and other selected regional markets."
The PlayStation Vita 3G/Wi-Fi models will be sold through Sony's retail channels and at Vodafone stores or online, for €299 (the Wi-Fi-only model will be €249). Vodafone has not announced tariffs yet, but Sony is not pursuing the fully fledged embedded model as pioneered by Amazon with Kindle, in which the cost of the data access is included in the upfront price. Vita users will, for now at least, have to pay fees for their 3G usage, a factor which has often pushed consumers to choose Wi-Fi rather than cellular for their data gadgets. Most believe cellcos will need to find a way to include their fees in data buckets which can be shared between many devices, or to bundle the cost in the price of the device and/or content.
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