U.K. Launch By Orange To Spread Wildfire Across Voice-Activated Map

Mobile Phone News, July 26, 1999

Wildfire Communications Inc.'s array of voice-activated wireless phone controls are set to see much greater use, at least in the United Kingdom. About 10,000 customers are utilizing the multifaceted product a year after its launch in North America. But in the United Kingdom the product could be put to use by as many as 3 million customers within a week of its launch there.

Wildfire's package includes voice-activated dialing, numberretrieval and message-playing features operated by software installed on networks. Subscribers who like the features tend to substantially increase their usage time, which is good news for wireless carriers.

Orange plc [ORNGY] made Wildfire available at no cost to its subscribers on July 16. The Boston-based vendor is being put on the U.K. map in a big way.

Additionally, Orange is spending $15.5 million to advertise the feature. The marketing push includes 60-second ads in U.K. theaters showing Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which opened there the same day as the launch. Orange expects 16 million to 18 million people to see that ad in six weeks.

"They are beginning their launch with a big bang," Wildfire marketing manager Leslie Anderson says.

Pacific Bell Mobile Services [SBC] charges flat-rate customers $20 a month for Wildfire on the West Coast. In Canada, Bell Mobility [BCX] charges $12 to $15 a month for Wildfire's features.

Subscribers to Wildfire tend to increase their monthly usage minutes by an average of 35 percent, Anderson says. "For them, it's the killer app," she adds.

Motorola Inc. [MOT] is working on a product similar to Wildfire, which is called Myosphere. But the work has slowed. That's because the Schaumburg, Ill.-based company's Internet and Connectivity Services Division is still developing hardware and software for a basic platform for voice-activated features encompassing voice and data, says Colleen Verbiscer, a marketing manager for the division.

"We're stepping back to concentrate more on this overall platform," she says. "We are concentrating on a platform that will support Myosphere and Myosphere-like services."

Motorola expects tests with domestic and international carriers to be announced later this year, Verbiscer adds.

Product Features Bolster Usage Minutes

In the wake of the Orange deal, Wildfire anticipates a wave of European wireless users finding new applications. This, in turn, will increase their minutes of usage. Orange isn't charging for access to Wildfire. But it does charge for each Wildfire message retrieved by subscribers. In the fall, the company will begin offering fax applications and it plans to implement per-usage fees.

"We think what Orange is doing is absolutely the way to go," Anderson says.

However, there's no indication yet that North American carriers are mulling moves to add Wildfire to their networks to bolster average minutes of usage.

"We certainly hope that there will be lessons learned," Anderson says. "Until that paradigm begins to shift here, I think carriers will be focused on building out their networks and on mergers and acquisitions."

Wildfire has launches pending for French-language versions with Bouygues Telecom [BGX] and France Telecom [FTE]. Also, it's negotiating with more than 10 Latin American carriers.

"For now, we have some business in Europe and so much potential in Latin America," Anderson says. "Orange has a vision of what they call a 'wire-free future.' They want you to replace your wireline phone with a wireless phone."

(Leslie Anderson, Wildfire, 781/778-1527; Colleen Verbiscer, Motorola, 630/305-4641.)