Shell Oil moves into mobile market

NEWS Shell Mobile, a subsidiary of Shell Oil, is offering Hong Kong car owners the latest mobile phone services. Shell Mobile has launched phone services that utilise functions such as location-based and car navigation services aimed specifically at drivers. The launch makes Shell the first company to take advantage of the open network access clause included in Hong Kong's 3G licence auctions designed to increase market competition. The clause requires licence holders to make a minimum of 30 per cent of their network capacity open for use by mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) and content providers. Delia MacMillan, principal analyst for mobile communications at Gartner, said: "People associate the Shell name with other services so the company can offer value added mobile service to a target audience." He added: "There are parallels with Virgin and One2One in the UK, where One2One allowed Virgin to resell its excess capacity in the UK and re-brand it under the Virgin name. "However, operators create their own competition by opening up their networks and the MVNOs have to work on higher margins than the operators," she said. Shell's network is being provided by Hong Kong's smallest 3G licence holder, Sunday Communications.