The service provider reported a 25 percent increase in its customer base and a flawless customer feedback in the past year

XLN, the UK’s largest independent provider of telecom services to small businesses has unveiled that it had drawn 25 percent more customers during the year 2009. The company also procured flawless result in its annual customer service survey.

The service provider based in London, offers fixed line and mobile services to the B2B customers. It has divulged that the 25 percent increase in the customer base is equivalent to 125,000 more mobile users in the past year.

Also, the annual satisfaction survey conducted by the service provider on 700 mobile users revealed that its services are being recommended to other users by 94 percent of all the customers surveyed.

The other revelations of the survey include that almost 86 per cent of all the respondents were happy with key areas such as billing and credit control, 72 per cent of all, said they would be happy to recommend XLN to other customers based on price and 69 per cent said they would recommend XLN based on service received.

Christian Nellemann,  XLN Group chief executive said: “In an industry renowned for low customer satisfaction levels and high churn rates, we believe our customer satisfaction levels are creating a new benchmark in the independent telecoms sector.

“As a company, we deliberately don’t advertise on TV or use above-the-line advertising instead choosing to plough back potential marketing spend into lower product pricing, product innovation and customer service.

“We are therefore delighted to see our customer satisfaction scorings reach these levels. Word of mouth recommendations are always the most powerful form of marketing.”

The service provider also ushered in its first mobile service with the partner Gamma Telecom. It is also all set to become a full MVNO in the coming months.

The mobile operators in UK criticized the British Telecom claims that the nation’s Government plans of extending their 3G licenses will lead to ‘a gift of several billion pounds from the UK taxpayer.’

British Telecom is completely non-supportive of the 3G license extension and is threatening legal action if the Government continues to carry on with the plans of extending operator’s 3G licenses under its Spectrum Modernization Programme, which is a part of the Government’s Digital Britain programme.

British Telecom is furnishing claims that the license extension may be anti-competitive and would curb innovation and entry of new emulators into the market.

However, the other mobile operators in UK disagree to BT’s claims and opposed the telecom service provider this week. The entire spat has extended the programme’s consultation period by another month and could also lead to major delays.

A 3 spokesman said: ‘Claims that mobile service providers are set to get a handout are wrong. A 3G license extension is not a giveaway. It is simply a move in 11 years’ time to the same annual fee structure levied on the vast majority of radio spectrum used by mobile operators today, including the spectrum currently used for 2G services.’

3 also slammed BT’s claims that entry of new entrants would be curbed and competition would be sniffed. The spokesman said: ‘The spectrum proposals do not disadvantage new entrants as the proposed caps limit the amount of spectrum that any of the four big operators can license, giving smaller players and new entrants the opportunity to win spectrum at auction. Far from stifling competition these proposals have the potential to enable real choice for consumers in rural areas for the first time and they will do so without either government subsidy or requiring a tax on internet access.’

O2 said the Digital Britain programme would be an equitable exchange. A spokeswoman said: ‘Under European law, the UK Government has the discretion to allocate licenses to certain users and classes of users. We feel that the exchange of higher coverage commitments and payment of a proportionate fee from 2021 is a fair exchange for the certainty we need to continue investing in our 3G network in the run up to 2021.’

Vodafone also offered its opinions on the same. David Rodman, head of regulation, commented: ‘The 3G licenses expire in 2021 and we can’t see how extending them beyond that date acts as a barrier to competition or innovation in today’s mobile market. The licenses won’t be free as the operators will be expected to extend their 3G coverage as well as pay an annual spectrum charge.’

The opposition by British Telecom could lead to manifest delays in the implementation of the Spectrum Modernization Programme. The entire scuffle could push the programme back beyond the General Election, which are expected to take place in May, hence giving birth to the possibility that the plan would be withdrawn by the new government.

The company launched its handset at its headquarters in Silicon Valley, currently available SIM Free, the device will soon be seen on Vodafone both as Sim free and on contract basis

After a landmark success of its search engine and other operations, Google now has entered into the mobile industry with the launch of its first Android handset, the Nexus One. The handset introduced yesterday is now offered SIM Free, however talks are doing the rounds that it would soon be available on Vodafone.

The device was unbosomed at Google’s headquarters in Silicon Valley before the media. The manufacturer is describing the contemporary 3G mobile handset as “where the web meets phone”.

The mobile phone costs $550 (£331) and can be bought online from the Google website from 6 Jan 10. In order to make an online purchase of the SIM free device, the customers are required to have Google account’ and Google ‘check out’ account.

Next couple of months will see the device available on Vodafone network both as Sim free and on contract for a subsidized fee. Other network providers will also offer Nexus one on their networks later this year.

The Google device however is already launched in USA and is available on the mobile operator, T-Mobile. The price of the mobile handset is set $179 for USA on a two year deal. The mobile handset is expected to be launched on Verizon later.

The device manufactured by HTC but designed by Google is 11.5mm wide and is packed with features like new advanced version of the Android Operating system 2.1 unique to the device and a voice enabled keyboard and inbuilt satellite navigation.

The other manifest features of the mobile handset comprise of a five mega pixel camera including flash and autofocus, 4GB memory using MicroSD expandable up to 32GB, video, Wi-Fi, stereo bluetooth, 10 hours talk time and a 3.7 inch screen.

Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering, Google commented: “The Nexus One belongs in the emerging class of devices which we call ‘superphones,’ with the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset making it as powerful as your laptop computer of three to four years ago.

“It’s our way to raise the bar on what’s possible when it comes to creating the best mobile experience for consumers. We look forward to working with handset manufacturers and operators to bring more phones to market through this channel worldwide.”

Peter Chou, the CEO of HTC Corporation also added : “The Nexus One represents the unique combination of design and innovation two companies like Google and HTC can have when they collaborate.

“The Nexus One continues HTC’s strategy of offering people a portfolio of phones that meet their diverse needs.”

John Delaney, IDC telecom analyst commented after Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who earlier this year stated “your mobile phone should be free. It just makes sense” when discussing online advertising.

Delaney further said: “If our rationale is correct, then the Nexus One has one big drawback: its price. Google needs to get as many of these devices into users’ hands as possible, as quickly as possible.

“Failure to do that will not only negate the device’s strategic goal, but it will also damage Google’s brand prestige, since comparisons will inevitably be made with the high volumes of iPhones that Apple has shipped.

“Maybe it’s not viable for your phone to be free just yet – but it may be in Google’s interests to make this one a lot cheaper.”