BT to go nowhere with Togo

8 May 2008 | 11:27 BST

By Tony Dennis

SOME BRIGHT spark in BT's marketing department must have decided that throwing in a free smartphone would stop punters deserting its broadband service. And so the BT Togo was born.

Analysts were quick to compare the HTC built Togo with Crackberries and the infamous Apple Iphone. The parallels with the Iphone are closer than you might think. For starters, the two models BT is offering – the S710 and S620 – are EDGE compatible but not 3G devices.

So to slag the Togo off for lack of speed is a bit unfair. Especially since the Vodafone network, as the INQ's own Wil Harris has revealed, runs EDGE better than O2 if you have an unlocked Iphone. And the BT Togo handset will piggyback over Vodafone's network when it hasn't got a Wi-fi connexion.

Here's another hidden benefit to the Togo. If users sign up for a Total Broadband Anywhere tariff, they automatically get unlimited Wi-fi access to over 82,000 BT FON UK hotspots; a further 190,000 hotspots around the world plus over 2,500 BT Openzone hotspots in the UK and Ireland. Now that's got to save you a few bob.

What can you do with those Wi-fi links? Make VoIP calls, of course. BT has pointed out that making a call to Pakistan via Skype is nine pence per minute but over BT Togo it will be only six pence per minute.

The Togo does have a camera and MP3 playing capability but it is hardly likely to be viewed as a direct rival to a Walkman handset, for example.

Given that the handset comes with a BT email address built-in, it will appe al to hard core BT enthusiasts although the INQ can't see business folk throwing away their Crackberries in favour of a Togo.

Lots of observers are drawing comparisons between the Togo and BT's Fusion offering which has attracted a pathetic 42,000 subscribers to date. Fusion was a mistake because BT should never have gone with a Bluetooth version initially. It also wasn't BT's fault that OMA – the technology on which Fusion is based, never actually took off.

When you look at it, on paper Togo customers are getting a bit of a bargain. You sign up for 18 months; pay an extra £5; and get the HTC S620 handset free. Or the HTC S710 is £29.99 extra. So you get a decent smartphone for £130 at most, whereas if you paid for it on the open market it would cost around £250.

The INQ just isn't sure that BT's got its marketing right with this offering, though. µ

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