From today's Guaridan
guardian.co.uk0,3604,1150361,00.htmlOpen ↗
Look, no hands: a phone-bike combo
Richard Wray Wednesday February 18, 2004 The Guardian
Hands-free kits are already commonplace in cars, but yesterday mobile phone operator Orange went one
better, offering cycle-mad customers the chance to pedal and talk in safety. The company is offering
new customers in the Netherlands, where bikes outnumber people, a free cycle with a handsfree kit.
The bike is also fitted with a charger that tops up the phone's battery on the move. The giveaway
was the brainchild of Orange's Dutch chief financial operator Bernard Uyttendaele, who saw that the
company was offering motorists a free hands-free kit but not extending the same courtesy to
cyclists. The Dutch authorities have outlawed using a mobile phone while driving, introducing
similar laws to those brought in by the UK government last year. The change in the law, however, did
not affect the Netherlands' legions of cyclists who can still be seen weaving around the region's
towns and cities while clutching their mobile phones to their ears. More than 1.2 million Dutch
people - roughly a quarter of the country's workforce - cycle to work every day. "Mobile operators
give away handsets or even DVD players to customers, but many people are quite happy with their
handset. This package makes a lot of sense in Holland," the company said yesterday. Orange is only
offering its bike and handset combination to new customers willing to tie themselves into a contract
for two years. Traditionally mobile phone companies attract new customers by offering them an up-
to-date handset. Under Orange's Dutch cyclist offer customers retain their existing phone. The phone
plugs into a cradle on the bike's handlebars, which allows it to communicate with a headset worn by
the cyclist using bluetooth short wave radio technology.