The Great Canadian Mobile Fail: Wireless Network Websites In Canada
01/12/2012 @ 2:32 pmBy: David Look
You would think that being a wireless network provider would instantly make you the leader in mobile web, creating a destination for your brand that’s optimized for the devices being used to access the services you’re selling.
Not so with almost every major provider of wireless services in Canada. Actually, let me correct that and be so bold as to state that as of today, November 18th, 2011, there isn’t one major mobile provider in Canada that has a version of their website optimized for a mobile device. Not one.
Futile were our attempts to discover the lone wolf beaver in the stream that could connect us with wireless relevant content and functional design on our testing iPhone. Below are some screen caps from our research along with some notes on our findings.
Fido. Just imagine how cute a conga train of poodles would look if they were optimized.
Imagine this: you’re in a mall and on your smartphone. You need to contact TELUS, so you go to their website for the number. Now, if this site was mobile optimized you’d be able to have a TELUS representative teleport to your EXACT location. Ok, we’re not exactly there yet, but you get the idea; there’s a real opportunity here to deliver relevant content to your end user.
Solo. OK, maybe we can give Solo a break. I mean, do they even sell smartphones? Still, what if I’m on my iPad and I suddenly want to regress to 2008 and order a flip-phone? I go to Solo’s site and I get the above, that’s what.
Ah! A store locator right on their front page. Smart, now if I can just get my fingers around that little link while I’m walking down Granville Street eating my Subway foot-long. No problem!
Kudos to Koodo, that’s a pretty nice looking site. But I suspect those “buns” would be much hotter if they were optimized buns!
Bell understands mobile optimization (but only in the mock-ups of the phones they’re selling.)
And lastly, we wanted to see if Canadians were just weirdos when it comes to making a website optimized for the industry they’re a part of.
Your answer, above.
If anyone knows of a mobile provider that has a website optimized for wireless devices, please let us know. We’d love to see it.
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