Welsh get own-language mobile phone

published 4 August 2009

The world's first Welsh language phone will be launched later this year by Orange and Samsung.

The Samsung S5600 will be available exclusively through Orange from 1 September on both pay-as-you-go and pay monthly contracts.

Samsung created software for the device which includes over 44,000 words allowing for menus and predictive text in Welsh.

Alun Ffred Jones, Wales' Minister for Heritage, said: "It's important to be able to have services and technology available in the language so that people can live their lives through the medium of Welsh."

The Samsung S5600 will be available for free on 24 month Orange contracts at 19.57 per month or 14.98 per month, as well as for 129 on Orange Pay As You Go. It will only initially be available in Welsh stores, but will be rolled out online at a later date.

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.