European content provider Acotel is going to Athens to target American consumers.
The 12-year-old Italian company is taking the Olympic Games wireless, delivering updates and images to U.S. handsets via a combination of multimedia messaging service, short message service and pay-per-download offerings. Services will be offered on all six major U.S. carriers at three different levels-gold, silver and bronze, naturally-ranging from $16 for text and picture messages as well as radio broadcasts throughout the course of the Games to simple text messages for 30 cents each.
Acotel, which partnered with the Associated Press for its news-focused Olympic content, is also offering other Olympic-themed content such as wallpaper, sports games and national anthem ring tones. The idea, according to Acotel USA General Manager Nino Tarantino, is to get Americans accustomed to using their phones for news and entertainment as much of the rest of the world does.
“This is an example of the continuation of what we’ve done (in Europe),” where Acotel delivered hundreds of millions of paid text messages and images last year, Tarantino said. “We believe in premium SMS.”
The folks at Acotel aren’t the only believers. From the Opening Ceremonies set for Aug. 13 through the final events set for Aug. 29, U.S. mobile users will have access to an unprecedented supply of Olympic content.
AT&T Wireless Services Inc., an official sponsor of the Olympics, has teamed with Crisp Wireless and official broadcaster NBC to bring the carrier’s mMode customers news, schedules, results and medal counts from Athens. Users can set up custom alerts, build a fantasy-style Olympic team of competing nations, and access an exclusive diary from swimmer Michael Phelps. Video highlights and clips from Olympic trials will be available also via AWS’ new EDGE and UMTS networks, and subscribers will incur no additional charges for the service, provided they stay within their usage plans.
Handmark Pocket Express subscribers can keep up with athletes, as well. The service will provide as many as 100 on-demand news stories a day on its Reuters News channel to users with Palm OS devices, Windows Mobile smart phones and other personal digital assistants with Wi-Fi and Internet connections. Daily alerts giving current scores and standings and previewing the next day’s events are also part of the service, which is included in Pocket Express’ $7 monthly subscription.
Verizon Wireless offers updates through its Mobile Web plan, which is available for $5 a month.
With such an ample supply of wireless Olympic content, the question, then, is about demand. Crisp Wireless Chief Executive Officer Boris Fridman said consumers must know that such offerings are available to take advantage of them.
“Our unique relationship with AT&T and the NBC Olympics is that we’re going to get the most up-to-date content” as well as a major marketing campaign, Fridman said.
Other content providers may not have that kind of marketing muscle-or a similarly low price point. At $16, Acotel’s gold package costs nearly one-third of the average American’s monthly cell-phone bill, and the premium services will work only on certain phones that can support MMS. And that fee is on top of the cost of a user’s data plan.
If demand for Olympic-related content doesn’t exist, though, perhaps it’s up to carriers and content providers to create it, said Michael King, principal analyst at Gartner Dataquest.
“This may be much more of a technological showcase type of thing, because the Olympics have such a high profile,” said King. “It’s very possible these (companies) are using this as a technology demonstration, basically showing consumers, `We can do this. We can actually make this stuff work.’ “
Tarantino agreed, saying the possibility that such services may not be lucrative yet shouldn’t prevent carriers from experimenting with them.
“This is a market that is changing so fast; maybe we are launching this service a little too early for certain segments,” he said. “But this is a market that is learning, and the media companies have a huge impact on this learning process.”
As technology allows for higher quality content, that learning curve will improve, Tarantino said. It was only two years ago that Acotel employed animators to re-create soccer highlights for immediate mobile broadcasts; today, European networks and high-tech handsets are making real-time video increasingly watchable. As U.S. carriers work to upgrade networks to allow for high-quality, affordable MMS, more consumers will use their handsets to stay informed.
In fact, Acotel’s Olympics venture with the Associated Press is only the beginning. Expect to see more collaborations between the two in coming weeks.
“Sports, for us, is very important as part of infotainment services,” said Tarantino. “We’re planning, after Athens, to provide additional sports-related services.”
