(keitai-l) Re: Europe: RingTone Popularity

Vincent,
Being from the "arguably the world capital of cell phone use - Scandinavia"
I can assure that this article (as virtually all American coverage of mobile
technology) is incorrect. The ability to download ringtones has been a craze
in Scandinavia for as long as it's been a craze in Japan. The "enter a
credit card number" is equally far from the standard. In much the same way
that Docomo cuts in on traffic in Japan, the same is true for the
distribution of ringtones in Scandinavia. Since the tones are distributes as
binary attachments to SMS messages, the various vendors are allocated easy
to remember SMS numbers (1997 is an example from Norway). The messages to
these numbers are billed at a higher rate than normal SMS messages
(typically in the 1,5 - 2 $ range) and the ringtone is sent if the SMSC
accepts the message (cash is present in pre-pay, billable in post-pay). 

Cheers,

Kristian

-----Original Message-----
From: JAPON.NET [mailto:web@japon.net]
Sent: 20 April 2001 14:16
To: keitai-l@appelsiini.net
Subject: (keitai-l) Europe: RingTone Popularity

Handsets in Europe Strike a New Chord as Pop Music Replaces Beeps
By T.R. Reid, Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, April 20, 2001; 12:21 AM
http://www.washtech.com/news/telecom/9179-1.html

So it is happening in Europe too. Japan is not absolutely unique after all.
Interesting the different billing models.


Quote (Disclaimer: Not representative of the article. Please read the whole
thing before flaming/praising the writer)
(...)
The ring-tone trade started last year among a few spunky start-up companies.
But now the major cellular operators are jumping on the bandwagon. Klingelt
嗜es have proven far more popular than other heavily promoted cellular
ventures, like the vaunted "wireless Internet" that has been a flop so far.
(...)





Vincent J. Luna, Director
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