Even though the UEFA Champions League hasn’t kicked off yet and the football Bundesliga 2006/07 has only just warmed up, there’s evidently a winning player on the field: Vodafone’s football service. The DГјsseldorf-based mobile communications provider is delivering live and full-length broadcasts of all first and second Bundesliga matches to UMTS mobile phone users. The ‘Vodafone live Football Flatrate’ only costs an extra EUR 7.50 a month and enables users to watch their favourite team play. If two matches have the same kick-off time, they can watch both of them using a conference function. The package also includes the ‘Vodafone FreistoГџ’ (Vodafone Freekick) programme, showing Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League highlights. Even football fans without a UMTS phone don’t have to miss out on the fun, because they can book the ‘Football Package’ for an additional EUR 5 a month. It includes a live ticker with images and many other football services. In short, both packages are full to the brim with football goodies and Vodafone live! customers have the opportunity to test them out free of charge and without obligation until 9 October 2006.

Thanks to UMTS, Vodafone has entered a new dimension of football TV broadcasting. Football fans with a UMTS phone and the ‘Vodafone live Football Flatrate’ can simply switch on their handset and watch the Bundesliga matches from the kick-off to the final whistle. “Being able to watch the whole 90 minutes live on a UMTS phone was something of a sensation at the start of the season,” said Erik Friemuth, the man in charge of Vodafone live!. “This innovative service is winning over new fans on a daily basis.”

The ‘Vodafone live Football Flatrate’ means 90 minutes of live football enjoyment
All UMTS phone users can book the ‘Vodafone live Football Flatrate’ for only EUR 7.50 extra a month. The first four weeks are entirely free of charge so that users can test out the service. All Bundesliga matches are broadcast live and in full length at the weekend. Users can either watch one Bundesliga match or use the conference function to switch between two different matches. There’s also a live ticker with images so that customers can keep up to date on match progress or check the latest league table status. And the ‘Vodafone live Football Flatrate’ also includes the ‘Vodafone FreistoГџ’ TV programme every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening. This compact-format, 25-minute TV show provides detailed reports with images of all matches, match summaries, player portraits and many other things. The content provider is Vodafone’s partner Arena TV. UEFA Champions League matches are also on the programme in conjunction with Premiere. On UEFA Champions League match days, customers get a preview of the matches, a summary at half-time and match highlights after the final whistle.

The alternative for customers without a UMTS phone is the ‘Football Package’ with live ticker
Even football fans without an UMTS phone don’t have to sit in front of their TV set. Vodafone offers them the ‘Football Package’ as an alternative to the UMTS version for EUR 5 a month. They simply book it in addition to their term contract. It includes a live ticker with images of all first and second Bundesliga matches, plus the UEFA Champions League matches, for information about the progress of every game. Customers also get to use the popular MMS information services. MMS messages are sent to their phones at half-time and after the final whistle providing information about goals, ball possession, corners, yellow and red cards and send-offs. As usual, the ‘My Club live!’, ‘Bundesliga Compact’ and ‘UEFA CL Compact’ options are also available. Another interesting feature is the Video Clips on Demand service, which delivers video clips of the day’s matches.

Test the football services out for free until 9 October
Both offers – ‘Vodafone live Football Flatrate’ and ‘Football Package’ – can be tested free of charge until 9 October 2006. All Vodafone live! customers will receive an MMS in the next few days containing information about the offers and an invitation to try out the ‘football experience’ on their mobile phones. The test phase is non-binding and customers don’t have to provide notice if they don’t want to continue using the service.

If they do decide not to miss one more minute of football, they can subscribe to the football services at the Vodafone shop or on the Vodafone live! portal. Another, even simpler subscription option is to send a text message with the text ‘Ball’ to 55555. A response text message will be sent with a link to the portal where the football package can be booked. The ‘Vodafone live Football Flatrate’ has a minimum term of twelve months, and there is no charge during the summer and winter breaks.

SK Telecom launches WCDMA automatic roaming services with England’s T-Mobile, Netherland and Sweden’s Vodafone, Denmark’s Hi3G in England, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

Automatic roaming services allow the user to take his/her mobile phone overseas for usage without changing handsets or being designated a separate number. WCDMA automatic roaming services even allow video calling (video calling not available in Denmark).

With four European countries added, WCDMA roaming services may be used in a total of 12 countries, including countries where previously available, such as Italy, France, Germany and Spain. SK Telecom has built a foundation for deployment of a WCDMA roaming belt in the European region, from Sweden in the North to Spain and Italy in the South.

SK Telecom revealed that it will continue to expand WCDMA automatic roaming services in the Europe region, in countries such as Portugal, Finland and Austria, and in Asia in countries such as Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines.

Lee Sung-Young, head of SK Telecom’s Global Roaming Division, remarked, “The availability of WCDMA roaming in the Western European region, where a great deal of foreign travel demand is concentrated, will contribute to the promotion of WCDMA.”

T-Mobile and Musicload are presenting their vision of the future of digital music distribution at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) (IFA Consumer Electronics fair) in Berlin. Their objective is to establish a common standard so music files can be shared easily between PCs and cell phones. Customers of legal download platforms are to be able to use the same music file on their PCs, cell phones and their digital players. This is based on the standard “Open Mobile Alliance Digital Rights Management 2.0″ (OMA DRM V2.0). According to the cooperation partners this new copy protection provides the music industry with new application models.

T-Mobile and Musicload have developed a cell phone and PC prototype in a research project with the Technology and Innovation unit of Deutsche Telekom as well as Deutsche Telekom Laboratories. The cooperation partners are showing how OMA DRM V2.0 can be used to easily transfer music files from one device to the next, regardless if the file was bought using a cell phone or on the PC at home. “The frontiers between mobile and Internet-based music distribution are disappearing,” explains Joachim Franz, Director of Product Development & Operations Musicload. “A standardized procedure to protect and manage digital content is the necessary precondition to overcome the current hurdles in usage perceived by customers,” adds Matthias SchrГ¶ter, Vice President Standards & Enabler at T-Mobile International.

The new copy protection was developed by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). This industry forum also defines technical specifications for the mobile communications market. “SMS text messaging is an excellent point in case to highlight overwhelming customer acceptance and the related commercial potential of open standards,” comments Matthias SchrГ¶ter. “The easier it is for customers to use a service, the greater the inclination to do so. This also applies to legal music distribution.”

Flexible use
Thanks to OMA DRM V2.0 customers can choose on which device they would like to listen to their protected songs. They can later extend the usage rights to other devices. “The rights are not related to the content. Therefore staggered price models for digital music are quite possible,” notes Joachim Franz. “Dad could download a song onto his PC and at the same time buy the rights for his daughter’s mobile phone.”

Customers as sales reps
Another advantage of the new copy protection procedure: Customers can share the music they have already bought legally with friends. They listen to the songs and then decide if they would like to purchase the full usage rights. Customers could then get a reward for every song recommended, e.g. a credit. “People mainly chat to friends about new music. This principle can be transferred to the digital world with super-distribution,” comments Susanne Krian, Director Marketing and Sales Musicload. “On top of that, we can considerably reduce the costs for sales and marketing. This explains why we believe that the new standard is sustainable.”