Si.mobil Slovenia Chooses RealNetworks to Power Music Service
By Realnetworks Inc., PRNEWednesday, November 11, 2009
Real deploys second service under its 4-year mobilkom austria group agreement and continues growth in Eastern Europe
SALZBURG, Austria and SEATTLE, November 12 - RealNetworks(R), Inc. (RNWK), the digital entertainment services company,
transitioned the music service for mobilkom austria group's (MAG) Si.mobil to
its platform on November 12, 2009, adding all-you-can-eat functionality and
upgrading the service to Real's mobile and PC client interface. This is the
second deployment under Real's 4-year agreement with MAG, providing
Si.mobil's nearly 600,000 subscribers with access to the most feature-forward
mobile music service in Europe.
"After seeing significant growth in both downloads and music subscribers
enjoyed by our sister company, A1 in Austria, we are eager to launch our
music service on the Real platform," said Peter Curk, marketing director,
Si.mobil. "RealNetworks' UI is clean and simple, and the platform is flexible
enough to offer innovative pricing models for our subscribers, making it the
obvious choice for success in mobile music."
Si.mobil offers a bundled plan, ORTO MUZIQ ,which will include unlimited
music, free in-network calls, 1,001 SMS, 1,001 MMS, access to the Vodafone
live! portal and 100 MB of data for 15 euro/month. Alternatively, subscribers
can choose to access the revamped MUZIQ portal, where they will be able to
choose full-track downloads on their handsets or PCs from variety of genres
and artists.
"We look forward to providing Si.mobil's ORTO MUZIQ subscribers with the
same innovative product that A1 subscribers have enjoyed since August, and
that we look forward to providing to other MAG operators throughout Eastern
Europe in the future," said Andreas Spechtler, managing director, technology
products and services, EMEA, RealNetworks.
Real also powers the music services that make mobile music available to
hundreds of millions of subscribers in Europe, including mobilkom austria
group's A1 in Austria, and Vodafone music stores in 9 countries, including
the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Greece, The
Netherlands, Romania and Spain.
As a provider of music services for mobile operators, Real provides and
hosts the technologies that enable subscribers to discover, download and
listen to music on their mobile device and personal computer. Real's music
service is now deployed with 14 communications service providers in 13
countries around the world.
In total, Real's ASP services are currently available through 83
different mobile operators in 45 countries worldwide, making them available
to 785.5 million subscribers. Real offers mobile operators a comprehensive
selection of mobile services including: Music; Video; personalisation
features such as Ringtones, RBTs and Multimedia Ringback Services; and
messaging services.
RNWK-G
ABOUT REALNETWORKS
RealNetworks, Inc. delivers digital entertainment services to consumers
via PC, portable music player, home entertainment system or mobile phone.
Real created the streaming media category in 1995 and has continued to lead
the market with pioneering products and services, including: RealPlayer(R),
the first mainstream media application to enable the downloading and transfer
of online video to mobile devices; the Rhapsody(R) digital music service,
which delivers a catalog of more than 8 million songs to users at home, work
and on-the-go; GameHouse.com, one of the premier casual games destinations on
the Web; and a variety of mobile entertainment services, such as ringback
tones, offered to consumers through leading wireless carriers around the
world. RealNetworks' corporate information is located at
www.realnetworks.com/company.
Si.mobil, member of mobilkom austria group
mobilkom austria group is the leading mobile service provider in Central
and Eastern Europe (CEE). The Group connects over 18 million mobile customers
in eight countries. The mobilkom austria group includes the mobile
communications providers mobilkom austria, Mobiltel in Bulgaria, Velcom in
Belarus, Vipnet in Croatia, Si.mobil in Slovenia, mobilkom liechtenstein, Vip
mobile in Serbia and Vip operator in Macedonia.
In February 2001, mobilkom austria acquired the majority ownership of
Si.mobil, which began operating in March 1999 as Slovenia's first private
mobile service provider. Since May 2006, mobilkom austria has held a 100
percent interest in Si.mobil.
A partnership agreement with Vodafone was an important step in
establishing Si.mobil as the price leader that offers global products and
services.
Si.mobil was the first operator in Slovenia to offer GPRS and one of the
first operators worldwide to launch EDGE.
RealNetworks, RealArcade, Rhapsody, RealPlayer and the Real logo are
trademarks or registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. or its
subsidiaries. All other trademarks, names of actual companies and products
mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
Europe, Kevin Connor of AxiCom, +44-20-8392-4082, Mobile, +44-7912-194-237, kevin.connor at axicom.com; or U.S., Sally Julien, +1-206-399-1419, sally at sallyjulien.com, both for RealNetworks, Inc.
Tags: Austria, Austria And Seattle, Eastern Europe, Realnetworks Inc., Salzburg, Washington