Bridge Mobile Alliance launches its first Regional Mobile Content Service with Mobile ESPN across seven markets

Bridge Mobile Alliance launches its first Regional Mobile Content Service with Mobile ESPN across seven markets Introducing a whole new sports experience – the world of sports at your fingertips Keeping track of World Cup2006 on your mobile phone

Bridge Mobile Alliance announces the launch of its first regional mobile content service with Mobile ESPN across seven markets in Asia Pacific. The service will be offered by seven of its member operators – Airtel (India), CSL (Hong Kong), Globe Telecom (Philippines), Maxis (Malaysia), SingTel Mobile (Singapore), Taiwan Mobile (Taiwan) and Telkomsel (Indonesia). The Mobile ESPN sports content service is the first of a regional mobile content suite of services to be offered by the alliance, as part of its regional mobile service strategy.

Mobile ESPN is the mobile sports content service provided by ESPN STAR Sports, Asia’s number one sports broadcaster and content provider. ESPN STAR Sports broadcasts the world’s premier live sports and leading regional sports events to over 139 million households on ESPN and over 63 million households on STAR Sports. Now, with Mobile ESPN, mobile subscribers[1] of the Bridge Mobile Alliance member operators will be able to enjoy around-the-clock coverage of ESPN programme and content on their mobile phones.

Introducing a whole new sports experience – the world of sports at your fingertips
The Mobile ESPN service enables sports fans and enthusiasts to follow their favorite sports teams and major sports events more closely than ever before, all within the single touch of their mobile phone.

With easily accessible WAP portal and SMS alert services, subscribers are able to enjoy an exciting lineup of their favorite sports content through video clips streaming and downloads, “live” news coverage and in-depth match analysis, breaking news and top stories, any time and anywhere through their mobile phones. Football fans will be delighted to know that a dedicated news section on the World Cup2006 will be available from 23 May to 9 July 2006.

In addition to Mobile ESPN’s coverage of World Cup 2006, sports fans will have access to a full suite of other premium sports content such as football, cricket, tennis, golf, rugby etc, and major sports leagues including the English Premier League (EPL), Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Basketball Association (NBA), just to name a few. These content will soon be made available from August 2006. With Mobile ESPN, sports fans will have the world of sports at their fingertips.

Keeping track of the World Cupon your mobile phone
With the World Cup just around the corner, football fans will be able to keep track of the event around the clock wherever they are, on their mobile phones. The following service offerings[2] are available for subscription:

Video Channels
“ESPN Here We Go”: Get the latest match insights from ESPN STAR Sports presenters and football pundits as they bring you match previews, predictions, analysis, previous day highlights and team news from the World Cup. “SportsCenter”: To keep track of the latest sports in action, tune in to SportsCenter for around-the-world coverage on top sports stories, with special reports on the World Cup match updates, summaries and results.

WAP and SMS Alert Services
“ESPN Football Live”: Follow the 64 World Cup matches as they take place, with WAP / SMS alerts on the latest breaking team news, injury reports, fixture listings, half-time and full-time scores, penalties etc.

“ESPN Insider”: Get a first hand analysis of match developments and predictions with expert commentary from ESPN STAR Sports celebrity presenters and football pundits.

Other sports content service offerings available for download include:

• Java games
• Wallpapers of popular football players
• Player tones

(Please see Annex below for more details on full service offering)

Dr. Patrick Sim, Bridge Mobile Chief Executive Officer, said, “With 64 matches spanning across the one month duration, even the most ardent football fan may be hard pressed to keep track of all the World Cup matches on television. Now they can simply browse the Mobile ESPN WAP Portal or receive SMS alerts to get on-the-go match updates and concise match insights, to keep themselves updated any time, anywhere. There are many sports fans in Asia and our vision is to take the enjoyment and appreciation of sports to a whole new level by integrating the mobile as part of the overall sports experience. Soon, sports lovers can look forward to accessing a complete suite of premium sports content services on their mobile phones, covering other major sporting seasons such as EPL, MLB, NBA and much more, from their respective local Bridge Mobile Alliance member operators.”

Jamie Davis, ESPN STAR Sports Managing Director, said, “We’re a sports network that is focused solely on serving the fan – that means making sports content available any time and any place through ‘any pipe’ and any device. Mobile ESPN merges what avid fans expect on our TV channels and on espnstar.com and creates a pre-eminent third screen in sports. Our partnership with the Bridge Mobile Alliance reflects the service’s ultimate mission – to provide a compelling, differentiated experience combining real-time access to world class sports content, packaged and delivered in signature ESPN fashion.”

How to subscribe to Mobile ESPN
Mobile ESPN service will be available for subscription in seven countries across Asia, through Bridge Mobile Alliance’s member operators: Airtel (India), CSL (Hong Kong), Globe Telecom (Philippines), Maxis (Malaysia), SingTel Mobile (Singapore), Taiwan Mobile (Taiwan) and Telkomsel (Indonesia).

In general, there are three types of service packages:
WAP Portal Access: Basic, Premium and Video subscriptions (package depends on types of access)
SMS Alerts: Subscription with bundled SMS / Subscription with pay-per-SMS
Downloads: Pay-per-download

For more details on specific service availability and package subscription, please contact your local Bridge Mobile Alliance member operator.

1. Refers to mobile subscribers from participating member operators of the Bridge Mobile Alliance
2. Service availability, packages and pricing will vary across Bridge Mobile Alliance member operators. For more information, please contact your respective member operator.

Quotes from Bridge Mobile Alliance member operators

“The World Cup of football connects billions of people across the world in a very special way. Now through Bridge Mobile Alliance, we are delighted that Airtel customers will have the unique advantage of accessing exciting World Cup content on the mobile. We believe that this is only the beginning and look forward to more such initiatives that will benefit the alliance customers across Asia Pacific.”
– Mr. Hemant Sachdev, Director, Marketing and Communications, Bharti Airtel Limited.

“We are very pleased that Bridge Mobile Alliance has brought various initiatives and value-added services to our customers across the region in the past year. Sports-related content is one of the most popular mobile infotainment services in the Hong Kong market. The introduction of Mobile ESPN with Bridge Mobile Alliance enables CSL to further enrich our service offerings, bringing customers significant international events and around-the-clock sports news. With CSL’s unique 3G Mobile TV service, our customers are even able to watch the latest news of World Cup and other international sport events with a truly simple and user-friendly interface by simply pressing *888 video call. ”
– Mr. Tony Seeto, Director of Business Development, CSL

“The Bridge Mobile Alliance has proven in this initiative the strategic competitive advantage it delivers to its member operators. ESPN is a world-wide leader in sports broadcast and Globe Telecom is enthusiastic about its inclusion to our comprehensive line-up of services. Globe was the first in Asia Pacific to launch 3G with HSDPA. The ESPN content will help highlight 3G’s high-speed, rich media and exciting features. The Filipino sports fan will be delighted to find this offering.”
– Mr. Mario R. Domingo, Head, Service Creation Division and VAS Product Business Group, Globe Telecom

“Maxis is delightedto realize the dreams of true blue Malaysian sports fans, offering them around the clock coverage of their favorite sports and mobile content. Coupled with Maxis’ broadcast sponsorship of the 2006 FIFA World Cup which delivers the tournament to every home on TV, and exclusive World Cup mobile content, Maxis is rapidly becoming the preferred mobile infotainment provider.”
– Mr. Kugan Thirunavakarasu, Head of Product Development and Infotainment, Maxis Communications Berhad

“The launch of Mobile ESPN with the Bridge Mobile Alliance is certainly timely given the upcoming World Cup in Germany. SingTel Mobile is pleased to support this exciting development. As a customer-focused service provider, SingTel Mobile is pleased to be able to give all our sports-loving customers new and innovative ways to get the latest updates on their favorite sports. As consumers today are more technology-savvy than ever, they will certainly appreciate being able to use mobile technology to meet more than just their communication needs.”
– Ms Vicki Brady, Vice President, Consumer Marketing, Consumer Business, SingTel

“Taiwan Mobile has always anticipated and satisfied our customers’ needs for them to pursue a free and enjoyable lifestyle. Together with Bridge Mobile Alliance, we’re very happy to have the privilege to provide Mobile ESPN in this market. As a member of Bridge Mobile Alliance, we look forward to more and more regional and global hits to be introduced to our customers for a life full of freedom and excitement. As Chien-Ming Wang from Taiwan does such a marvelous job in Yankees, we will feel very excited to make it possible for our customers to keep an eye on him any time and anywhere in the near future. ”
– Mr. Jeff Ku, VP Value Added Service, Taiwan Mobile

“Telkomsel is proud to be part of this launch in Asia for the Mobile ESPN Service. Indonesia is a sports-crazy country and we see enormous attention for major events such as the World Cup2006, as well as a constant interest in all other soccer-related events. This interest also extends to other types of sports, for example, badminton, basketball, volleyball, golf, F1 and other racing events. With the rollout of Mobile ESPN, we will be able to deliver a wide variety of sports-related mobile content to our customers who can access such content through a large number of services and access gateways, anywhere they go. Combined with the undisputed strengths of Telkomsel’s widest and hi-tech mobile network and services, Mobile ESPN will be Indonesia’s strongest mobile sports service available.”
– Pak Kiskenda Suriahardja, President Director, Telkomsel

 

About ESPN Star Sports
ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world’s leading cable and satellite broadcasters, ESPN Inc. and STAR. We are Asia’s complete sports provider that reaches over 139 million households for ESPN and over 63 million households for STAR Sports. Our networks are ESPN Asia, ESPN India, ESPN Taiwan, ESPN Philippines, MBC-ESPN (Korea), ESPN Singapore, ESPN Hong Kong, STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Taiwan, STAR Sports Singapore, STAR Sports S.E.A. and STAR Sports Hong Kong. We bring the world’s premier live sports and leading regional events to viewers 24 hours a day. On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. On-line, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. This multilingual, online platform is closely integrated with ESPN and STAR Sports on air networks and has established the sites as the number one on-line sports destination in their respective markets.

Annex : Mobile ESPN and other Sports Content Service Offerings

Mobile ESPN Content & Service Offerings1

Video Channels (3G / 2.5 G)
“ESPN Here We Go” (Available from 8 June 2006)
Made-for-mobile ‘mobisodes’ by ESPN STAR Sports presenters Each ‘mobisode’ consists of 2-minute and 30-second preview clips on every World Cup match, which features match analysis and predictions by ESPN STAR Sports football analysts and pundits, previous day highlights and team news.
Languages*: English, Mandarin and Cantonese versions will be available from 8 June 2006.

* Please check with your respective Bridge Mobile Alliance member operator for type of language supported.

“SportsCenter” (Available from 23 May 2006)
SportsCenter
This video section comprises 2-minute bulletins and 30-second updates featuring coverage of top sports stories from around the world.
Languages*: Available in English from 23 May 2006. Mandarin and Cantonese versions will be available from 1 June 2006.

SportsCenter Football Update
Dedicated news section on the world of football, with 2-minute and 30-second video clips featuring the latest match updates, summaries and results.
Special news report on World Cup 2006
Languages*: Available in English from 23 May 2006. Mandarin and Cantonese versions will be available from 1 June 2006.

* Please check with your respective Bridge Mobile Alliance member operator for type of language supported.

WAP and SMS Alert Services
“ESPN Football Live” (Available from 23 May 2006)
‘Live’ alerts and news service providing the latest breaking team news, match updates and fixtures: Match updates: Goal updates; half time / full time scores; yellow / red cards information; penalties etc Match fixtures: List of upcoming matches
Languages*: Available in English, Traditional Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia

Please check with your respective Bridge Mobile Alliance member operator for type of language supported.

“ESPN Insider” (Available from 23 May 2006)
Dedicated match preview service with expert analysis and opinions from ESPN STAR Sports presenters and professional tipster:
Pre-match analysis and predictions provided by ESPN STAR Sports celebrity presenters (such as Andrew Leci, John Dykes, Andy Penders, Paul Masefield or Steve McMahon)
Resident expert predictor, ‘Dr. Football&rsq?o;, to provide specific match insights
Languages*: Available in English, Traditional Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia
Please check with your respective Bridge Mobile Alliance member operator for type of language supported.

Other sports content service offerings
Please click here for more information.
¹Service availability, packages and pricing will vary across Bridge Mobile Alliance member operators. For more information, please contact your respective member operator.