eXactmobile and the SABC have expanded their partnership, launching a new SMS news service to deliver news headlines to registered users. Mobile users can now receive SABC news via WAP or standard SMS several times a day.
The new SMS offering expands on the two-year-old partnership that delivers SABC news and abstracts via WAP. In announcing the new service, Judy Sandison, editor of Special News Services at the SABC, said the move was part of the SABC`s strategy to promote the SABC brand, generate new revenue streams and meet more audience needs.
The SMS new service will see prepaid subscribers receiving the top two news headlines once, twice or three times a day, at a rate of 40c per `bulletin` of two headlines. SMS advertising space may also be sold, allowing advertisers to send marketing messages to subscribers who agree to receive them. The SMS news service will be both a `push` service, in that users will receive headlines at specified times during the day, and a `pull` service, allowing them to access news on demand.
The SABC-eXactmobile WAP news service has also been upgraded to improve access speed. The service delivers sabcnews.com`s top six headlines and story abstracts to registered WAP users. Sandison expects the mobile news services to develop into live video and TV news being delivered to cellphones in the "not too distant future".
eXactmobile MD Gavin Penkin says the latest move is in line with mobile user trends. "First people wanted product, now they want added value, such as information," he says. "We see news as a `killer app` that will drive interest in other services."
Penkin says that while the idea of SMS news is not a new one, the partnership sees the service as laying a foundation for future mobile content services. In addition, the eXactmobile-SABC partnership lays a foundation for mobile entertainment - an area Pankin feels will be "massive".
Users can register for the service via www.sabcmobile.co.za or www.exactmobile.co.za.
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