Cape-based ChristianMobile today introduced its SMS bible service in the US and signed an exclusive distribution agreement in Russia - four months after launching the service in SA.
Marketing executive Bertus Preller says the deal means ChristianMobile will be the only SMS provider in North America to offer two versions of the Bible, and a Spanish version, throughout the US and the rest of the world.
ChristianMobile claims it is the first mobile phone application developer to offer a "VirtualBible" SMS service. It uses a premium-rated short code and debuted in September.
"Our service has become very successful in SA and we are signing up about 5 000 subscribers a month, most of whom receive weekly Bible quotations," Preller says.
He says ChristianMobile has concluded a working relationship with the United Bible Societies, a 141-strong fellowship spread across 200 countries and territories to distribute the Bible in all languages over all continents.
Exclusivity agreements
"We have now received exclusivity agreements and so we will be launching a South American service in the near future," Preller says.
ChristianMobile and Kuuasema, a Finnish-based Java development boutique, jointly developed the VirtualBible technology.
Preller says the technology lends itself to other possibilities once rolled out fully, such as affording people from around the world an opportunity to download the whole Bible onto a mobile phone in the language of their choice in a particular country.
He says mobile technology is the fastest growth of technology ever witnessed: it took 12 years to reach the first billion connections; the second billion has been achieved in just two-and-a-half years.
International research firm Gartner recently predicted the number of SMSes transmitted would hit the 2.3 trillion-mark in 2010.
Preller says ChristianMobile plans to open mobile portals on five continents by January. It will offer content to the mobile and wireless arena through customised entertainment content, ringtones and applications for mobile phones in the 2.5G and 3G environments, he adds.
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