May 7, 2004
Mobile operators plan for mass take up of ringback tones
Ringback tones are set to reach mass market this year, with Vodafone, O2 and Orange all having issued requests for proposals (RFPs) for suppliers, reports New Media Zero via Techdirt.
"Industry observers believe ringback tones, which are seen by many as a possible new cash-cow for operators and record companies, will be launched by all UK operators by the end of the year".
South Korea's ringback service called COLORing launched 20 months ago and made SK Telecom $100 million (£59 million), with 35% of subscribers using it as of December 03.
T-Mobile is currently the only UK operator to have launched a service, called Caller Tunes, in December last year. (cf Mobile UK first European operator to launch a customised ring back service).
Record labels are said to be excited about the concept, viewing it as a guaranteed new revenue stream. 'Content is stored on the network so the labels love it because it's content that can't be pirated,' said Mobile Networking founder Craig Barrack interviewed by New Media Zero.
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