Europe Netherlands : Vodafone Netherlands will broadcast all 20 episodes of the regional Limburg soap De Hemelpaort on the mobile phone. It is the first time in the Netherlands that a regional soap is broadcasted on mobile. The episodes, starting Thursday night 22 February, will be shown weekly on regional TV station L1 TV. On a Vodafone mobile, they can be seen on Thursdays from 12 noon, prior to the TV broadcast.

The episodes will be available in full length on the mobile phone, several hours before the weekly TV broadcast. All Vodafone customers with a UMTS phone can watch each episode for Euro 0.50, whenever and wherever they want and prior to all other viewers. Making the soap available for mobile viewing, Vodafone underlines its leading position in mobile Live TV and its commitment to the region. Vodafone’s HQ in the Netherlands is based in Maastricht, the capital of the province of Limburg.

The Limburg TV soap De Hemelpaort follows the success of another regional TV soap: Van Jonge Leu & Oale Groond in Twente. Also the music in the soap is authentic. The title song is from the Limburg based and very popular and successful band Rowwen Hèze. The soap is produced by NL Film and TV.