Europe
Germany : T-Mobile will be the first mobile operator to broadcast
twenty matches from the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ live to its customers’
cell phones, thereby ensuring that football fans will not miss a single
goal, penalty or pivotal scene when on the move. All T-Mobile customers
in Germany who are not able to watch the games live can watch the
latest analyses by Premiere World Cup experts, interviews, opinions
and entertaining information in a 15-minute format on the Premiere
channel shortly after the end of the match. What’s more, by
providing a wide range of information and entertainment, as well as
extensive MobileTV service, MMS and SMS goal ticker and download services,
T-Mobile leaves football fans free to enjoy every day of this huge
event, while making sure that they have plenty to do between games.
T-Mobile sends the latest
news about the German squad as well as the teams from other countries
directly to its customers’ cell phones via the "t-zones"
mobile information and service portal. Video clips and pictures of
the unforgettable moments from previous competitions are also available
for T-Mobile customers to download to their cell phones. T-Mobile
will be offering its World Cup information service to customers in
Germany, the UK, Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, and
Hungary.
T-Mobile will bring the
football event of the year directly to its customers’ cell phones
in the form of a TV broadcast. In fact, thanks to the MobileTV service,
T-Mobile customers in Germany will be able to experience live the
excitement of the kick-off in Munich on June 9, when the opening game
of the World Cup gets underway. During the four weeks of the World
Cup,
T-Mobile customers will be able to watch twenty of the games live
on their mobile phones by tuning in to a special TV channel.
In order to receive the
live transmissions, customers must have UMTS mobile phones (UMTS,
Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems). The MobileTV service
uses the streaming procedure to transmit pictures and sound.
Together with German pay-TV
provider Premiere, T-Mobile will offer a MobileTV channel that broadcasts
post-match highlights of all 64 games, and is updated several times
a day, for football fans who are unable to enjoy the live broadcasts.
The MobileTV service relies on the renowned competence of Premiere
football experts and will feature the top Premiere quality to which
customers are used. And on top of four-minute match highlights there
will be the Premiere panel of experts, providing 15-minute analyses,
as well as interviews with players and managers, background reports
on the teams, and humorous elements showing the FIFA World Cup with
the twinkling of an eye.
The "goal ticker"
ensures that football fans always know the latest score. T-Mobile
plans to supply video clips and photos of match highlights for certain
teams and games. Alternatively, customers can be updated by SMS. Key
events such as goals, red cards, penalties, half-time scores and final
scores will therefore be available in near real-time on the customer’s
mobile phone.
Fans can now stay on the
ball with T-Mobile’s web’n’walk service: users of
T-Mobile’s mobile Internet services can visit and explore the
official FIFAworldcup.com website directly from the web’n’walk
homepage. And in future, T-Mobile will also set up a direct link from
the t-zones to the World Cup portal. Here, customers will find the
latest World Cup news and results, as well as an extensive range of
player photos, FIFA logos, historic video clips, ringtones, wallpaper,
animations and games that are available for download. The t-zones
already offer football fans over 100 official FIFA background images
that they can download, as well as video clips of key moments in the
history of the German football team and highlights from the FIFA World
Cups between 1954 and 2002. These include video clips showing scenes
from the 1954 final – the "miracle of Bern" –
as well as images of the still-controversial Wembley goal of 1966,
Diego Armando Maradona’s "hand of God" at the 1986
World Cup and the German World Cup triumphs in 1974 and 1990. The
wallpaper designs available include the 2006 FIFA World Cup™
logo and the World Cup mascot Goleo, as well as designs featuring
the kit and flags of the participating teams. It costs EUR 1.49 to
download wallpaper in Germany, and EUR 1.99 to download a video clip,
plus the call charges applicable under each price plan.
The "World Cup Insider"
service is set to be launched in April in the form of MMS or SMS news
updates. Subscribers to this service will receive regular background
reports on the teams and players taking part in the 2006 FIFA World
Cup™, as well as the latest World Cup news and customized messages
for football fans. For instance, the "German team news"
service allows football fans to accompany Jürgen Klinsmann’s
squad on the road to the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. Subscribers to
MMS News receive one to three MMS messages a month, containing four
pictures or diagrams with the latest news, details of events that
take place between matches, the line-up for the next game or pictures
from team training sessions. Each MMS costs EUR 0.59. Both services
are also available in the form of SMS News, at a cost of EUR 0.19
for each SMS.
An overview of the services
available for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, as well as their order
numbers, can be found online at www.t-mobile.de/wm2006. Customers
can sign up for the services either directly via the website or by
sending an SMS from their mobile phone. The "Goal Ticker Germany"
MMS service can be ordered by sending an SMS with the text "A
1223" to the speed-dial number 72766. The services can also be
ordered in the t-zones by visiting Messaging, Chat & Flirt >
Foto MMS News > Sport or SMS News > National; alternatively,
the SMS News service can also be ordered via the speed-dial number
2323.