O2 Plans Mobile Pub

LONDON -- O2 has today announced it has partnered with InfoSpace to provide classic British pub games using the i-mode service to consumers in the UK. The partnership will see iPub, a new and quirky channel, available from 13 February 2006. iPub will feature themed "pub"mobile games such as Pub Pool, Pub Fruity and Pub Darts as well as a number of best-selling mobile games. The site will offer mobile consumers access to InfoSpace's iPub channel on its i-mode site from £3. As an official partner, InfoSpace will be available through i-mode's intuitive interface under the games menu.

The partnership forms part of i-mode's unique content structure through which InfoSpace will be able to quickly develop and deploy sophisticated, secure commercial content to consumers. It allows InfoSpace to expand its revenue opportunities by selling its content through O2's generous revenue sharing model. InfoSpace will collect its revenue from subscription based services billed directly through the user's phone bill permitting it to concentrate on its core business. i-mode is a flexible business model that facilitates both subscription based and non-subscription based content.

Grahame Riddell, Head of i-mode Marketing for O2 UK said: We are pleased to be working with InfoSpace to offer its iPub service to our customers.InfoSpace has managed to capture the benefits of the i-mode ecosystem, offering a compelling mobile experience for both job seekers and employers.O2 wants to make developing mobile content as attractive and as easy for businesses as possible. Building a strong content community both on and off portal will be critical to the success of these services. Use will be driven by periods of downtime, communication applications, like e-mail, and situational driven use, when information is needed instantly. Our research clearly shows that consumers are willing to look at and pay for mobile content, and the overriding point is that convenience is key."

Telefónica Europe plc (O2)