Message #25 From:
NewsBot Date: November 2, 2006 06:46:00 AM
BGO News Bango Launches Safe Subscriptions for Mobile Content
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bango has launched a safe subscription service that gives mobile users
world-wide a simple, risk-free way to pay for content from ringtones and
videos to news and blogs, on a daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis.
The new service makes it easy for consumers to sign up and manage their
subscription accounts on the mobile internet and will restore public
confidence in mobile subscription payments.
There is a solid opportunity for mobile subscription services. “With
up to 15 percent of wireless revenues in the United States already
coming from data services, it makes sense that we’ll
see a rise in mobile subscription services especially as new services
make it easier and safer to enroll, ” said
Roger Entner, vice president of wireless telecomm at Ovum, a market
research firm.
“With the new Bango subscription service,
users have a clear understanding of what they are entering into, know
exactly the status of each subscription and have a simple means of
stopping future payments,” says Ray Anderson,
CEO at Bango. “Having a single point of
control and management avoids problems encountered with old-style
disparate SMS subscriptions.”
Mobile subscription revenues suffered over the last 2 years as the
public started to distrust subscription services. Some consumers found
they had unwittingly signed up for regular payments or didn’t
get the content they had paid for because they mis-typed a message or
their handset could not use the service. The safe subscription service
from Bango addresses these concerns in a number of important ways.
Bango ensures that consumers see the terms and conditions before
confirmation of any payments so it’s clear how
much the service costs and the frequency of the payments. The
integration with the payment flow in a mobile internet session overcomes
the problems of a disparate SMS message based approach where the terms
and conditions are separated from the payment experience.
Consumers also have an easy way of controlling their subscriptions. By
visiting bango.net on their mobile phone, or clicking on a link from the
content provider’s mobile site, they clearly
see the details and status of all their active subscriptions –
with a one-click option to cancel future payments. This single point of
control means consumers do not need to remember what they have signed up
for to or how to stop the subscriptions.
The user needs an internet enabled handset to sign-up (nearly all new
phones are internet enabled). The mobile internet site offering the
services detects handset capabilities so they only offer content known
to work on the user’s handset. This approach
means consumers are not likely to subscribe for content they cannot
access or use.
The new Bango subscription service, due to go live in Q4 2006, is part
of Bango’s global mobile payment platform so
users can pay for content on their phone bill, using PayPal or
credit/debit card. Content providers can offer subscription options
along with a single one-time charge, one-time payments for defined
periods and free access.
About Bango
Bango has developed and deployed a unique open, global infrastructure
platform that enables content providers to market, sell and deliver
their products and services directly to mobile phone users on all mobile
networks using the mobile Internet. This “direct-to-consumer”
approach operates alongside the operator’s
mobile content portals. Leading mobile operators including Cingular
Wireless, Vodafone, Orange, Telefonica and O2 work with Bango to
accelerate the growth of their “direct-to-consumer”
business.
The Bango platform has given phone subscribers around the world greater
access to third-party content. User in more than 130 countries and over
250 operators pay for mobile content using Bango. Bango, based in New
York and Cambridge (UK), is quoted on the London Stock Exchange
(AIM:BGO). For further information, go to www.bango.com.
