M1 service lets mobiles share
SINGAPORE--Mobile One (M1) customers could end up a few dollars richer if they use the company's newly-launched service to exchange videos shot on their mobile phone.
The local mobile operator on Wednesday unveiled its new video-sharing service, dubbed MeTV, which lets its subscribers upload and share short digital clips with other M1 customers using a multimedia messaging-enabled (MMS) mobile phone.
In a company statement, M1 CEO Neil Montefiore described MeTV as a service that brings the "spontaneity of video-sharing" to the mobile platform.
"With the prevalence of camera phones, anyone can just shoot and send," said Montefiore. "This service makes it really easy for customers to share with others interesting snippets of life, and make money at the same time."
M1 said it will pay the video content owners S$0.05 (US$0.03) each time their clip is downloaded by others, but they need to earn at least S$10 (US$6.51)--the equivalent of 200 downloads--before payment will be made.
M1 customers can view MeTV clips by clicking the MeTV icon on the company's mobile portal, MiWorld Mobile.
To upload a video clip, customers need to send video clips--no larger than 250KB in capacity--as an MMS to 6388 (MeTV). They will then receive an acknowledgement via SMS (short message service) for every successful clip uploaded. Alternatively, they can request for the MeTV URL by sending "MeTV" as a SMS message to 8887.
According to an M1 spokesperson, uploading of video clips will be free for customers until 30 April 2007. Thereafter, subscribers will be charged S$0.21 (US$0.13) for every video clip they upload or download.
New SMS tariff plans
In a separate announcement last week, M1 also unveiled two high-volume SMS tariff plans targeted at enterprise customers.
According to M1, the new plans--EnterpriseText Plan 2500 and EnterpriseText Plan 5000--cater to businesses that make regular use of short messaging service (SMS) to communicate with their clients.
For a fixed monthly subscription of S$65 (US$42) and S$125 (US$81), M1 said it will bundle EnterpriseText 2500 and EnterpriseText 5000 with 2,500 and 5,000 free SMS, respectively.
The company also said that it will waive charges for registration and SIM card, but customers will have to subscribe to the plan before 2008 to enjoy the promotion.
When contacted, an M1 spokesperson told ZDNet Asia that there is growing demand for affordable enterprise SMS subscription services.
"With a high mobile phone penetration in Singapore, and the prevalence of text messaging, many companies will find SMS to be an efficient and cost-effective means of communicating concise information to their customers," he said. Before the launch of the EnterpriseText Plan, he noted, none of the service providers in Singapore offered subscription plans bundled with high volume of SMS at an affordable price.
The M1 spokesperson declined to say how many companies have signed up for the plan, noting that the service was only launched a week ago and it would be premature to rate its success.