New WC mobile broadcast rights deals

Infront Sports & Media AG, the company responsible for the worldwide distribution of the broadcast rights to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, has announced it signed three major agreements in the category of Mobile Telephony, with Dutch Vodafone Libertel N.V , Italian H3G S.p.A. and German based T-Mobile.

Maastricht based mobile network operator Vodafone acquired the mobile broadcast rights to the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ for the territory of the Netherlands. The package includes up to four minutes of video material per match for "near-live" and/or delayed coverage on mobile phones. The rights include up to four minutes of video material per match for "near-live" and/or delayed coverage on mobile phones. Vodafone is entitled to provide access to highlight footage of all 64 matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, including goals and other key scenes to its customers.

With approximately 3.9 million customers Vodafone Libertel N.V. is one of the Netherlands' largest mobile telecommunication providers. The company is a member of the worldwide Vodafone Group Plc which provides a full range of mobile telecommunications services, including voice and data communications. Vodafone has equity interests in 27 countries and Partner Networks in a further 32 countries, with a proportionate customer base of over 179 million.

H3G, which is controlled by the Hutchison Whampoa Group, is entitled to exclusively offer live streaming transmissions of all games as broadcasted by Sky Italia on a pay only basis to its clients. The transmission is possible over telecommunications networks (e.g. GSM/UMTS) and over digital mobile broadcast systems employing DVB-H or DMB transmission standards. The rights also allow H3G for the non-exclusive transmission of near-live and/or delayed video clips of key match footage such as goals via mobile networks to mobile phones. Additionally the rights package includes access to archive video material of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

H3G S.p.A. and its brand 3 Italia won a UMTS license in Italy in 2000, commenced offering of its services in March 2003 and is now the leader of the UMTS market in Italy, with 5.5 million clients by the end of 2005, thanks to a wide offer of multimedia, video communication and internet services, besides entertainment, music, information, cinema, sport and TV on the move.

T-Mobile acquired the rights for the non-exclusive transmission of near-live and/or delayed video clips of key match footage such as goals via mobile networks to mobile phones, for seven European territories including host country Germany, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. The rights package includes also access to archive video material of the 2002 FIFA World Cup,

In Germany, T-Mobile is entitled to offer live streaming transmissions of 20 selected 2006 FIFA World Cup matches to its customers. The transmission is possible over telecommunications networks (e.g. GPRS/UMTS) on a pay basis.

Oliver Seibert, an Executive Director of Infront, said: “We are delighted about this extensive agreement with T-Mobile as the mobile arm of Deutsche Telekom, one of the Official Partners of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In Europe, mobile broadcast rights agreements have now been signed covering most of the important football markets. This guarantees a strong mobile coverage during the 2006 FIFA World Cup reaching millions of fans.”

T-Mobile International is one of the world’s leading companies in mobile communications. As one of Deutsche Telekom’s three strategic business units, T-Mobile concentrates on the most dynamic markets in Europe and the United States. By YE 2005, nearly 87 million mobile customers were served by companies of the Deutsche Telekom group.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.