T-Mobile & Virgin Mobile Hope to Bring World Cup to Mobile Phones
Now that the aging Ronaldo is in tip top shape with fresh legs again, Robinho has blossomed into the true star of Real Madrid, and Ronaldinho has fortified his seat as the number one soccer (futbol, football) player in the world, the British will be given the chance to watch the dominant elegance of the Brazilian team (without Google’s Sergey Brin & Larry Page) win yet another World Cup… this time on their mobiles. T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile announced yesterday that they will be offering live World Cup games on the mobile phones of their 3G customers.
T-Mobile is the official mobile sponsor of this summer’s World Cup in Germany and is in talks with FIFA to see if they can pick only live England games for the broadcasts or whether only highlights can be shown.
The TV rights to the World Cup are shared between ITV and the BBC, both of whom have worked with Virgin Mobile in the past for steaming live events.
The Guardian Reports :
Virgin Mobile, which is working with broadcast partner BT Movio, could have its service up and running in time for the kick-off of the first match and although the channel line-up of the service has not yet been released it is expected that a channel from either ITV or the BBC will be among the five being offered at launch. As a result viewers may get the chance to watch their team. The service also includes all the digital radio channels broadcast in the UK.
Mobile TV has been seized upon by the mobile phone companies as a way of increasing the money they make from customers as competition, regulation and new technologies erode the price of traditional voice telephony. “There is a lot of hype around mobile TV,” admitted T-Mobile’s chief marketing officer, Ulli Gritzuhn. “And some operators are making historic assumptions about its role. There is no doubt that TV will happen … but it is an extension of existing viewing habits. It supplements broadcast TV, it does not replace it”
