UK: Guardian to launch mobile news service

Posted by Dominique Lewis Tuohy on February 17, 2006 at 11:46 AM

Guardian Unlimited is set to launch a mobile news service whereby readers will be able to access stories from the Guardian website on their mobile phones. The Guardian already offers text alert services and downloadable crosswords and sudokus, but this new initiative, to be launched on a trial basis for free, is innovative because for the first time people will be able to read whole news stories on their mobile phones.

This new service is loaded onto the mobile phone as an application and enables the user to check Guardian online articles wherever, whenever. Users can personalise the topics they want to subscribe to.

Simon Waldman, director of digital publishing for the Guardian, made the following comments on the new initiative: "One of the greatest challenges we face as a publisher is to ensure that our users get the content they want exactly when and where they want it … For this reason, mobile is going to be an increasingly important platform for us in the coming years, and this trial with On2Go is a key element in our mobile strategy."

Other UK papers that offer similar services include The Financial Times, which charges 3 pounds sterling a month for its mobile news service, and The Times, which charges 4.50 pounds sterling a month for its service. The Guardian too is likely to begin charging for its mobile news service, if the trial is successful.

Source: Media Guardian

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