Press Releases

MTN sets the cyber space alight with the launch of MTN Play

The MTN Group, the leading telecommunications operator in Africa and the Middle East, is set to make the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ the world’s biggest mobile event yet with the launch today of a content portal that will deliver the World Cup action on their mobile handsets.

Appropriately called MTN Play, the portal is an interactive mobile access channel that will enable millions of MTN customers across its vast global footprint of 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East to enjoy digital 2010 FIFA World Cup™ content – including near live match highlights.

“Imagine yourself at the final match at Soccer City on 11 July 2010, and a World Cup winning goal is scored to thunderous applause, but for some reason or another you are not exactly sure how it happened, or you want to see a replay which is not allowed at soccer matches. Through MTN Play, you will be able to download this action on your mobile handset, giving you the benefit of witnessing the goal live and reviewing it on your mobile handset a mere few minutes after it happened.

“Digital content on mobile phones is a proven solution that works in emerging markets. Through MTN Play, we will enable mobile customers around the world who still do not have access to TV, as is the case in some of the African countries which ironically boast impressive mobile penetration levels, to experience the magic of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ via their handsets through watching video clips of their favourite teams, downloading their national anthems and following their teams’ performance during the much-anticipated tournament,” said Cambridge Mokanyane, MTN Group General Manager: FIFA 2010.

Mokanyane is pleased that MTN Play is being launched on the eve of Africa’s first ever FIFA World Cup™. “MTN Play will have a significant impact on how MTN subscribers experience the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. It will also be the first time that some of the markets will experience digital content on this scale.

“MTN Play will ensure that millions of our customers across Africa and the Middle East will be able to share in the excitement and glory that makes the FIFA World Cup™ the biggest football showpiece in the world, and for MTN, this is a great opportunity to make this the biggest mobile World Cup ever through delivering content to our customers in excess of 100 million around the world,” said Mokanyane.

The FIFA World Cup™ is but one of many streams of content on MTN Play, thanks to MTN’s exclusive global mobile content rights for the event. The portal will also provide MTN customers with a rich assortment of locally priced content including news, music (with local and international flavor), games and much more.

To facilitate access and ensure affordability the content on MTN Play will be differentiated so that all handset types will be catered for by offering SMS content for entry level phones all the way to the video content for high end smart phones.

Gary Trehair, MTN Group Senior Manager: Portals, added that one of the key differentiators of MTN Play is the availability of football content that is exclusive to MTN, thanks to exclusive mobile content rights that are part of MTN’s sponsorship of 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

“While the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ is a great start, the portal will continue to grow from strength to strength offering MTN customers the best and widest range of local and international content in all our markets,” says Trehair.

The launch of MTN Play is a culmination of a landmark partnership between MTN and IMIMobile, the India-based software and managed services provider which has links with 350 content providers worldwide. The two companies teamed up in a bold move to address the growing demand for content in emerging markets, giving MTN the opportunity to tap into the mobile content and services industry with revenues estimated at around US$150.2 billion in 2011, up from US$89,3 billion in 2006, worldwide.