Bouygues Telecom and Cellfish Media partner up to create a new advertising format aimed at mobile content

Bouygues Telecom and Cellfish Media are launching a pilot site where users can download mobile games free of charge(1)– financed through advertising. By broadening target user groups and opening up content to all types of audience, the two operators are introducing a new medium for content consumption and developing a solution that will meet the next challenges to face the mobile industry: promoting and facilitating mobile access to the Internet by marketing attractive, cost-free content ranges that appeal to a wider audience.

Xtragames currently has a catalogue of over 700 games, including Tomb Raider, Top Gun: Air Combat, Action Rugby 2007, Street Soccer World Tour, Killer Sudoku, Arcade Park, World Poker Tour 7 Card Stud and many more. These games are aimed at casual gamers, especially users still hesitant to buy games for mobile devices. To access the service, operated on an opt-in basis, users simply send in their mobile number. Two interactive and unobtrusive screen ads will appear before the game starts.

For Olivier Laury, Director of Content at Bouygues Telecom, “This initiative is wholly in line with Bouygues Telecom’s mobile Internet strategy: to allow our customers to enjoy the rich content accessed at home while on the move and at no cost.”

“The goal of Bouygues Telecom’s portal is to attract new users by offering a wide range of services free of charge,” explains Nicolas d’Hueppe, Managing Director of Cellfish Media France. “As the leading distributor of mobile content, we are looking forward to heading up this operation and demonstrating that advertising can leverage real growth for the mobile industry.”

About Bouygues Telecom
Created in 1994, Bouygues Telecom has 9 million customers, including 6.6 million under contract, and 7,700 employees. Its goal is to “become the preferred personal-communication service brand” by further improving its customer service.
After pioneering the talk-plan concept and free voicemail in France in 1996, followed by unlimited call plans via the Millennium offering, in 2006 Bouygues Telecom launched Neo, the first call plan to offer unlimited calls to all operators every day after 8 p.m.
Bouygues Telecom will launch its first fixed lines in 2008 to meet households’ requirements for multimedia equipment and services.
To guarantee high-quality customer service for consumers and businesses alike, Bouygues Telecom markets a wide range of broadband services. Its national EDGE broadband network covers more than 93% of the French population.
The operator’s 3G+ network carries even higher speeds to tailor solutions to customers’ future needs.
Bouygues Telecom’s six customer-relations centres in France employ 2,000 advisors for optimal customer service.

About Cellfish Media
Cellfish Media is a leading publisher and distributor of mobile content. The company offers a full package of consumer entertainment services (personalization, music, news, games, lifestyle, videos, mobile communities), marketed under the KTO brand or in partnership with operators’ portals and large media companies. Cellfish Media also produces original mobile-specific content at its studios, including Blingtones and Meuh Meuh Star.
Bolstered by seven years at the forefront of the mobile marketing industry, Cellfish Media provides an integrated platform, equipped with payment, website hosting, publication, custom-made content creation, management and CRM solutions, to operators, media groups and advertisers. Cellfish Media has recognized expertise in direct marketing as well as SMS and Wap campaign management.
Cellfish Media has 320 employees in France, Germany and the United States, where the company has its head office. Its main shareholders are Lagardère, the Telecom Media Fund (financed by the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec and Trio Capital), Humagade Group Inc (a partner of Desjardins Venture Capital) and the Fonds de Solidarité FTQ.

(1)Excludes browsing charges; service available to all customers equipped with compatible devices.