In collaboration with telecommunications firm Elisalat, mobile phone users in the United Arab Emirates can sign up for a personalised range of 24/7 news services. Qatar-based Al-Jazeera is also launching the service internationally with an English language service planned for Europe this autumn.
The service will provide a flexible choice of content, according to Samir Ibrahim, Head of eMarketing for AlJazeera.net.
"Subscribers can sign up for different content, such as international news, economics, sport and so on."
The charging model will vary according to the country. In Malaysia, for example, the cost will be 8 cents per message at a maximum of $5 per month.
"Length of message is dictated by the phone - at the moment most phones cannot handle messages of more than 160 characters, or 70 in Arabic.
"But in September, we will launch a multimedia messaging service. Depending on the operator and the platform, this will enable subscribers to receive video, audio and photographic news updates on their mobiles."
During the Gulf War, Al-Jazeera reverted to an SMS news service after hackers repeatedly attacked their web site.
Last month, US programmer John William Ravine pleaded guilty to two charges relating to hacking the Al-Jazeera site. He is due to be sentenced in October.
Sources:
http://www.aljazeera.net
See also:
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story605.html
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story611.html
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story668.html
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