Mobile operators, network providers, applications providers, content providers, handset providers work together towards one goal this World Cup season. The goal: to earn as much revenue as possible from football addicts the world over. The result;: an amalgamation of football related contents and applications that squeezes the living daylight out of you from betting to playing virtual games and chatting with people of the same interests and downloading photos of your favorite football celebrities. I have listed below some of my favorites both locally and regionally.

Mobile TV: Football will never be the same event of staying home to watch footie from our plain old tv set. With increased mobility, people are dependent on their mobile phone to watch the latest news, goal alerts and if they hold a 3G handset or strong GPRS connection, they can enjoy real-time streaming videos of the matches. The most feasible network was provided by Ericsson and Nortel via Mobile broadcast multiledia services (MBMS) which does not require mobile operators to secure additional spectrum. Meanwhile, Nokia and Qualcomm is backing mobile broadcasting standard DVB-H and Qualcomm has its proprietary broadcast technology, MediaFlo. Both solutions require rollout of separate networ which will be costlier for operators.

Football contents: I have to support AKN Mtech as my friends are working there and due to their devoted support to Maxis during the World Cup Finale in Bukit Bintang by powering Maxis/Hotlink’s World Cup contents from its varied wap downloads to sms contests. Meanwhile Football Fantasy games are provided by World Cup official sponsor, Yahoo who ahs been getting tremendous hits into their World Cup hosted website even before the event started. For more on Football Virtual Games and Football Social Networks/Communities, pls stay tuned....

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A down-to-earth commentary on mobile technology, internet and telecommunications from an employee working in a network operator in Asia. Feedback and proposals most welcomed.

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