PlayFon starts operations in Sweden
Skip contentJuly 21 2005
PlayFon, an international provider of wireless entertainment, has launched its operations in Sweden. Java-games are the first product PlayFon offered to Swedish subscribers. Currently, PlayFon has rights for more than 700 games - the vastest collection in Scandinavia. The games from the best Russian developers, previously unknown in Sweden, constitute a substantial part of PlayFon’s portfolio. The products and services offered by the company PlayFon Sweden AB under PlayFon trademark are available for more than 5 million of Tele2.Comviq’s and Vodafone’s subscribers.
In order to promote its services PlayFon kicked off a multimedia mobile portal wap.playfon.se localized for Swedish users. Swedish business partners can get all the necessary information, including corporate news and press-releases in Swedish at the site http://corp.playfon.se. Swedish subscribers can purchase the content from PlayFon either by sending SMS to a short number or using PLAYcash technology which the company has been successfully employing in Russia since December 2004. Most of Swedish carriers also use modern billing system minimizing the risks of non-delivery of purchased products and services (the money are deducted from a user’s account simultaneously with downloading mobile content).
“We are looking forward to developing our business in Sweden. PlayFon management made a decision to open an office in Stockholm which will serve as our European headquarters. By the end of the summer we plan to sign partner agreements with the largest Swedish mobile operator Telia Mobitel and 3G-carrier Tre (3 Sweden). Consequently, 10 million Swedish subscribers will be our potential customers” PlayFon CEO Muslim Shortanov said.
Swedish wireless market is the most advanced in Europe with penetration level of 103%. All local operators already deployed high-speed 3G-networks uniting about 500,000 people. Nevertheless, according to Ericsson research, spending on value added services in Sweden remains relatively low. Experts attribute it to insufficient offer of high-quality content and predict further growth of VAS, primarily Java-games and applications. This is the very segment that PlayFon targets.
“The entrance to Swedish market is an important landmark for the company. By the end of the year we plan to triple our gaming collection and introduce other products, such as realtones in MP3 format and SMS-dating. Some innovative services, for example, stream video and multiplayer 3D games, are on the agenda as well. 3G networks stimulate the development of high-tech services, which is one of top priorities for PlayFon. We have excellent relationships with Swedish carriers and plan to carry out several joint projects” PlayFon Vice-president Vladimir Borodin stressed.
Geographical expansion is the corner-stone of PlayFon’s strategy. In spring of 2005 the company introduced its products and services in the UK and Ukraine. Summer 2005 became “Sweden time” for Playfon. The company is going to extend its services to Baltic States, Kazakhstan, Byelorussia, and Azerbaijan and to continue penetration to Western Europe. By the end of the year the number of PlayFon’s potential customers which is currently about 150 million might reach 200 million people.
About PlayFon:
PlayFon, an international provider of wireless entertainment offers a wide range of services in Russia, UK, Sweden and Ukraine. PlayFon is a leader in the Russian market of mobile games (according to SmartMarketing). The company is listed among Top10 Russian content-providers (according to J’son and Partners).
PlayFon was first to introduce Java and mophun games, video and ringtones in MP3 format in the Russian market of mobile content. For additional information, please call +7 (095) 783-0525 or visit us at http://corp.playfon.com.
