Pan-European mobile retailer The Carphone Warehouse is rumoured to be in talks with Omnifone about embedding the MusicStation app into its phones.
Omnifone launched MusicStation, which allows unlimited music downloads to a handset for a €2.99 per week, last week with Telenor Sweden. It claims to have 30 operator deals agreed.Because MusicStation is embedded into handsets by operators, there is a limit on the potential handset base for the service. Clearly any deal with Carphone would escalate its market penetration considerably.
Omnifone predicts an addressable handset base of 100 million within 12 months. It has the backing of all major music labels and many indies. Over one million tracks will be available. Omnifone has also developed a proprietary DRM, which allows consumers to keep a track until they stop subscribing.
Roll outs are promised in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and elsewhere.
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