An initiative by Proximus, Mobistar and BASE to offer mobile phone users easy access to a whole range of services and information.
Brussels, 04 May 2006 - On 15 May Proximus and Mobistar will launch PlazZza, the easy-to-use search engine for mobile internet in Belgium. Base will launch PlazZza as soon as the services are available on their network. PlazZza is an initiative by the three operators in order to give mobile phone users easy access to multimedia services and content of third parties. Proximus, Mobistar and BASE have opted for the same name and service to offer the customers a transparent, easy-to-use search engine to look up information on the mobile Internet. For providers of information and digital goods, PlazZza is the perfect location for reaching consumers.
The mobile telephone operators already offer digital content and information through their multimedia portals: Vodafone live! for Proximus, Orange World for Mobistar and I-Mode for BASE. The information is clearly structured and customers can easily find what they are looking for (news, sport, games, ringtones, practical information, etc.).
Finding information outside the operators' multimedia portals has not been so easy up to now. The number of wapsites of the operators outside the portal sites is growing very fast. The mobile phone users clearly need a search engine to find their way in the constantly extending offer of digital content.
That is why Proximus, Mobistar and BASE have developed the PlazZza search engine to simplify access to services offered outside their multimedia portals. PlazZza is a marketplace where consumers and traders meet each other. Proximus and Mobistar will launch the search engine PlazZza on 15 May. Base will launch PlazZza as soon as the services are available on their network.
How does PlazZza work?
To gain access to PlazZza, the customer goes to his operator's multimedia portal via his mobile phone where he will find the link to PlazZza. The customer can search alphabetically, by subject or he can use the trader's unique code word.
The customer can also ask for this information by SMS. He only has to send a free SMS to 4444 with the content provider's unique code or with a category. He will then receive the link to the wapsite of the provider or the search results for a category on his mobile phone.
How do you pay for digital content on PlazZza?
Digital content can be paid for via the payment method used by the customer's operator. At the beginning of 2006, Proximus launched Proximus M-Pay, a system that allows Proximus customers to pay for mobile services through their prepaid card or through their invoice. Mobistar customers can pay for mobile services through w-HA. W-HA has been launched in February 2004 and is accessible for prepaid and postpaid customers. Customers get a screen with payment modalities on their mobile phone with the price of their purchase. They only need to confirm their purchase. The payment method for BASE will depend on the chosen solution.
PlazZza for companies: mobile marketing is reality
Companies with a wapsite can easily be registered on PlazZza so that they can offer their digital services and/or information, such as logos, ringtones, games and chat services on the Belgian market.
PlazZza is also a perfect mobile marketing tool. Companies can refer to PlazZza in their communications with their own unique code. The customer sends a free SMS with the unique PlazZza code to 4444 and then gets a link to the company wapsite on his mobile phone. This method to enforce marketing campaigns is already been used successfully in France with Gallery, the French counterpart of PlazZza.