VANCOUVER – Canadians will have another wireless choice next year.
Telus will offer Amp’d Mobile – which bills itself as an interactive and customizable information and entertainment wireless company – next year, the two companies announced today. Amp’d also offers plain ol’ voice, and other traditional wireless applications, too.
The exclusive Amp’d Mobile Canadian partnership "breaks new technological ground, making it possible for Canadian subscribers to easily access personalized wireless content on their mobile handsets," says the Telus press release.
It’s more than an MVNO, which is what Virgin Mobile has going on the Bell Mobility network, for example. "It’s an exclusive licensing and service agreement," said Telus CEO Darren Entwistle. It will be billed as "Amp’d Mobile powered by Telus" in Canada.
Amp’d Mobile is an integrated mobile entertainment company that optimizes third generation (3G) functionality in Canada. In the U.S, Amp’d Mobile operates as a mobile entertainment brand. For example, it offers traditional services such as voice and text within a completely fresh user interface designed specifically for the "mobile graduate" and 3G technology. With a myriad of customizable options as well as strategic alliances with entertainment properties, such as MTVN and Universal Music Group, Amp’d Mobile "brings a more relevant, personal experience to the wireless lifestyle with unique music, video, community, entertainment, sports and gaming offerings divided into various channels for quick and easy access," says the press release.
Through Amp’d Mobile’s proprietary Amp’d Live environment, users will have access to music, 3D mobile gaming, live sports and concert video streaming, mobile communities, unique personalization features, as well as traditional mobile phone functionality.
The content (a lot of short, funny, scary, crazy, videos) will be made available to Telus Mobility’s other subscribers and will be delivered to Telus TV customers as well.
Under the terms of the licensing and services agreement, Amp’d will bring the content and do the marketing and Telus will manage sales and distribution, billing, client care, network operations and pricing. Telus shall have the exclusive right to use the Amp’d trademarks, premium data services, handsets and content delivery platforms in Canada.
Amp’d is also geared towards the 18-35 year-old demographic.
Telus Ventures, the strategic venture investment division of Telus, also announced that it has made a US$7.5 million equity investment in Amp’d, headquartered in Los Angeles.
