Groove Mobile Simplifies Off-Portal Billing with First Cross-Carrier PayForIt Compliant Music Service in UK

T-Mobile UK, 3 and Vodafone Support Over-the-Air Direct to Consumer Music Download Service without ‘Bill Shock’

Groove Mobile, the world’s leading mobile music service provider, announced today that its UK direct to consumer off-portal music service is now PayForIt compliant across all UK network operators. With this service, Groove Mobile has simplified the billing process for mobile music consumers. In addition customers of T-Mobile UK, 3 and Vodafone can benefit from revolutionary flat rate data tariffs ensuring music from the off-portal service is delivered without hidden costs or ‘bill shock.’

“Growth in off-portal content sales has been slowed by multiple billing practices across different carriers,” said Adam Sexton, chief marketing officer for Groove Mobile. “With its PayForIt compliance, Groove Mobile assures that its mobile music customers in the UK are billed accurately and consistently for the content they purchase.”

Developed through a strategic UK cross-mobile network operator initiative, PayForIt improves the consumer experience for one-time and subscription services purchased via the mobile Internet by introducing a secure and unified approach to mobile purchases. Users can easily purchase full track Over-the-Air (OTA) downloads from their favorite artists on the mobile Web without having to leave the session for billing purposes, regardless of their network operator or phone type.

“Providing music fans with optimized user experience as they shop for content on their phones is key to making the experience simple and enjoyable for our customers,” said Gavin Dent, group manager – commercial partners at T-Mobile UK. “With many T-Mobile subscribers already enjoying flat-rate plans to access the Internet on the move, they are free to browse and download content without the fear of unwanted charges.”

T-Mobile’s web’n’walk service costs up to a £1 a day, or contract and business customers can have unlimited browsing for £7.50 a month on top of their voice plan. Prepay customers can buy a five-day web’n’walk pass for £2.50.

About Groove Mobile

Groove Mobile is the world’s leading mobile music service. Groove Mobile’s Complete Music Gateway includes Full Track Mobile Downloads, Peer-to-Peer Sharing and Personalized Music Recommendations, in addition to providing Personalized and Programmed Streaming Radio, Music Subscriptions, and more. Groove Mobile powers 3UK, the UK’s top rated mobile music service and the Sprint Music Store, the first over-the-air song-download service in the U.S. Groove Mobile launched the world’s first secure peer-to-peer distribution in the mobile space, with its pioneering Tell-a-Friend feature. Groove Mobile’s direct download service is available in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Europe and Australasia, and provides access to music from all the major labels and the top independent labels and distributors. (www.groovemobile.com)

About T-Mobile UK

T-Mobile is one of the world’s largest mobile operators with more than 112 million customers worldwide, and in the UK it is the network of choice for approaching 17 million customers, making it one of the largest networks.

T-Mobile has a range of innovative products and services such as Flext, a unique tariff with flexible pricing; U-Fix, a tariff that combines pay-as-you-go and a monthly contract; and web’n’walk, which enables customers to surf websites on the move. T-Mobile’s network coverage is among the best in the UK (over 99% of the UK population) with one of the lowest dropped call rates. It offers the largest worldwide Wi-Fi network, with over 1,000 HotSpots in business-friendly locations in the UK and 21,000 worldwide, and offers the fastest HSDPA network across the UK with speeds of up to 1.8mb per second.

For more information about T-Mobile UK, please visit www.t-mobile.co.uk
Contacts

mPRm Public Relations
Michelle Rudolph, 323-933-3399
mrudolph {at} mprm(.)com