iTunes has a competitor in the UK: Napster on Ericsson mobile phones

Mumbai: A competitor to Apple's well-known iTtunes service has emerged in the UK, with news that Ericsson has tied up with Napster to offer the latter's extensive music repertoire to its customers on the O2 network.

Ericsson has announced that it had won an order to host Napster Mobile's service with Telefonica unit O2 UK, which is the leading wireless service provider in the country with an excess of 18 million subscribers.

Under the hosting agreement, Ericsson's responsibilities include systems integration, operations, maintenance and content management of the Napster Mobile service for O2 UK. This marks Napster's second foray across the Atlantic to foreign shores, after the launch of the service on the O2 network in Ireland two years earlier.

Napster Mobile is a premium music service jointly developed by Napster and Ericsson to deliver a gamut of services to the musically inclined mobile phone user.

Using this service on the O2 network, Ericsson customers with compatible handsets will be able to search, browse, preview, purchase and play full-length tracks from Napster's massive database of more than 5 million songs. Taking into consideration the technological limitations of mobile phones, Napster Mobile also allows a high-fidelity copy of a purchased track to be simultaneously downloaded to a personal computer along with the original copy on the phone. The service also features a recommendation tool and access to Napster's expert programming on the handset, including featured artists and top tracks.

Napster had earlier pioneered the era of digital music when it was born as a free file-sharing service in 1999. However, it ran into legal trouble in 2000 when heavy metal band Metallica sued the website for making its song "I Disappear" available for download even before official release. The case was settled out of court but subsequently, several recording companies sued Napster successfully leading to its consequent closure and bankruptcy.

In the bankruptcy auction, Napster's logo and assets were acquired by Roxio Inc., which subsequently renamed itself after its acquisition. Now, the company offers a legal music download service in co-operation with record labels.

Ericsson is a leading Sweden-headquartered provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services covering a range of technologies, including handset technology platforms. Founded in 1876 as a telegraph equipment repair shop, it was incorporated in 1918. In 2001, its handsets division entered into a landmark joint-venture with Sony called Sony Ericsson.

Ericsson has been a leading light in mobile Internet, having backed the creation of the .mobi domain name specifically for that purpose.

Both the service providers as well as the wireless carrier have expressed their satisfaction at this new development. "We're extremely excited to be partnering with O2 UK on the launch of Napster Mobile," said Brad Duea, president of Napster. "We look forward to delivering a superior mobile music experience to O2 UK's customers, along with the largest mobile music catalog available. It's the perfect extension of Napster's online service in the UK".

Ericsson's management stressed on the growing importance of music as a value-added offering when Jacqueline Hey, managing director, Ericsson UK, said, "Music is an important area for telecom operators and we believe that O2 UK's subscribers will find this a very attractive service. Napster Mobile combines the strength of Ericsson's multimedia offering and hosted services capabilities. Combining the two enables us to provide a very attractive offering for operators to launch to their end-users".

Sally Cowdry, marketing director, O2 UK, was no less enthusiastic when she remarked, "This is another great example of our strategy of creating deep level partnerships with the best companies in the world to deliver compelling services to our customers".

Record companies were also quite pleased at this association that would translate into higher revenues for them. Ged Doherty, Chairman, Sony BMG Music Entertainment UK & Ireland, added, "Napster pioneered subscription services in the online world. We are delighted to support them as they move into the mobile space with O2 - another brand making a considerable impact on the music landscape".