M-GAMING BOOMS - OPERA TELECOM LAUNCHES NEW SMS ADVENTURE AND PET GAMES

First-to-market mobile services will position Opera Telecom at the forefront of the exploding mobile gaming industry

24 April 2002 - A recent Ovum report predicted that there will be 700 million mobile gamers globally by 2005. As part of a drive to increase its share of the mobile gaming market, Opera Telecom, the fastest growing international provider of mobile services, providing SMS content, campaign management and infrastructure support, is launching a series of unique SMS adventure games and pet services.
Uber, a fighting game, invites players to join a tribe and choose a character to play. Coming up against epidemics and disasters, gamers will venture on a quest, being set tasks and questions and inviting and challenging other players along the way. Their choice of weapons, maps and supplies will affect their characters health.
Another fighting game, Last State, shares many similar features to Uber with questions and tasks being set for each player in return for clues. The earth is dying and players need to fight their way to the centre of the earth to claim their place in the Last State. Gamers face hazards and their choice of weapons and supplies will again affect their progress.
Two pet packages have also been designed, targeted at both the youth and adult markets. Users of the service receive a virtual pet on their mobile phone via SMS and are sent daily health updates, questions and logos, with players responses affecting the health and behaviour of their pet.

These exclusive SMS games and services will be offered to Opera Telecoms client base on a zero-cost-of-entry, revenue-share basis, with Opera Telecom providing the SMS content, delivery and background infrastructure, without customers having to incur any set-up charges. Over the next few months, Opera Telecom will be further enhancing and developing its mobile games and services to incorporate voice and web interaction.

Gary Corbett, Managing Director of Opera Telecom, comments, By continually taking to market innovative and original mobile games and services, we are very well positioned to capitalise on the explosive growth in mobile gaming and establish ourselves as the leading player in the m-gaming industry."

Corbett concludes, Gaming will be the biggest sector in multimedia mobiles over the next few years and as the market continues to accelerate, so will our portfolio of products and services. We are committed to ongoing development of new ideas and creative content, and in addition to the 10 SMS applications we are already releasing every month, we will shortly be launching our first java games, with plans to release four java games each month thereafter."

About Opera Telecom
Headquartered in Brindley Place, Birmingham, and with a first-year turnover in excess of 30m, Opera Telecom is one of the fastest growing and profitable providers of SMS premium services worldwide. It also boasts a full range of telecom service facilities, which include International switching, IVR bureau, web development team, unified messaging platform, ISP and WAP infrastructure as well as a sophisticated billing system.

As part of its unique zero-cost-of-entry, revenue-share proposition, Opera Telecom is developing and managing innovative SMS marketing campaigns on behalf of its clients without them having to incur any set-up charges. Opera provides the infrastructure set-up and SMS campaign management, which allows companies to generate revenue quickly from their SMS marketing campaigns utilising unbranded content such as competitions, quizzes, games, news and information services, presented as their own.

Opera Telecom also provides services direct to some of the world's leading portals, national broadcasters, national and regional publishers, international carriers, network operators and independent telecommunication companies. Customers include GMTV, beeb.com, BT, MSN, EMAP, Eirecom and ITV.