Ericsson Teams with Napster for Mobile Music

Ericsson and Napster announced a global partnership to offer a fully integrated, digital music service available for mobile operators.


The service will carry the universally known Napster brand and combine elements of Napster's popular PC offering and Ericsson's personalized music service. The business model accommodates mobile operator participation in all revenue streams. The service is scheduled to go live in Europe during the next 12 months and will initially be offered to operators in selected markets in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and North America.


The new service will support coordinated wireless and PC downloading of digital music in both subscription and a la carte models, and phone-based initiation will ensure convenient and easy music library access for both mobile and PC usage.


The companies said the service scales to current handset models and networks but can also accommodate next-generation technology for newer handsets on higher-speed networks and is designed to work on mobile phones from all major manufacturers that support content protected by digital rights management.


"There is a new media channel emerging to millions of consumers. Both music and television are entering handsets as the technical capability for this is developing rapidly," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO of Ericssonhttp://www.ericsson.com