VimpelCom launched its Chameleon service
yesterday, powered by Celltick's LiveScreen
technology, which broadcasts live content
directly to the phone screens of millions of
subscribers. Two million of VimpelCom's 28
million subscribers can now receive streams of
free reports, including news headlines, sport
updates, weather coverage, gossip and games
directly to their screens. By year-end the
service should reach 10 million users.
Just like a screen saver, the messages appear
silently, only when the cell phone is not in use.
Customers can access a variety of data service
with a single click. In a pilot program during
the summer of 2004, 40 percent of users clicked
to get more information, increasing their monthly
expenditure on cellular by about 15 percent.
Sources near the deal say VimpelCom should be
paying about $30 million over five years. It is
paying $10 million up front.
Celltick Technologies has 60 employees.
Headquartered in London, Celltick keeps its
research and development in Israel, and also has
offices in Beijing, Mumbai and Moscow.
Israeli company Celltick Technologies has signed
a large contract rumored to be worth $30 million,
with VimpelCom, Russia's second-largest mobile
operator. Celltick, founded in 2000, specializes
in idle-screen applications and interactive
mobile broadcast technologies.