Media Contact:
Lisa Eppert, Coracle Group
+1-619-934-8099
email | www.coraclegroup.com
For Immediate Release:
FORT MYERS, FL.—Oct. 9, 2007—Interop Technologies, a leading provider of advanced wireless technology solutions, and Bluegrass Cellular, a wireless company serving central Kentucky, announced that Bluegrass has signed an agreement with Interop to purchase the company's Karaoke Tones™ solution. In Q4, Bluegrass plans to offer Karaoke Tones™, marketed as part of its BlueWorks Wireless Network, across its coverage area including 37 counties in Kentucky and one in Indiana.
The Karaoke Tones™ solution is the only commercially available technology enabling customers to use their own handsets and voices to create personalized, user-generated content that is viral in nature. To create their own ringtones or ringback tones, customers follow a simple Web recording process with lyrics, voice prompts, and music. The saved personalized recordings can be delivered to customers' own mobile phones, sent to handsets used by friends and family, and shared through online communities and email.
Designed to help wireless operators generate new revenue streams and retain customers, the complete Karaoke Tones™ solution includes an extensive, licensed content library with full Digital Rights Management (DRM); a custom-branded Web user interface; and a state-of-the-art technology platform. Earlier this year, The Hershey Company, a leading snack food company, became the first major brand to use the Karaoke Tones™ technology when it incorporated the solution in a promotional campaign directed to the youth demographic.
"The innovative Karaoke Tones™ solution offers a self-expression application to our customers that is not available from other operators," said Barry Nothstine, Director-Marketing and Product Development, Bluegrass Cellular. "We expect it will help increase differentiation and brand loyalty and create a new source of revenue."
"We are pleased that Bluegrass Cellular, one of the country's most influential rural operators, is the first wireless company to offer Karaoke Tones™," said Damian Sazama, Vice President Marketing and Product Development, Interop Technologies. "We intend to continue providing personalized entertainment solutions that benefit customers and operators."
About Interop Technologies
Interop Technologies (www.interoptechnologies.com) is a leading provider of advanced wireless technology solutions for the global wireless, packaged goods, and content industries. The company delivers hosted and turnkey messaging, device management, and entertainment and personalization solutions. These technologies help increase revenue and brand loyalty for major companies and meet consumer demand for innovative services. A proven partner with in-depth wireless expertise, Interop Technologies currently has nearly 150 deployments with more than 40 wireless operators and major brands across North America, the Caribbean and Latin America. Founded in 2002, Interop is headquartered in Fort Myers, FL.
About Bluegrass Cellular
Headquartered in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Bluegrass Cellular, Inc. (www.bluegrasscellular.com) has 21 company-owned retail locations and more than 34 authorized agent locations throughout Central Kentucky and Harrison County, Indiana. Bluegrass Cellular formed its wireless network in 1991 and was a pioneer in the wireless field. In 1998, it became the first company to offer digital cellular service in Central Kentucky. Five local telephone companies, which continue as the sole owners today, started Bluegrass Cellular. They are: Brandenburg Telephone Company, South Central Rural Telephone Company, North Central Rural Telephone Company, Duo County Telephone Company and Logan Telephone Company. Bluegrass continues to offer its quality voice and data network as well as new technology to its customers.
###