Cingular Wireless L.L.C. continued to dismantle its garden walls Tuesday, announcing its first deal with a WAP-based, off-deck content aggregator.
The No. 1 U.S. carrier inked an agreement with Bango, which sells mobile music, games and other content through both the Internet and mobile storefronts. The deal allows content providers to market and sell their wares directly to mobile users through Bango’s network, eliminating the need for Cingular to pre-approve each vendor and service. Bango will apply standards for the content and manage contracts with each provider.
“Cingular is pioneering the open mobile content model,” said Anil Malhotra, vice president of alliances at Bango. “This agreement gives Cingular customers massively increased choice by enabling a wide range of content providers to market mobile services easily and directly.”
The move is the latest step by a U.S. carrier looking to open the mobile content market to outside vendors. T-Mobile USA Inc. has partnered with direct-to-consumer Internet storefronts Jamster and DirtyHippo, and a few other carriers have forged relationships with third-party content providers.
Bango has gained significant traction in Europe, where subscribers are far more likely to purchase content off carrier decks. It’s estimated that off-deck content represents about 80 percent of all mobile transactions in Europe, while more than 90 percent of U.S. wireless purchases are executed through operator decks.
