MTone

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Beijing, August 20, 2005 ЁC NBA's first China mobile game has made a success. The number of the game users reached 100,000 when the 2004-2005 NBA Finals were over, said Mtone Wireless. Launched in April 2005, the Fantasy NBA'05 Pick ®N Win game was the first real-time interactive platform between NBA and its fans in China, which allowed the Chinese fans to experience the excitement of the NBA by participating directly through their mobile phones. The game was developed by Mtone Wireless Communication Corporation, China's leading mobile online interactive entertainment service provider, and was exclusively distributed by China Mobile. °The launch of the ®Fantasy NBA'05 Pick ®N Win' game, ± said Victor Wang, CEO and President of Mtone Wireless, °provides a single platform to satisfy the passion of our users for the NBA and their thirst for the latest in wireless entertainment. ± The game was a big hit from the beginning. Since April, thousands of NBA fans in China signed up for the game from their mobile phones. They selected a champion from the pool of NBA playoff teams based on their estimation and earned points for each game their teams won. The high-scoring players won prizes including NBA basketballs, team jerseys and basketball shoes, which were sponsored by Reebok and Spalding. The users also obtained an access from their mobile phones to a variety of information content such as team rosters, box scores, game schedules, as well as player and team updates. According to Mtone Wireless, more than 100,000 mobile phone users and NBA fans in China participated the Fantasy NBA'05 Pick ®N Win game from April to July. The NBA offers a similar fantasy game on its website. Because of the popularity of the NBA and a high number of mobile phone users in China, however, the NBA decided to make China as the first and probably the only one market in the world to leapfrog the PC. The Ministry of Information Industry said that China would have more than 400 million mobile phone users by the end of this year, compared to an estimated 120 million Internet users by year-end. Meanwhile, the NBA estimates that there are over 300 million fans in the country. Most of the fans are high school and college students, who are also the main market for mobile value-added services in China. On the launching ceremony on April 18th, Mark Fischer, managing director of NBA China, said, °we are delighted to launch this interactive mobile game just in time for the 2005 NBA Playoffs. The game's wireless format allows millions of NBA fans in China to access our first-ever official fantasy game here via their mobile phones. ± Encouraged by the success, Mtone Wireless and the NBA plan to launch new services to coincide with the start of the 2005-2006 NBA season. A virtual manager interactive game targeted at hard-core NBA fans will allow users to assemble and manage teams based on the real life performance of NBA players. And a Pick ®N Win game targeted at casual NBA fans will allow users to participate through a question and answer format.

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