Mobile Community mig33's New Distribution Program Opens Thriving Virtual Economy to VAS, Handset Manufacturer Partners

SINGAPORE, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- mig33, the world's largest mobile-first community, today rolled out a powerful new distribution program that gives top VAS (mobile content) and handset manufacturers access to its thriving virtual economy -- and its associated revenue -- and introduced the program's first key partners at the MobileMonday Summit 2010 in Finland.

The program is the latest in a series of moves that have pushed mig33 to the forefront of mobile Social Entertainment Services and created an exploding virtual economy that has seen nearly 30 million virtual goods purchased in 2010 alone.

Among mig33's first new distribution partners are PT Numedia Global, a top Indonesia platform provider and mobile VAS company; India's Olive Telecom, a leading provider of mobile devices and solutions to both consumers and operators; and, Philippines-based ThumbMOB, a new consultancy specializing in digital media arbitrage, with in-house applications development, distribution and publishing capabilities.

mig33's new distribution program is unique in that it delivers revenue streams to the distributor partners, rather than requiring partners to pay fees to the mobile service.  The company, which has successfully modeled itself on popular East Asian social networking services such as DeNA's Mobagetown and China's multi billion Tencent QQ (QQ), has consistently generated healthy ARPU and monetization rates from outside the traditional mobile ecosystem.  That vitality enables mig33, with 40 million registered users worldwide, to forge partnerships that share revenue -- and provide a vital consumer channel, as well.

The program dovetails, too, with mig33's relentless push of new mobile social entertainment features.  In 2010 alone, mig33 has launched over a thousand virtual goods, avatar items and games.  Its members purchase more than four million virtual gifts per month, and exchange nearly one billion mig33 messages every day.  

"mig33 has become the world's biggest mobile-first community by relentlessly focusing on entertainment and access -- bringing the best stuff to the most people," said Steven Goh, CEO and co-founder, mig33.  "With our new distribution program, we are focused on dramatically expanding access through a series of partnerships with some of the world's premier mobile companies.  Moreover, we're forging those partnerships in an innovative way, with new revenue streams for our partners in return for access to one of the most vibrant and fast-growing mobile communities in the mobile-first world."

New mig33 Distribution Partners

"PT Numedia is thrilled to officially engage with mig33, as it is inarguably the hottest mobile community in the mobile-first world," said Andy Zain, CEO, PT Numedia Global.  "Our strengths include both first-rate platform and mobile content services and solutions, and mig33 has recognized these strengths by prioritizing this relationship.  mig33 is especially popular in Indonesia, of course, and we look forward to doing more business with them."

"Our endeavor has always been to provide the consumer with on the move connectivity solutions," said Arun Khanna, Chairman, Olive Telecom.  "We believe that the market has immense potential for such innovative applications. As one of the fastest growing communities in India, mig33 offers social games, virtual gifts and avatars, and is very popular among young consumers. As such, we are well-positioned to be a key mig33 distribution partner and we look forward to delivering on that value proposition."

"It's great to be part of the mig33 family," said Patricia Mulles, Managing Director, ThumbMOB Philippines, Inc.  "We are confident that mig33 will appeal to many Filipinos who will not only appreciate its sticky and fun mobile social networking apps, but will also love its potential to earn them extra income.  ThumbMOB also looks forward to working with local carriers and OEMs to promote the growth of the mobile internet in the Philippines through mig33."

mig33's new distribution model is designed specifically for top VAS companies and handset manufacturers.  In a typical engagement, handset manufacturers would bundle mig33's software on their phone and earn a fee for new mig33 signups and a revenue stream for the consumption of mig33 credits used to purchase virtual content, goods and games.  The program would work similarly for global VAS providers.

mig33's device software works on all mobile devices and is optimized for more than 2,000 different handsets worldwide. The company plans to release new versions including an Android build, in coming months.

mig33 was recently named a top 10 application in Asia at SingTel's Accelerate 2010 conference in Singapore.  In July, Bharti Airtel announced that mig33 was the most-downloaded free application in Airtel's new App Central mobile application store.

About mig33

mig33 is the world's largest mobile-first community, delivering communications and social entertainment to more than 40 million members. Everyday, members in over 200 countries engage in chat, share photos, join groups, send gifts, play games, create avatars, call friends, email and much more. The service is available worldwide and optimized for more than 2,000 handsets. Launched in 2005, mig33 is backed by Silicon Valley venture firms Accel Partners, Redpoint Ventures and DCM. For more information, please visit www.mig33.com.

SOURCE mig33