Telenor and Deezer Will Make You Groove

Telenor and Deezer will make you groove

Telenor customers in Thailand and Hungary can send their music CDs and mp3 players to history. Thanks to Telenor’s partnership with Deezer, they now have access to 18 million tracks on their phones, PC's or tablets at any time.

Telenor customers will get access to the Deezer service either by buying a new tariff plan, where the Deezer service is bundled for free, or simply purchasing the Deezer services on top of their existing tariff plan. The content is conveniently available to users anytime and anywhere. Personalized lists created from the vast music store can be downloaded and played on any mobile device or desktop PC, without an Internet connection. The community functions of Deezer enable users to share their favourite music with friends on Facebook and follow and directly play music listened to by others in real time.

First large scale music services in Asia and CEE

The introduction of Spotify and Wimp in the Nordics and Western Europe has significantly increased the popularity of music streaming services. However, lack of high speed networks, handsets and music license rights have limited the development elsewhere. Telenor and Deezer will be the first to launch a music streaming service on a large scale in emerging Asia and CEE regions. “This agreement represents a major milestone for Telenor in providing premium music content to our customers in emerging markets”, says Anders Morthen Vice-President, Internet Products & Connectivity in Telenor Group. His team, the Internet & Connectivity group in Commercial Development/Digital Services, has had the main responsibility for running the process of selecting and contracting Deezer in tight cooperation with the teams in our local business units. “We know that local music is important in emerging markets, and the agreement with Deezer secures a wide range of local music content in addition to the global catalogue,” adds Hans Jevanord, Project Director Music, Internet Connectivity & Products, Telenor Group.

Fighting piracy: Telenor and Deezer to provide a catalogue legally licensed from global and local record labels

Music services in CEE and Asia are often provided and consumed illegally. The partnership also marks the start of the fight against piracy as all 18 million tracks (…and counting) are fully legally licensed from global and local record labels, giving our customers the opportunity to consume music services legally.

Launched in Hungary on 4 September

Telenor Hungary introduced Deezer following the completion of its nationwide Hipernet, stable and fast mobile internet, and a quickly growing number of mobile internet subscribers, that doubled within a year time. “Our customers generate the highest data traffic on the market which implies that they are becoming increasingly active in content consumption. Now we would like to offer them an extra service to make the most of our network and handset portfolio. Globally, mobile music service is a dynamically

Telenor Group is one of the world's major mobile operators. We keep our customers connected in our markets across Scandinavia and Asia. Our more than 30,000 employees are committed to responsible business conduct and being our customers' favourite partner in digital life. Connecting the world has been Telenor's domain for more than 160 years, and we are driven by a singular vision: to empower societies. growing market and we expect to have a significantly rising demand and several tens of thousands of customers using the service also in Hungary,” said Christopher Laska, CEO of Telenor Hungary and announced that more services will follow soon. Telenor customers in Hungary can test the service without a monthly fee or traffic charges until the end of the year.

First with Deezer in Asia

Deezer services were also launched earlier this year in Thailand, as the first global music streaming service ever in Thailand and Asia. On the Thai ICT Expo event in August, visitors of dtac stand were able to test the service and download the programme to their mobile phones for a free 15-day trial. The regional marketplace is dominated by the sale of ringback tones. With its web-based technology, Deezer has potential to be a mass-market solution with far greater ease of access, and a particularly important service for fighting piracy and illegal distribution of music.