Selasa, 15 Desember 2009

VOA Press Release Desember 8, 2009

VOA EXPANDS SMS NEWS AND INFORMATION DELIVERY WORLDWIDE

As people turn to mobile devices
for news and information, Voice of America (VOA) is ramping up
delivery of SMS – short messaging service – alerts to inform its
worldwide audience.

“The growth of mobile technology is largely due to young, urban users
of new technology,” said Gwen Dillard, director of VOA’s Africa
Division. “It’s important to reach this market and try to shape their
news habits, since they will socialize the next generation of users.
The competition is already fierce. We need to respond to this growing
market.”

VOA has teamed up with local providers to deliver SMS in places such as:

Nigeria. VOA Hausa Service has over 13,700 subscribers in an
arrangement with Dottxt where users can get up to four alerts a day.
Kenya. More than 1,000 people have signed up for the VOA Swahili
Service through Safaricom.
Ghana. More than 144,000 subscribers signed up for VOA
English-language alerts through a partnership with Tigo.
Pakistan.  VOA’s Urdu Service broadcasts show audio newscasts
available on cell phones three times a day.
Indonesia. VOA has an arrangement with Jatis to send out two SMS
headlines daily.
China.  VOA English-learning materials are embedded on Nokia cell
phones. By the end of 2008, there were 357,502 downloads of VOA
Mandarin material by about 210,000 users of Nokia phones.
Iran. Plans are under way for VOA’s Persian News Network to add an
application tApple iPhones, allowing Iranians to download Farsi
broadcasts.

In addition to text messaging and Web applications, VOA is upgrading
and expanding its current 17 mobile websites to include a full range
of graphics, audio and video news content.

Many of the other language services – there are 45 – will soon launch
SMS news alerts, including Special English, French-to-Africa and the
Zimbabwe Service.

The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a
multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S.
Government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors.  VOA
broadcasts more than 1,500 hours of news, information, educational,
and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience
of more than 125 million people.  Programs are produced in 45
languages.  VOA is the leading U.S. international broadcaster.

For more information, please call VOA Public Relations at (202)
203-4959, or e-mail askvoa@voanews.com.

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