Interfax launches SMS messaging service
Cell phone users can sign up for SMS alerts on breaking news from Interfax as part of a new project launched by Interfax International Services Group and media holding TEMA
The first stage of the project gave subscribers of the Bee Line cellular network a unique opportunity to receive SMS alerts on breaking news irrespective of their location and much earlier than these news items appear in traditional media.
Starting from February, mobile phone users will enjoy access to two topical and four regional information products:
- The Interfax. Politics project offers news about the most crucial events of the country’s political and social life, including major decisions taken by the authorities, key statements by newsmakers, appointments, political scandals, elections and all other events that shape the social and political climate in the country;
- The Interfax. Economics project deals with the most important economic events in Russia and abroad, including sharp fluctuations in currency exchange rates and prices, new interest rates, mergers and takeovers, management overhauls in major corporations, government resolutions, and all other factors capable of influencing business and personal financial decisions;
- The Interfax St. Petersburg, Interfax Yekaterinburg News, Interfax Kazan News, and Interfax Nizhny Novgorod News projects offer information on the most important events in the cities’ life over the past 24 hours, including emergencies, initiatives and decisions of the regional authorities, commentaries by leading regional politicians and civil servants, demonstrations, and rallies.
Four SMS alerts on breaking news from Interfax are sent every day on weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. The geography of such SMS alerts will be expanded and the number of topics addressed by them will be increased in 2007.
***Interfax Information Services Group (http://www.interfax.com/ and http://www.interfax.ru/) provides news and other information products that are essential for decision makers in politics and business. The group, which was founded in 1989, incorporates a network of national, regional and sector-related news agencies active in Russia, other CIS member-nations, China and Central Europe. The companies and divisions that are members of Interfax Group provide news, analytical services, market data, fundamental information, and program solutions. Interfax Group and Moody’s Investors Service established Moody’s Interfax Rating Agency, which is a leading rating agency on the Russian market. Interfax Group and Experian, a global leading information solutions company, set up the Experian-Interfax credit bureau for consumers and businesses in Russia.
***Media holding TEMA (http://www.temanews.ru/) has established TemaNews, Russia’s first media channel for cell phone users. The company seeks to be the exclusive provider of news, as well as help and entertainment information for Russian-speaking mobile phone users.