Clickatell (News - Alert), specializing in the provision of global mobile messaging solutions, announced that CNN International will use Clickatell to provide mobile SMS coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Clickatell already offers news via SMS alerts for CNN and is now powering the CNN Beijing 2008 SMS gold medal alert service.

 

Sports fans can register by logging onto the CNN mobile site via their mobile phones and click on “alerts” to start off the registration process. Fans can also send a SMS text message specifying the country code of their choice.

 

“Given our positive experience with them on our existing breaking news alert service, Clickatell was the natural choice to handle CNN’s Beijing 2008 Gold Medal alerts,” said Laurel Chamberlain, director of digital media for CNN International. “The broad global reach of Clickatell’s carrier-grade messaging infrastructure will enable us to reliably reach people around the world during this summer’s Beijing Olympic Games.”

 

This service has been included by CNN as it is expected that over 4 billion TV viewers will be tuned into the Olympic Games and most of them are accessible by their mobile phones.

 

“The Olympic Games give us all a chance to be a part of the global community, the whole world watching with a hopeful outcome in mind. Clickatell focuses on connecting many types of communities with trusted global brands. Many organizations are utilizing the mobile channel to capture new markets and segments,” said Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell.

 

He explained that this is yet another example to show how a leading brand such as CNN is taking relevant information directly to its audience in real-time. This is also indicative of a trend where companies are embracing mobile and text messaging as a compelling communication channel across multiple industries like financial services, social media, healthcare, retail and government.

 

The free gold medal alert service from CNN provides real-time SMS updates to customers regarding their favorite country’s gold medal tally. A hyperlink within the alert provides a one-click access to blogs from CNN’s correspondents in Beijing. Users can also comment on the Olympic blogs, watch videos of sporting actions, view a timetable of events and upload images or video to CNN’s user generated service, the iReport.

 

This mobile service will enable users to override the problems of varying time zones thereby avoiding late nights of TV or after-the-fact online coverage to get the most exciting moments of the games.

 

Clickatell enables businesses, governments and communities to use the mobile messaging service to inform, alert, notify, transact, interact and share information. Clickatell specializes in mobile communications using bulk messaging services and offering SMS gateway connectivity to small, medium and large enterprises in several vertical markets. Clickatell caters to customers like Barclays Bank, BBC and Continental Airlines besides others.