SAN DIEGO, July 18, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Michael Pousti, chairman and chief executive officer at SMS.ac (www.sms.ac), says that his team's objective in instituting daily polls on the company's site is not only to keep the SMS.ac community connected, it is also for the company to stay connected to the community.
"The daily SMS.ac polls serve a dynamic purpose," said Pousti. "Our global mobile community keeps us grounded-they tell us what is important to them and we listen. A lot of what we learn from survey responses makes its way into discussions on where we focus as a company. As everyday participants in the wireless world, our community provides us with valuable perspective and they often help us shape our business offerings.
"For example, this most recent SMS.ac poll tells us that a majority of respondents (73.2%) are not adverse to receiving text advertisements to their mobile phones, as long as we limit the number of ads to one each day and offer value in return," continued Pousti. "That information opens significant revenue streams for our company and reduces the impact for introducing such an offering."
As SMS.ac continues to offer its community of over 6 million users more wireless products and services (www.sms.ac/splash.asp), the company relies on its polling mechanism to gauge community preferences in order to offer more payment alternatives than ever before. Of those participating in the SMS.ac poll, 38.5% say they prefer to use credit cards when making purchases on SMS.ac, while 25.9% want to use prepaid cards available in most countries. Premium SMS, Western Union transfers, international money orders, PayPal and premium rate numbers are also offered by SMS.ac, with additional payment methods scheduled for rollout by the end of July 2002.
Another poll result from today's announcement: Given the option, members of the world's largest wireless community say they would spend their money on text messaging, rather than on a number of similarly priced alternatives. This sentiment and others surfaced as part of a poll result released today by SMS.ac, Inc. (www.sms.ac). Approximately 30,000 people from around the globe participated in this latest survey of wireless consumers' attitudes and preferences.
Asked how they would choose to spend $10 (U.S.) of disposable income, 39.7% of survey respondents revealed that they would opt to purchase a month's supply of SMS. Meanwhile, 23.4% said they'd prefer a music CD of their choice and 17.1% of those polled wanted to buy a 10-minute long-distance phone call to anywhere in the world. Rounding-out the list was watching a movie (8.5%), treating themselves to a lunch or dinner (4.9%) and "other" (6.4%).
SMS.ac, who last month announced that it broke the world record for largest and fastest product launch in history (www.sms.ac/history), eclipsed the launches of several impressive companies (www.sms.ac/launches). SMS.ac is also host to the largest wireless community in the world (with more than 6 million wireless customers from over 220 countries that have registered to utilize the communication-focused wireless products and services offered at www.sms.ac.
To receive a complete copy of the SMS.ac survey referenced above, please send an email with your request to prcomm@sms.ac. To learn more about SMS.ac and to discover how this brandable technology can be integrated into your company's existing infrastructure, visit www.sms.ac and contact bizdev@sms.ac. To receive SMS.ac press releases via email, register at prsubscribe@sms.ac. You may unsubscribe from this service by sending an email to prunsubscribe@sms.ac.
About SMS.ac
SMS.ac hosts the largest wireless community in the world. With more than 6 million registered members, SMS.ac is a truly global mobile community with connectivity to more than 400 networks in over 170 countries. Through its core MMSbox(tm) technologies, SMS.ac, Inc. enables worldwide wireless interaction between network operators, technology standards, the Internet, consumers and application/content developers. The result is interaction not previously possible amongst a critical mass of developers, consumers and businesses-- igniting the widespread adoption and use of wireless data.
SMS.ac drives revenues through technology licensing, subscriptions, sponsorships and shared revenue opportunities. SMS.ac's consumer site (www.sms.ac) is an example of the brandable web interfaces to MMSbox(tm) technologies available for licensing. The community of wireless enthusiasts at SMS.ac represents one of the fastest growing consumer properties on the Internet. SMS.ac and MMSbox are trademarks of SMS.ac, Incorporated. Other trademarks or service marks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. To view the SMS.ac corporate web site, visit www.sms.ac/corporate.
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