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Alcatel-Lucent Offers Opt-In Mobile Text Alerts

Alcatel Lucent is getting into the mobile ads business with text alerts, the Wall Street Journal reports. The new service, announced Thursday, will be managed by 1020 Placecast, a developer of cellphone and online ads tied to a user's location. It allows cell phone carriers to send their customers tailored alerts via SMS, such as the location of a nearby store sale or the closest ATM from the user's preferred bank.

The service's technology identifies cell phone users within a specified distance from the advertisers' store, sending them the address and phone number. Ads can include links to coupons or other promotions. According to the report, ads will only be sent to those cellular customers who sign up to receive them. They can also specify how frequently they receive the offers, and from which advertisers.

Alcatel-Lucent is expanding into the advertising market at a time when phone equipment makers are facing declining profits from selling equipment. Wireless carriers, meanwhile, want a cut of the revenues from these services. "This is a vehicle that lets [carriers] extend their network assets" and "grab a share of the revenues that would normally be outside of their reach," says Gani Nayack, president of Alcatel's Rich Communications business.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »

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