Unwired adds Fairfax and Macquarie Radio content

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 01 June 2006 11:07

Your IT - Home IT

See also: Unwired offers Google for net surfers on the go

Wireless broadband provider Unwired Australia has reached an agreement with Fairfax Digital, the online news and classifieds division of John Fairfax Holdings, that will see location-specific content from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age websites on Unwired's new customer-only home page.
Customers accessing the internet in Sydney will receive news, sport and weather from the Sydney Morning Herald, while customers in Melbourne will receive similar content from The Age.

Unwired has also extended its existing relationship with Macquarie Radio Network which owns radio stations 2GB 873 and 2CH 1170. Macquarie Radio will provide localised hourly news updates and other broadcast content to Unwired customers in Sydney and Melbourne by the end of June.

Unwired says these agreements will complement that forged with Google which will initially see Google search on Unwired's customer homepage.

Unwired CEO David Spence, said: "Our research shows that two thirds of our customers use Google, a Fairfax news site or Unwired as their homepage. Our deals with Fairfax, Macquarie Radio and Google mean we can now deliver a 'one stop shop' for the majority of our customers with the added bonus of specialised 2GB radio broadcasts."

When the Google deal was announced in April, Spence said: "Internet users will increasingly demand services relevant to their specific location whether it's Sydney, Melbourne, or in the future, anywhere around the world and we intend to be able to cater for this demand."

In July 2005, Unwired and Macquarie Radio signed a three-year advertising partnership under which Unwired sponsors the Alan Jones Breakfast program. The deal gave Unwired exclusive advertising rights in the Internet services category on the show for an undisclosed multi-million dollar fee to be paid through a combination of Unwired equity and cash over three years. Macquarie Radio received 3.3 million shares in the first year of the deal.