The Seven Network and m.Net Corporation today announced that Seven would acquire more than 30 percent of mobile solutions company m.Net Corporation. Seven joins Alcatel and Telstra as the major shareholders in m.Net, which will provide mobile web development and SMS services for Seven products and the products of its wholly owned subsidiary Pacific Magazines.

m.Net Corporation CEO Horden Wiltshire said the move would enable Seven to quickly extend its brands and build convergent products based on print and electronic media through mobile platforms such as SMS, WAP and 3G. m.Net Corporation will have access to Seven’s content assets, including the Network’s rights to the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Seven Network Chairman Ryan Stokes, who will take up a position on the m.Net board, said the purchase was a strategic move. “m.Net is a mobile content enabler that has the right combination of technical ability in every mobile delivery platform, as well as strengths in mobile market research and strong links to our talented young innovators,” Mr Stokes said. “Mobile content delivery is part of the convergence that is changing the television and publishing marketplace. This ability to take your entertainment, education and information with you is beginning to fire consumers’ imaginations and Seven is taking a front row seat in the mobile world(for the show).” “We have offered Seven an attractive package of exciting new mobile services that will add another dimension to the media mix,” Mr Wiltshire said. A pioneer in advanced broadband, m.Net was established in 2001 by a consortium of international and local companies spanning the mobile services value chain to build and operate the first 3G network test bed in the southern hemisphere. Since this beginning the company has been transformed into one of Australia’s leading mobile service enablers. m.Net also counts Austereo, the country’s largest commercial radio broadcaster as one of its major media clients. “Seven has fantastic content that’s perfect for distribution to mobile phones. This opportunity to work with one of the fastest growing and most innovative media companies in Australia puts us in a unique position and represents a significant step in gaining market share in the growing mobile services industry.”