Ontela, Cellular South partner for Pic Sender

Holy cow, even more news from CTIA: Ontela announced its first carrier deal with Cellular South, which will deliver the mobile imaging solutions provider's digital photo service under the Pic Sender brand. Pic Sender-enabled handsets automatically transmit each photo snapped by the subscriber directly to a selected PC, e-mail account or web-based album site. According to a national consumer study conducted by Ontela, while 93 percent of camera phone users reported an interest in saving photos from their handset to the web, only 24 percent knew how to do so. Moreover, Ontela CEO Dan Shapiro added, two thirds of users with the know-how to transfer their photos circumvented their carrier network to do so, effectively depriving operators of a potential revenue stream.

Cellular South will launch Pic Sender in November, promising subscribers unlimited photo transfers for $2.99 per month. "We think this application is most exciting for those people who are least likely to venture into the dark recesses of the carrier deck," Shapiro said in an interview with FierceMobileContent. "It emphasizes that for carriers to move people to data, they need to provide comprehensive services." -Jason

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