Warner inks content deals with Orascom, Telenor

News out of 3GSM: Warner Music Group announced two separate content partnerships poised to extend the venerable entertainment brand's reach into the Middle Eastern and Scandinavian mobile markets. Under terms of its agreement with Egyptian-based mobile provider Orascom, WMG will supply songs, ringtones and related music content to roughly 60 million subscribers across markets including Italy, Algeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The deal promises to afford both WMG and Orascom the opportunity to profitably sell mobile music downloads in a region notorious for piracy: "It's a step forward in terms of making the market legal," said Orascom chairman Naguib Sawiris in a prepared statement. "It's a win-win."

Warner also entered into a similar strategic partnership with Norwegian-based operator Telenor ASA, becoming the first major label to align with the carrier for pan-regional content distribution. Nine of Telenor's 13 mobile affiliates will offer WMG content, among them operators in Sweden, Hungary and Ukraine.

For more on the WMG deal with Orascom:
- read this Financial Times article

For more on the WMG deal with Telenor:
- read this Forbes article

Related article:
- Warner Music closes deal with China Unicom