Pannon GSM and Voxline Kft. have launched a Wap service that is unique on the domestic market, and rare even by international comparison. On the PocketWeb Club (in Hungarian: "ZsebWeb Klub") Wap portal, the mobile operator's subscribers will find a wider range than ever before of Internet and other premium content. It will also feature some special content accessible for some charge.

Hungary saw an upsurge in Wap use last year. This was partly due to the flat-rate Wap access launched by Pannon GSM and partly to the spread of mobile phones with Wap and GPRS data transfer capability. It has become important for mobile operators to provide quality content for the widening Wap-using public. Recognising this, Pannon GSM has launched ZsebWeb Klub, a Wap portal offering its Wap subscribers exclusive content on a range of subjects.

ZsebWeb Klub is an upgraded version of PocketWeb (in Hungarian: "ZsebWeb"), started up in June last year and proving highly popular among users. ZsebWeb is a unique WAP portal enabling people with Wap-capable phones to read items from Internet portals via their mobiles, in a Wap-optimised form. The difference between the old service and ZsebWeb Klub is in the range of content, now much wider and divided into topics. Subscribers pay a minimal subscription for the exclusive content, only 160 or 320 forints + VAT. This is paid in the form of a premium-rate SMS, enabling them to reach the content that interests them either for a few days or for a month. Sándor Fejes, Managing Director of Voxline Kft., the company that develops and operates the service, said, "The content is offered to users divided into several packages, so that people can choose what is of interest to them." The packages include the latest domestic and foreign news, detailed information on the economy and sport; or users can also find out about the latest scientific and technical innovations, cultural events, entertainment and many other topics. A special package has been produced for women, and more piquant topics for over-18 readers. There is also a chat option. Still available is the already-popular WebTap® Scooter, enabling users to surf a wide range of websites.

ZsebWeb Klub portal is really the normal Wap adaptation of the successful I-mode service provided by Japanese and several Western European mobile operators. As such, it provides some content free (for the telecommunication charge only) and some special added-value pages for a flat rate or for one-off charges. István Király, Deputy Managing Director of Pannon GSM, said, "The launch of this service is a major milestone in this country's mobile content service history. ZsebWeb is packed with a combination of free content for everybody and special, added-value information."

ZsebWeb Klub's pay-system is based on the WebTap® Premium WAP payment gateway developed by Voxline Kft. Voxline puts it all on the line: users can access the entire pay content free for two days (paying only the telecommunication charge) and find out exactly what interests them. On finding a particular content or content group that appeals to them, they can pay by premium rate SMS. When the message is received, the WebTap® Premium WAP recognises the user, who can then automatically access the subscribed content on visiting the ZsebWeb Klub site without the need to enter a username and a password.

Although ZsebWeb already boasts a large number of portals, Voxline Kft will be continuously expanding the list of accessible content, soon to include numerous games and other digital content. Fejes added, "It is our objective to provide users with quality content that they can access via their mobile phones easily and quickly, at any time and place."