GSM Assocation Names Durham, NC Company Urban Planet Mobile As Finalist For Prestigious Global Mobile Awards

PT Telkomsel and Urban Planet Mobile One- of- Five Companies Worldwide
To Compete For “World’s Best Mobile Learning Innovation” Award

DURHAM, NC – Urban Planet Mobile, the world’s leading mobile education provider, has been selected as 1 of 5 finalists for the prestigious 2011 Global Mobile Awards for its Urban English Mobile Innovation. The company will compete for the “World’s Best Mobile Learning Innovation” award.

The international GSM Association narrowed the field of world-wide competitors from almost 500 across 10 categories naming Urban Planet Mobile’s Urban English initiative in Indonesia, in partnership with PT Telkomsel, as a finalist in the Best Mobile Learning Innovation category.

“To be recognized for our international accomplishments as a mobile learning innovator is the greatest compliment we could receive,” said Mobile Education’s creator, CEO and founder of Urban Planet Mobile Brian OliverSmith. “This is our first year entering this competition and to be picked as a finalist is indicative of the impact our products and company have around the globe, especially in Indonesia where the desire from that population to learn English has been considerable.”

PT Telkomsel, one of the largest mobile carriers in the world with more than 94-million subscribers, launched Urban Planet Mobile’s Urban English initiative in October 2010 because it understood the hunger the Indonesian people have to learn English and the importance and necessity the English language has for the growth of the country’s business community. Within two-months of the launch, the Urban English series had more than 70-thousand subscribers, an unheard of and historic benchmark for mobile education.

The Urban English Language Learning Program developed by Urban Planet Mobile allows each subscriber to receive detailed English lessons daily to their cell phones via text messages (SMS) with an attached English Learning ring tone. It is the largest, most comprehensive library of English Language learning for mobile education and because of smart product design, the daily lessons are available to 95% of handsets and reach 85% of the English learning population worldwide. The Urban English line is being expanded using the current audio as the building block for an animated library to exploit the growing web enabled, smartphone market, while retaining design simplicity to still reach the greatest percentage of the worldwide market.

As the largest network coverage of any cellular operator in Indonesia covering all the country’s provinces, regions and counties, PT Telkomsel was the first company in the world to see the potential of the Urban English language program. PT Telkomsel recognizes the significant demand to learn English among the Indonesian population, especially within the global business community where the predominant language is English.

Other finalists in the Best Mobile Learning Innovation category include BBC Learning English for BBC Janala; Ericsson, The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Millenium Promise for Connect to Learn; Nokia and the Pearson Foundation for “Bridgeit”; and OnPoint Digital, Inc. for CellCast Solution.

“The GSMA warmly congratulates all the nominees in this year’s Global Mobile Awards,” said Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer at the GSMA. “To have been shortlisted in such a highly competitive and innovative field is a tremendous achievement and we look forward to recognizing the winners and celebrating their success at Mobile World Congress next month.”

Urban Planet Mobile is the leading provider of education and information products created specifically for delivery via mobile phone. With products ranging from basic word and phrase lessons to SAT preparation, Urban Planet Mobile is the only company to develop English lessons for delivery to any mobile phone. Additional information about the company can be obtained at www.urbanplanetmobile.com or by calling (919) 323-8763.

CONTACT:
Michael B. Friedman
Brandon Public Relations LLC
(212) 563-6580