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Vringo lands first carrier-led video ringtone service

Company behind an application that can turn video, images, and slideshows into a personalized ringtone experience inks a deal to bring its service to Turkey.

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Don Reisinger
Former CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
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Don Reisinger

Vringo, a company that offers an application that can take video, images, and slideshows and turn those into a personalized ringtone experience, announced that it has signed an agreement with Turkish mobile carrier Avea, to bring the company's video ringtone service to Turkey. The deal puts in place the first carrier-led video ringtone subscription model in the world.

Vringo plans to launch its service on Avea with a 60-day free trial, followed by a monthly subscription fee. For added revenue, the company will also sell pay-per-clip video ringtones for those who aren't satisfied with the company's library of free videos.

"Analysts estimate that 50 percent of ringtone revenues will come from video ringtones as early as 2010; it's our mission to make that a reality," said Jon Medved, CEO of Vringo.

The company's foray into Turkey is just the first step in what it hopes will be a worldwide carrier-driven video ringtone market. Before its deal with Avea, Vringo was operating independently from carriers, but now that it has finally inked a carrier-driven model, it hopes to expand those deals around the world.