Optus is the first mobile carrier to give its customers access to a range of official mobile phone logos and picture messages from the first movie in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring.

Paul Kitchin, Director Mobile Marketing for Optus, said small screen-sized mobile phone logos have proven highly popular with consumers who like to personalise their mobile phones.

"We are delighted to now be able to offer Lord of the Rings fans some phone fun.

"They can tap into the global Lord of the Rings phenomenon by simply downloading the especially created logos, characters and images from the movie directly onto their mobiles.

"If hobbits are a bit of habit, you can have them on your handset. You can have a logo of Frodo or get the one ring to rule them all on the small screen," he said.

Mr Kitchin said The Lord of the Rings deal was the first of many such arrangements for Optus as movie merchandising begins to branch more into the realm of mobile data.

"We are delighted to link our mobile content with the latest movie releases. This is a reflection of our ability to understand the needs of our customers and deliver to them content which is both interesting and fun.

"Now we are starting to see movie marketers proactively looking for opportunities for fans to express themselves with a bit of mobile movie magic," Mr Kitchin said.

A sample of The Lord of the Rings images available at www.info2you.com.au include:

Logos and picture messages cost $1.99 each to download. Before downloading, consumers should check the website to ensure they have a compatible handset. For example; ringtones and logos can be downloaded onto most Nokia digital mobile phones.

The logos are licensed and have the appropriate copyright approvals. The content is sourced from Riot Entertainment a global leader in the provision of wireless entertainment services - and Riot-Es Australian marketing partner, iTouch Australia.

For more information contact:
Louise Ingram
Optus Public Affairs
Tel: (02) 9342 5042