For the first time since the Brits were launched in 1977 music fans will be able to vote for five of the 16 hotly contested categories via an SMS voting service, as well as take advantage of exclusive downloads, competitions, media messaging news alerts and an extensive Wap site connected to the event.
The five categories the public will be able to vote for are: the UK's Best British Urban Act, nominees include Dizzee Rascal; Best British Breakthrough Act, nominees include The Darkness and Dizzee Rascal; Best British Rock Act, nominees include The Darkness; Best British Single, nominees include Dido; and Best Pop Act, shortlist includes Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.
In addition, O2 will bring fans content via its dedicated mobile Brits website and the O2 Wap service specially designed to promote the Brit services.
O2 will also have access to monophonic, polyphonic and truetone ringtones from all the finalists' latest singles, which can be downloaded through the Wap service, online or via O2 Active. Video mobile users will be able to download video interview clips from nominees and winners on the Wap site.
As part of the promotion, O2 will run a Brit Awards competition via SMS where music fans can win a variety of prizes from tickets to the event or mobile phones.
Separately, O2 has partnered with Samsung, whose 180掳 swivel-screen camera phone, the Samsung P400, is the official handset for the awards. As well as sponsoring the Best Pop Act category, Samsung will be promoting the Samsung P400 in conjunction with the Brits on the O2 portal.
Laurence Alexander, product director at O2 UK, said: "With other significant partnerships in 2003 such as 'Pop Idol', 'Popstars: The Rivals' and 'Big Brother', O2 is building itself as the UK's foremost authority on the SMS TV arena delivering groundbreaking interactive services for the most popular television shows in the UK. In the latest series of 'Big Brother', 1.5m fans were able to use their mobile to interact with the show and we hope to generate similar success with the Brit Awards."
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