T-Mobile gets in on Band Aid charity act with downloads

LONDON - T-Mobile is offering its customers the new Band Aid 20 single 'Do They Know it's Christmas?', along with downloadable content at its standard price rates.

The operator is selling both the 2004 version of the charity song, which includes Coldplay's Chris Martin, Robbie Williams, Dido, Joss Stone and The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins, as well as the original release from 1984 from Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.

In line with its standard pricing policy T-Mobile is selling Realtones for £4, Caller Tunes for £1.50, ringtones for £3, and six different wallpapers costing £1.75. All profits will be donated to the Band Aid Trust supporting food aid to Sudan's troubled Darfur region.

The services are available on the mobile company's Wap service, T-zones, and the Band Aid 20 video and audio track can be accessed through WebTV Europe, which delivers multimedia content to mobile phones.

Graham Thomas, vice-president of content services at T-Mobile International, said: "We are very excited to provide our customers with an easy way to contribute to Band Aid 20."

Following heavy criticism Apple's iTunes Music Store has started selling the Band Aid 20 single.

Apple iTunes online music store was refusing to sell the track because it would mean altering its pricing policy from 79p to £1.49. But the track is now available at the standard Apple single price of 79p and Apple will donate 70p to the Band Aid Charitable Trust every time the song is purchased.

The track is also available to download from MSN, Sony, Napster and Tesco.

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