AppAsia seals master licence deal with China Mobile unit

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): AppAsia Bhd has inked a three-year master licence agreement with China Mobile International Ltd (CMIL), under which its unit AppAsia Studio Sdn Bhd will be the content provider to the Chinese global telecommunication solutions company.

The deal comes after AppAsia Studio entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in June with CMIL, which is a subsidiary of Hong Kong and New York-listed China Mobile Ltd, to establish a digital content business partnership.

Chief among the provisions of the master licence agreement it announced today is that AppAsia Studio will provide content, including text, articles, editorials, news, tutorials, tips, suggestions, graphics, photographs, video, audio and more, to CMIL.

In its Bursa Malaysia filing, it said it will also provide CMIL the requisite data and technical specifications to use or develop a suitable interface to display the content provided on a platform.

It will develop, maintain and regularly update the content and provide CMIL any technical, administrative or service assistance in relation to the use, transmission and maintenance of such content.

In return, CMIL shall pay AppAsia Studio’s transaction share for the content that has been provided to subscribers, said AppAsia, but did not elaborate.

CMIL shall also be responsible for the design, layout, posting and maintenance of the content platform.

“The master licence agreement shall be valid for the period of 36 months from the date of the effective date, Nov 21, (initial term) and may be extended automatically for further periods thereafter unless terminated in accordance with the provisions pursuant to the terms of the agreement,” said AppAsia.

When it first announced the MoU in June, AppAsia said the business model between the parties would include but not be limited to revenue sharing, one-off purchase or mixed model, “subject to CMIL and content/internet protocol owner commercial decision by project and region on a case-by-case basis”.

“For revenue sharing, CMIL will act as content distributor and payment gateway for end-user billing payment and settlement for AppAsia,” its filing then read.