BluWave Caribbean is getting ready to deploy new technology that delivers digital ads to cell phones via bluetooth connectivity.

BluWave, according to director Barry Collymore, is the new wave in proximity marketing that lets the advertiser choose the target for its advertising efforts, while allowing cellular phone users with bluetooth-ready devices to access these ads on their phones.

Jamaica will be the first country in the Caribbean to use BluWave technology, first deployed in the United Kingdom, in which the company is headquartered. Collymore said at the launch of the service last week that Jamaica would be the ideal place to begin the global journey of proximity marketing.

“As is usual, with the most innovative and inviting trends Jamaica is the best place to start,” he said.

The development is as a result of collaboration with Multimedia Jamaica Limited a subsidiary of the RJR Communications Group.

Gary Allen, deputy managing director of the RJR Communications Group noted that advertisers would benefit through the direct targeted advertising that BluWave facilitates. He said they could also get data on the reach and engagement of the ads. He said unlike other forms of advertising, accurate information on how many people receive, read and how many impressions are made could be generated from the BluWave technology.

Steven Reid, head of parent company BluWave UK noted the possibilities of the technology not only rests with advertising, but with developmental and other information needs. These include special offers and special event notices from advertisers, news content, and information on flights and travel updates.

Neville James, communications consultant and advisor to the Office of the Prime Minister, noted the potential that exists with the deployment of the technology to deliver policies and plans to the public in ‘time allowed for government broadcasts’.

Because anyone with a phone that has bluetooth capabilities can access the material, Reid noted that advertisers will be able to reach consumers outside their homes, while they ate travelling or waiting in line. The hotspots for the bluetooth transmissions will be situated at high traffic areas including banks, supermarkets, shopping centres, and the airports. In fact, Collymore disclosed that a hotspot at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston is currently able to transmit booking and flight information to travellers via BluWave at no cost to the customer.

“There is also general information relating to everybody that you get. I mentioned Ananda Alerts. If I am at a mall, Digicel or Claro or LIME could send out a message generally on the network. Because there are top up points on the mall it could reach everybody at one time,” Collymore told the Business Observer.

Collymore told the Business Observer that given the growing interest in the technology, the company would have to revise its budget upwards. He did not disclose however, what that budget was or what the new one could be.

“Because of the level of interest we haven’t fully evaluated exactly what the cost would be. But there is so much interest people all over Jamaica can turn on to the network that I think we will need to re-evaluate our investment,” Collymore said.

BluWave’s business model entails delivering unrequested information to perhaps the most personal device owned by the consumer. However, Collymore downplayed the intrusiveness of the service.

“I don’t think it will intrude. What I think it will do is it will give the consumer relevant information. Information that they need at the time that they need it. So you won’t be lying in your bed and you get a text message telling you about a party or something like that,” he said. He noted that customers also have the option to ‘opt-in’ or allow the phone to receive the information.

“I think if there wasn’t opt-in, that would be a disadvantage to us because we would be intruding on the clients,” he said. “One of the things that we are very confident about this network is that the network allows people to get information that they need, information that is location specific. We want the mobile phone to be an information centre, not an intrusion of people’s life.”

The Broadcasting Commission regulates the information sent over similar mass market networks, including radio and television channels. However, there is currently no regulation that speaks to information transmitted via bluetooth to cellular phones and given that all audiences, including underage children now have cellular phones, the issue of the suitability of the material was raised by the Business Observer.

“That’s the age old question of the media. Who takes responsibility? Is it the parents is it BluWave. We can’t be the parents,” said Collymore. “What I can say is that what goes on our network is advertising information that is specific to location. If we send out a message on a special on Red Stripe or one of the other beers, a child is not supposed to take that and go to a bar because the people at the bar is supposed to enforce that. So while we have to be responsible in what we do we can’t police everything.”

He said while there may be an absence of regulation right now, this is consistent with the development of new technology whereby regulations will have to catch up.

“It’s new technology so do you wait for regulations to come in or do you give people the opportunity to experience the technology? My preference is to give people the opportunity to experience the technology,” Collymore said.