Mice Love Rice; Chinese Love Mobile Music

Mice Love Rice; Chinese Love Mobile Music

TOM Online Kicks Off National Roadshow to Promote Copyrighted Music on Wireless, Online Platforms

BEIJING, Aug. 2 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- TOM Online Inc. (Nasdaq: TOMO; Hong Kong GEM: 8282), China's leading wireless Internet company, announced today the launch of a mobile music roadshow across the country in recognition of the tremendous business potential the fast-growing music service has to offer.

A leader in the provision of mobile music, entertainment and sports contents in the country, TOM Online is also embarking on nurturing a new breed of singers on the Net through the six-city roadshow by lending them its unrivalled wireless, online and offline marketing power as leverage, said TOM Online Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Wang Lei Lei.

"Music is not only a universal language, it will also play a key role in uniting wireless and Internet technologies on to a more integrated platform for Internet companies of the future," said Wang at the launch of the mobile music roadshow in Beijing. "As the online music industry thrives, the dissemination of music via wireless services such as ringback tone (RBT) and interactive voice response services (IVR) ensures copyrighted content is respected and protected, providing artists a financially rewarding environment to grow and new media companies a profitable business model."

China's wireless data market is expected to grow to more than US$9.2 billion by 2008 from an estimated US$5.26 billion in 2005, according to Gartner. A key driver for that growth will be the distribution of music and entertainment contents through new wireless media services such as RBT, IVR and ringtone download.

A shining example is the recent success of a Mandarin pop song called "Mice Love Rice", according to Wang. Released only on the Internet at first, the song became an instant success within the online community before it spread to traditional media outlets such as radio and TV. For RBT service alone, the song has been downloaded to more than 10 million handsets since it went online late last year. At its peak, the song recorded 6 million RBT downloads in one month, generating revenues equivalent to the sales of about 700,000 CDs.

"In China, mobile and Internet-enabled devices are growing in importance as a mainstream media outlet. TOM Online, through its solid partnerships with operators and major music labels, and its substantial wireless and Internet user base, is taking the lead in driving the importance of service providers in the new value chain of China's music industry," said Wang.

TOM Online's paid wireless services such as RBT, IVR, WAP and SMS counted about 77 million cumulative users as at March 31, 2005. In addition, its portal tom.com is one of the most visited sites in China, providing the Company an invaluable user base and platform to cross sell its mobile music services.

The mobile music roadshow, which features up and coming Internet singers, will kick off with a music extravaganza in Chengdu on August 6th. It will then tour Guangzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou and Xian before its finale at Dalian on August 27th.

About TOM Online Inc.

TOM Online Inc. (NASDAQ stock symbol: TOMO, Hong Kong GEM stock code: 8282) is a leading mobile Internet company in China, operating one of the most successful Internet portals in China ( http://www.tom.com/ ) and offering a wide variety of online and mobile services, including wireless Internet and online advertising. In the wireless Internet arena, TOM Online provides a diverse range of services such as SMS, MMS and WAP, and is the largest player of wireless Internet voice business. As at March 31, 2005, TOM Online is the only portal in China that enjoyed a top three ranking in every wireless Internet service segment.

TOM Online is a subsidiary of TOM Group Limited ("TOM Group"), one of the leading Chinese language media groups in the Greater China region. TOM Group's diverse operations span five media sectors: the Internet (through TOM Online Inc.), outdoor (through TOM Outdoor Media Group), publishing, sports and TV & entertainment.

For more information, please contact:

Rico Ngai TOM Online Inc. Tel: +86-10-6528-3399 ext 6940 Mobile: +86-139-118-95354 Email: ricongai@tomonline-inc.com

Source: TOM Online Inc.

CONTACT: Rico Ngai, +86-10-6528-3399 x6940, +86-139-118-95354, ricongai@tomonline-inc.com of TOM Online Inc.

Web site: http://www.tom.com/

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