UK bus operator Arriva has launched an m-ticketing service for all of its regional services in England, Scotland and eWales. Customers can buy daily, weekly and four-weekly tickets via their mobile phones. The service has been created using mBlox Sender-Pays Data, which enables consumers to buy data-rich content via their mobile, and pay only the price of the content itself, without incurring any data download charges to their mobiles.
Arrivas introduction of m-ticketing is believed to be the largest deployment of its kind in the world, covering approximately 1,000 routes served by Arrivas regional fleet of 4,500 buses. It will enable passengers to use their mobile phones to buy tickets and then display them to the driver.
The mobile phone is an essential part of modern life and m-tickets will give additional flexibility and convenience to our customers, says Arriva UK Bus Managin Director, Mike Cooper. The launch of m-ticketing across all our regions will mean that millions of bus journeys will be taken using the technology. We believe this represents the largest introduction of its type in the world.
Customers can buy tickets using their phone at anytime from wherever they happen to be. It saves them searching out the cash to buy a ticket and speeds up getting on the bus, as they simply show the ticket on the phone display to the driver.
Arriva has worked in partnership with Concept Data Technologies and mBlox to create the m-ticketing service, which is a free-to-download mobile phone application. Once downloaded, the app enables bus users to buy a range of tickets. Tickets can be bought either directly through the application via a registered card, or by buying credit from any PayPoint outlet, either by cash or card.
In addition, anyone using the m-ticketing service can save 10% off Arriva four-weekly saver tickets.
The m-ticketing technology works on any GPRS-enabled phone, on all Uk mobile networks. The service also works on BlackBerrys, and will run on the iPhone from early 2010 will be iPhone compatible as well. Phones with black & white screens, which are typically four or more years old, cannot be used. 
To use the service, register online via Arriva's dedicated website. Once registered, the m-ticket application will be sent, free of charge, to your phone. Next, select and buy your ticket via  credit/debit card or by cash. For cash top-ups, customers will need to add Arriva credit to their phone, using the m-ticket applications Add-cash' option at a PayPoint outlet or Arriva Travel shop. Then on the day of travel, activate the ticket. The ticket will be displayed on the mobile phone screen and simply needs to be shown it to driver. The ticket runs from the date of first use, not purchase.