UK technology company Mobiqa, Village Cinemas Czech Republic and Febiofest, are claiming a film festival first by providing movie fans with an innovative mobile ticketing service for Febiofest, the largest film festival in the Czech Republic, which began last week and runs until Friday.
Situated in the new multiplex Village Cinemas Andel in Prague, Febiofest guarantees excellent screenings of full length films, distribution premiers, retrospectives and tributes. During the evening, the event transforms itself into the Febiofest Music Festival, showcasing world music, jazz, blues, avant-garde and alternative rock concerts.
Mobiqa and Village Cinemas Czech Republic are providing mobi-tickets to film fans who opt for the service when booking their Febiofest tickets online. Mobiqa create a barcoded mobi-ticket, tailor it specifically to the customers make and model of mobile phone, and then send it to the phone in the form of a standard text message. The film fan then has their barcoded ticket scanned at the entrance to the multiplex by Village Cinemas staff to gain entrance to the festival.
The service coincides with research recently released by Juniper Research which estimates that 2.6 billion mobile tickets will be delivered to just over 208 million mobile phone users by 2011. 
Mobiqa notes that the mobile ticketing service offers film fans, the organisers and the venue owner numerous benefits over traditional paper ticketing. mobi-tickets help to increase sales,  as tickets can be sold right up to the last minute. Tickets are delivered immediately after purchase so customers dont have to queue up to collect them or worry about them arriving in the post. Mobile ticketing also helps to reduce distribution and operational costs and is more environmentally friendly than paper ticktes. Finally, says Mobiqa, organisers and venues can track attendance at the event automatically and in real-time, and the barcoded mobi-ticket can also double-up as a coupon or voucher at concession stands making the service a truly versatile, efficient and convenient means of entry.