Frenzy for Live 8 concert tickets

Mobile cellphone companies in the UK have reported a massive surge in text messages following the start of the Live 8 ticket lottery on Monday June 6.

Tickets are not available for purchase; fans can enter a lottery system. To win Live 8 tickets, entrants have to text the answer A, B or C to a question to telephone number 84599 by midnight on June 12. The question is "What city is the forthcoming G8 summit being held near this July? A) Berlin B) Moscow C) Edinburgh."

People can enter as many times as they like, at a cost of 1.50 pounds (about $2.75) plus standard texting charges for each entry. A computer will then randomly select lucky winners who will each be given two tickets for the UK-leg of Live 8 - the concert in London's Hyde Park on July 2.

There are just 150,000 tickets available for the UK-leg of Live 8 where winners will get the chance to see the likes of Paul McCartney, U2, Sting, Velvet Revolver and Coldplay - all expected to perform at the Hyde Park show.

Simultaneous shows will rock London, Philadelphia, Berlin, Paris and Rome, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators, while billions more are expected to watch on television.