Starmap Mobile Alliance Selects Aicent as MMS Interworking Hub Provider
San Jose, California - February 14, 2005 - Aicent today announces that it has started its Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) interworking service trial with members of the Starmap Mobile Alliance. Starmap members will use the Aicent MMS Gateway as the central hub to establish MMS interconnection with one another, as well as with other international operator partners.
Regarded by the global mobile operators as a key service, MMS has experienced remarkable market penetration worldwide since it first launched in 2003. MMS interworking among operators, however, continues to be a barrier to traffic growth and market uptake of the MMS services. Aware of this challenge, GSM Association has listed MMS interworking as a top priority and recently developed implementation guidelines for third party service providers to help operators rapidly build hub based MMS interconnections.
The selection of Aicent is the result of a rigorous RFI/RFP process conducted by Starmap. "Our customers deserve the best service available in the market place. Aicent has demonstrated that they have the capability to fulfill our needs for this important service offering, "said Kevin Rogers of Telenor and current Chairman of Starmap. "We believe using a hub solution is the best way to establish global MMS interconnection, and we look forward to connecting with many operator partners worldwide through our hub connection, " he continues.
Aicent is a forerunner of the MMS interworking service. With 25 operators already under service contract, Aicent MMS Gateway is the largest commercial MMS hub in operation today. Commenting on the Starmap selection, Aicent CEO Lynn Liu said, "It is a great honor to be Starmap¡¯s group MMS hub provider. We are 100% committed to providing a world-class service to all Starmap alliance operators. We also want to invite worldwide operators to join our MMS hub to establish one-stop MMS interconnection with Starmap operators and all other operators we serve."
About Aicent
Aicent, headquartered in San Jose, California with regional offices in Asia Pacific and Europe, is a leading provider of data network services and solutions for global mobile operators. Aicent operates one of world's largest GRX networks with direct connections to over 30 operators, collectively serving 270 million mobile users. Through extensive peering arrangements, Aicent network reaches nearly all GPRS/3G operators around the world. Aicent also operates one of world's first and largest MMS Interworking services, and provides mobile messaging delivery and other value added services across all types of 2.5G/3G mobile networks.
Aicent Contact:
Adil Pastakia (Europe)
Tel: +44 208 404 6402
E-mail: adil.pastakia@aicent.com
Shu Gan (U.S. Headquarters)
Tel: +1 408 324 1830
E-mail: shu.gan@aicent.com
About Starmap Mobile Alliance
The Starmap Mobile Alliance has eleven members: Amena (Spain), Eurotel Praha (Czech Republic), O 2 (Germany, the UK and Ireland), One (Austria), Pannon GSM (Hungary), SONOFON (Denmark), Sunrise (Switzerland), Telenor Mobil (Norway) and Wind (Italy), covering a subscriber base of more than 54 million. A customer can already benefit from GPRS and MMS roaming, as well as access to familiar services such as voic e-mail and short-codes whilst traveling in other alliance countries. The Starmap mobile alliance is also collaborating in areas of sourcing, technology and sales to large corporate customers.
For more information and high resolution logo, visit www.starmapmobile.com
Starmap Mobile Alliance Contact:
Roland Kuntze
Press Officer
O2 (Germany) GmbH & Co OHG
Tel: +49 89 2442 1214
E-mail: roland.kuntze@o2.com