[London, ENGLAND] Mobile Internet company Aspiro announced Wednesday a US $0.34 million deal to supply mobile Internet applications to a European operator over three years.
The order, for no less than seven mobile Internet services, gives a substantial boost to Aspiro, a relatively small player with just 125 staff in a huge and burgeoning market.
Without naming the latest customer, Aspiro Chief Executive Lena Wittbjer claimed there is now a big international demand for Aspiro’s portfolio of mobile applications and services.
“Aspiro has now received a number of large orders for its mobile Internet applications and we are currently negotiating with other international mobile operators regarding additional sales,” said Wittbjer.
Wittbjer added that Aspiro expects shortly to be able to announce similar agreements.
The European mobile market is currently in an up-beat mood, with this week’s announcement by Vodafone of a thirty-two percent increase in turnover, topping US $14.5 billion for the six months to end-September.
A far more modest operation, Aspiro has offices in Sweden, Luxembourg and the United States, from which it offers pre-packaged portal services and industry-specific solutions to mobile organizations.
Aspiro’s City Guide has recently been nominated for Best Use of WAP in a Consumer Application, and its Fleet Manager for Best Use of WAP in a Business Application — both by WAP Forum and IBC. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Monday, November 27, 2000.
Aspiro plans to seek a full listing on the OM Stockholm Stock Exchange’s O-list. Its directors say they will apply for this listing very soon with the aim of achieving it during the first six months of 2001.
Aspiro says it anticipates a future where mobile technology delivers bandwidth of up to 2 mbps, enabling advanced services like video conferencing, personal video clips with e-mail and live broadcasting direct to small mobile devices.
