[London, ENGLAND] Scandinavian mobile solutions company
Aspiro announced an
agreement Tuesday with Simple
Mobile Solutions of the
Netherlands to supply a range of mobile Internet services.
Aspiro will supply its Icons, Ring Tones, and Electronic
Postcards applications and the Aspiro International SMS
(Simple Messaging Service) Network.
Simple Mobile Solutions aims its services at the youth
market and claims to model its entertainment sector on
the hugely successful Japanese mobile provider, NTT DoCoMo.
It is the first Dutch independent provider of mobile services
to focus initially on SMS and WAP technologies.
Bruno Pagliuca, chief executive of Aspiro, said that as a
result of using Aspiro’s applications, Simple Mobile Solutions
could now reach an even larger customer base, particularly
among young people where the market potential is enormous.
Jeannette A. Deppe, chief executive, Simple Mobile Solutions,
said that an estimated 10 billion SMS messages will be sent
each month in Europe by the end of the year and her company
intends to capture a share of this market with some attractive
services.
“As part of a large entertainment network, which includes
ChatTV and The Internet Factory, we’re are certain
that the new Aspiro services will be a big hit,” said Deppe.
Aspiro, with over 180 employees and offices in Sweden,
Norway, Luxembourg and the United States, is becoming a
significant player in the global mobile Internet market. Its
products range from pre-packaged portal services to industry-specific
solutions for operators and content providers.
In July this year, Jeannette Deppe spoke of the strategy
being pursued by Simple Mobile Solutions, saying that
it would “start simple” with SMS and WAP and then
shift to the advanced applications on Gneral Packet
Radio Service (GPRS) and Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS).
Deppe said Simple Mobile would take “a neutral and
central position” in providing services, making them available
to all mobile users. This is in contrast to many of the
services offered by wireless operators which are
often available only to their own users.
