[London, ENGLAND] Mobile Internet enablers
Aspiro, of Sweden, and Wysdom Inc., of the U.S.,
announced Thursday an agreement to deliver SMS
traffic to each other’s customers across the Atlantic.
The deal means that Wysdom’s customers will be able
to reach over 200 GSM carriers in Aspiro’s international
SMS network, while Aspiro’s customers will get
access to 100 additional carriers in North America.
SMS — or Short Messaging Service — is becoming one
of the hottest growth areas of telecommunications.
In 2000, Europeans exchanged over 24 billion SMS
messages, greatly in excess of the 2 billion sent
in North America.
Lena Wittbjer, chief executive of Aspiro, sees huge
potential for growth in North America, pointing
out that there are currently more than 100 million
wireless users in the North American market.
“Sending SMS messages in North America is still in its
infancy compared with the volumes sent in Europe today,
but the SMS trend looks very encouraging and adoption
rates can grow quickly,” said Wittbjer.
Wysdom Vice-President Glen Schmid noted that Aspiro
is the largest independent supplier of SMS traffic in
Scandinavia and said it would be an excellent partner,
especially with its extensive European network.
The two companies have somewhat different profiles,
Wysdom being primarily a developer of wireless software
while Aspiro is essentially a service provider.
Founded in 1999, Wysdom employs around 250 people in
the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Its main product, the
Mobyle Application Platform, enables enterprises,
e-businesses and carriers to deploy mobile applications
that interact with enterprise systems and data sources.
Headquartered in Sweden, Aspiro has offices in Luxembourg
and the U.S., and employs around 133 people.
