Synchronica Acquires Neustar NGM's IM Business: Adds Eleven Carrier and Two OEM Contracts to Synchronica's Client Base
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Royal Tunbridge Wells, February 4, 2011. - Synchronica plc (AIM: SYNC, TSX-V: SYN), the international provider of next-generation mobile messaging services, has entered into an agreement to acquire Neustar NGM's instant messaging (IM) business.
The deal includes eleven contracts with tier one / tier two mobile operators and two contracts with tier one device manufacturers. The acquisition also includes Neustar NGM's patented technology and further increases Synchronica's competitive position and market share in the instant messaging segment.
Neustar NGM's operator customer base includes: Vodafone and Optimus (Portugal), SFR (France), Globe (Philippines), TIM (Italy), Turkcell (Turkey), Hutchinson 3 (Hong Kong), Vimpelcom and MegaFon (Russia). The acquired customer base also includes two tier one device manufacturers which are using the Neustar MIM (mobile instant messaging) to provide instant messaging services to end-users.
Synchronica will assume all responsibilities under the existing contracts and intends to provide full support for installations of Neustar NGM products and services to existing operator and device manufacturer customers.
Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica, comments: "We are delighted to acquire these assets, further accelerating our business and cementing our position as the leading provider of next-generation messaging services for mobile operators and device manufacturers. We are looking forward to working with our new customers and are committed to supporting all deployments."
Acquired Products and Services
With the acquisition of the IM assets and liabilities of Neustar NGM's business, including its patented technology, Synchronica gains access to the following products and technologies offered to mobile operators and device manufacturers:
o Mobile Instant Messaging: MIM services enable operators to launch both mobile optimized access to established internet IM communities including Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Google Talk, and Facebook and to build their own IM services
o Interconnect: Intercarrier Communications Process (ICP) enables operators to offer their customers instant messaging interconnectivity, enabling users to freely communicate across multiple IM communities, mobile and fixed
o Mobile Social Networking: Mobile Messaging Gateway provides operator-branded services that give end-users mobile-optimized access to social networking communities, such as Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, and Vkontakte
o Operator Communities: Instant Messaging Service Center (IMSC) and the Presence Server Platform enable subscribers to create customized personal profiles, check whether friends are online and what they are doing, chat in realtime, and share pictures and other media
o Rich Communication Suite (RCS): RCS is an initiative led by the Global System Mobile Association (GSMA) with the support of a wide range of operators and vendors. It aims to provide an enhanced communication experience to subscribers through a suite of interoperable and interconnected services and applications. RCS enablers include the Instant Messaging Service Center (IMSC), which provides the enhanced messaging capability, and the Presence Server Platform enabling the Enhanced Address Book
o Enhanced Address Book: A key part of the next evolution of communication, the Enhanced Address Book, is included not only in RCS services, but also in some of the latest smartphone handsets
Synchronica intends to continue to support Neustar NGM's open standards-based IM technology and plans to integrate key elements of the software into Synchronica's Mobile Gateway product line. To existing customers, Synchronica will propose a roadmap and transition to Synchronica Mobile Gateway, extending the range of services from IM to push email, synchronization, and social networking.
About Synchronica
Synchronica plc is a leading developer of next-generation mobile messaging solutions. Mobile Gateway, Synchronica's flagship product, provides push email, synchronization, instant messaging (IM), and social networking services to any mobile phone currently in use. Synchronica's patented transcoding engine uses advanced streaming to download email attachments and can dramatically reduce the consumption of network bandwidth by as much as 90 percent.
Mobile operators and device manufacturers from emerging and developed markets rely on Synchronica's white-labelled product for providing mass market messaging services across the entire customer base, diversifying revenues and reducing churn.
Headquartered in England, Synchronica also maintains a development center in Germany and the Philippines in addition to a regional presence in Canada, the USA, Hong Kong, Spain, and Dubai. Synchronica plc is a public company traded on the AIM list of the London Stock Exchange (SYNC) and the Venture Exchange of the Toronto Stock Exchange (SYN). For further information, please visit www.synchronica.com
For more information, please contact:
Nicole Meissner
Chief Operating Officer
Tel.: +44 1892 5527 80
Mobile: +44 7977 2564 12
Fax: +44 1892 5527 21
nicole.meissner@synchronica.com
Contact Walbrook PR
Paul Cornelius
Investor Enquiries
Tel.: +44 2079 3387 80
paul.cornelius@walbrookir.com
