Synchronica PLC (LON:SYNC,TSX-V:SYN) received a purchase order for deployment of its carrier-grade IMPS mobile Instant Messaging infrastructure software with the Russian subsidiary of a pan-European mobile operator group.
Two of the country's top-3 mobile operators already use Synchronica's messaging products, the group said in a statement.
With the initial order, the operator is buying services and licenses worth US$246,000. The operator will also pay Synchronica a recurring service fee based on the registered user base each month.
This is the first purchase order that Synchronica has secured in concert with its new global reseller partner, Acision.
The operator is part of a pan-European mobile operator group which owns GSM licenses across 37 Russian regions, and covers an addressable population of approximately 61 million.
This purchase order represents Synchronica's first deal with a subsidiary of the group. The operator will use Synchronica's IMPS infrastructure to offer their own carrier-branded Instant Messaging service to their 18 million subscribers, in addition to providing access to mainstream IM communities.
Synchronica is scheduled to deliver the service in early 2011, with the operator launching shortly thereafter.
When carrier-branded, Synchronica's IMPS technology acts as a churn inhibitor, because defecting to a rival carrier would mean the loss of a customer's mobile IM identity.
The group cited data from Portio Research as saying that by 2012, there will be 867 million worldwide mobile IM users generating US$12.4 billion in revenues. Mobile IM is still in its infancy stage in Russia according to Visiongain, but has been widely accepted, especially amongst the youth segment, Synchronica said.
Chief executive Carsten Brinkschulte commented: "With Synchronica's solutions already being used by two of Russia's top-3 operators, we are now in the pole position of this important market.
Synchronica develops next-generation mobile messaging products. Mobile Gateway, Synchronica's flagship product, provides push email, synchronization, 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 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.