Mobile email, instant messaging and data synchronisation provider Synchronica PLC (AIM: SYNC) said it has received a purchase order from a mobile operator in Argentina for its Mobile Gateway product.
The purchase order has been secured through Synchronica's distributor Brightstar Corp and is the fifth mobile operator win in Latin America and the sixth contract announced by the company in 2010.
Under the contract, the Argentine operator will pay a service fee of up to US$0.36 per registered user per month. Synchronica will also provide professional services for customization, deployment and training of Synchronica products which will be charged on a time and material basis.
The operator will use Synchronica's Mobile Gateway technology to offer a push email and synchronisation service to its more than 13 million subscribers and is scheduled to launch the service in May 2010 with a trial period free of charge to the end-user to promote the service. Synchronica's industry-standard technology requires no additional software to be downloaded to the handset and enables push email for the broadest range of handsets, from high-end Smartphones to low-cost entry level devices.
This contract is the third win through Synchronica's strategic distribution partner, Brightstar, specialised in customised distribution and supply chain services for the wireless industry.
Synchronica cited research compiled by the IE Market Research Corporation (IEMR) on Argentina as saying that subscriber growth over 2008 was 13.1 percent ahead of the industry average. IEMR is forecasting total wireless subscribers to increase from 43.6 million in 2008 to 48.8 million in 2013.
CEO Carsten Brinkschulte said: "Our fifth contract win in this region clearly demonstrates the attractiveness of Synchronica's Mobile Gateway product in offering mass-market data services on the entire mobile phone device range, from high-end to low-end mobile phones. Mobile phone penetration in Argentina is already the highest in the region, however by introducing data services to the mass market, the operator can use Mobile Gateway to help increase ARPU (average revenue per user) and tackle the level of churn present in emerging markets.
Astaire Securities featured Synchronica in its Morning Report today, noting that the bulk of the group’s contracts to date have been on a fixed licence fee per handset basis.
“The shift to a monthly revenue model obviously reduces up front revenues but should provide a much greater long term revenue stream. The availability of mobile email, instant messaging and data synchronisation on non-smartphones represents a considerable global opportunity,” the broker added.
The company is gathering momentum and started 2010 with a string of new deals, both for the flagship Mobile Gateway product and for its latest addition to its product range: the MessagePhone low-cost device which was officially launched in February.
The MessagePhone product marks a significant milestone for the company, as it is the first time its software is being bundled and pre-installed with mass-market mobile devices. The MessagePhones utilise the infrastructure provided by Mobile Gateway, building an end-to-end entry-level push email product.
Furthermore, with the recently announced acquisition of IMPS instant messaging business, Colibria AS, and a £4.8 million fundraising, it is placed to offer a complete next-generation messaging service.
Synchronica intends to incorporate Colibria's IMPS technology into the Mobile Gateway product and pre-install it on the MessagePhone low-cost device. The acquisition includes a number of significant benefits including the transfer of 13 carrier contracts, of which two large carrier groups have an addressable market of more than 320 million subscribers. The deal also sees the transfer of Colibria's related reseller agreements with Nokia Siemens Networks and Acision.
The company also gains Colibria's Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS), Colibria's Windows Live Messenger Gateway, Colibria's Social Network Gateway and its dedicated SaaS (Software as a Service) App Centre.