Date:03/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/12/03/stories/2005120302910400.htm

Back IMImobile bags 3 global orders; sets up overseas centres

V. Rishi Kumar

Hyderabad , Dec. 2

IMIMOBILE, a managed mobile value-added services provider for major Indian telecom companies, plans to go global covering new areas, including media and publishing.

It recently bagged three large overseas deals, including one from Trinidad and Tobago, and is in the process of locating centres in London, Singapore and Dubai.

The company has roped in senior executives for its overseas expansion. While Mr Derek Biggerstaff will spearhead the European efforts based out of London, Mr Eric Barbier, based in Singapore, will lead the Asia-Pacific operations, and Mr Ranjan Sengupta, the West Asian market.

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of IMImobile, Mr A. R. Vishwanath, told Business Line "the company decided to make a mark in the domestic telecom market first before overseas expansion. This strategy has begun to pay off. We now partner with AirTel, Bharti, Rainbow, Aircel, BPL and BSNL on the telecom side, Star TV, Yahoo, and Sahara TV on the media side and also with leading content owners such as Sony-BMG, Universal, Associated Press and PlayerOne."

"The company, in an initial round of funding, raised $1 million way back in 2000; we recently raised about $3 million from Spark plc, a UK-based venture capital fund. This is for the expansion of local development teams, research and development and overseas expansion," he said.

"The company created its own technology platforms that help mobile operators provide their customers access to new value-added services quickly and cost effectively. These include Sudoku puzzles that have become popular the world over. Since we host these services on our platforms at the VSNL data centres in Mumbai, operators do not have to spend for technology. As a result, it is a win-win situation for both. While the operator benefits with new services, we gain from transaction-based revenues," he said.

"It is estimated that 40 per cent of the revenues for telecom operators would come from non-voice, data-centric applications. This calls for new platforms that help telecom operators improve their ARPUs (average revenue per user) and reach out new services to their customers," Mr S. S. Bhat, its R&D Director, explained.

"Being an IPR (intellectual property rights) centric company, we have also developed a messaging platform for telecom carriers. Referred to as Da Vinci, this content management system, covers a range of voice and interactive platforms, making it easy for customers to interact," Mr Vishwanath said.