mobily selects ip unity glenayre for the middle east's first deployment of 3g video messaging
IP Unity Glenayre, a leader in delivering carrier-grade messaging and multimedia solutions over IP, TDM and enterprise networks, today announced that its video mail technology has been selected for deployment in Saudi Arabia by local telecom operator, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily). The service will be the first deployment of Versera Video Mail in the Middle East.
The video mail technology, which allows 3G subscribers to retrieve and
view video messages, will be initially deployed to Mobily's 3G
subscribers in Saudi Arabia.
"3G services such as video calling are enjoying a rapid rise in
popularity in the Middle East and our customers expect to have access to
the very latest technology," said Khaled M. Khatib, Technical Marketing
Manager at Mobily. "IP Unity Glenayre's video mail has been fully
deployed, bringing enhanced services to subscribers and increased
revenues to mobile operators; it is one of many enhanced video solutions
that will add value to our subscribers."
IP Unity Glenayre's Versera Video Mail enables users to have all the
traditional voice mail services they are already used to, but with both
video and audio capability: when callers make an unanswered video call
using the new application, they will see the subscriber inviting them to
leave their message and will be able to record a video message in reply.
The system also enables advanced messaging capabilities like voice mail,
Versera Missed Call Notification and Versera My Services, an Internet
portal application that allows subscribers to have full control of their
messaging features online.
"The Middle East is experiencing rapid growth in mobile usage and, as
such, operators need to accelerate the adoption and awareness of their
3G services to retain subscribers and to drive higher revenues," said
Steve Whipps, Senior Vice President of EMEA at IP Unity Glenayre.
"Mobile messaging solutions like Video Mail add value to operators like
Mobily by enabling them to offer a personalized service to differentiate
their brand and start increasing 3G service revenue."
Versera ICE is one of the telecommunications industry's true
next-generation messaging solutions: it enables the deployment of
multiple applications on a single, open platform while providing
carrier-grade quality for both circuit-switched and IP networks. It is
also compliant with IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), enabling operators to
plan for convergence and future applications.
About Mobily
Mobily became the first Saudi 3G mobile operator and broke the mobile
market monopoly on May 25, 2005 when it launched commercial services to
the public after six months of preparations. By the end of 2006, Mobily
had 6 million subscribers, prompting the GSM World Association to
describe it as the fastest growing operator in the MENA region. By Q2
2007, Mobily claimed a 35% market share. Also in 2007, Mobily raised SAR
10.781 billion ($2.875 billion) and set a new Islamic Finance record. In
September, Mobily announced it had entered into an MoU worth SAR 1.5
billion (US$400 million) to buy Bayanat Al Oula, months after launching
the first unlimited mobile Internet package in the MENA region that
allows subscribers to connect at speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps.
About IP Unity Glenayre
IP Unity Glenayre, Inc. is a leader in delivering carrier-grade
messaging and multimedia solutions over IP, TDM and enterprise networks.
The company's unified communications framework brings together messaging
services and rich media distribution to users across disparate networks
and devices. IP Unity Glenayre offers one of the industry's broadest
portfolios of applications, including voicemail, unified messaging,
conferencing, SMS, MMS, text to speech, speech recognition, fax, IVR
voice portal, color ringback tones, prepaid billing, video portal, video
conferencing, videomail and video gaming, all built using open standards
based technologies such as VoiceXML.
IP Unity Glenayre's comprehensive multiservice solutions are deployed
globally, over best-of-breed media servers and application servers and
across traditional and all-IP broadband wireless, wireline and FMC
networks. For more information, go to www.ipunity-glenayre.com.
LINX Announces Latest Edition of HotLINX
The London Internet Exchange (LINX) has launched the latest edition of
its popular 8-page news magazine, HotLINX, available now at
www.linx.net.
This latest issue includes a special three page feature on the Internet
Exchange industry with LINX CEO John Souter providing his own personal
view of the what's happening in the market. There is news of a huge
milestone for Euro-IX, the European Internet Exchange Association, and
articles on the upcoming European Peering Forum in Barcelona and how
LINX works with other IXPs for the benefit of the industry as a whole.
It is a busy time for LINX with the next member meeting, LINX59, only a
week away. This event is previewed in-depth in HotLINX backed by a
review of the events of LINX58 meeting held in August.
With other stories on developments in Internet regulation plus LINX
member and partner news, this edition of HotLINX has something for
everyone with an interest in what's happening in the Internet world.
You can download your own personal PDF copy of HotLINX issue 12 today at
https://www.linx.net/files/hotlinx/hotlinx-12.pdf. Further information
on LINX is available at www.linx.net.
