InphoMatch Launches Mobile Content Business Unit

March 15, 2004 - InphoMatch today launched its new mobile content business unit, InphoMatch Interactive (Imi). Imi simplifies content management and delivery for both carriers and content providers by removing implementation barriers, streamlining collection and delivery, and providing a broader variety of content. InphoMatch concurrently announced a $13.5 million round of funding that will enable the company to compete aggressively in the growing mobile content and applications segments.

The Imi online content catalog features pre-certified, downloadable ringtones, images, wallpaper, MMS content, voting campaigns, and applications. Imi makes it simple for carriers to manage multiple content types and services in real-time, and offers an integrated billing and settlement functionality.

"The carrier's deployment of premium billing capabilities finally creates the opportunity for a sustainable business model in the domestic mobile content delivery space, and demonstrates that this is the right time for InphoMatch to expand aggressively in this space," said Neville Street , President and Chief Executive Officer, InphoMatch, Inc. "Imi is a natural extension of InphoMatch's core skills and expertise, developed while creating the domestic SMS interoperability market. To ensure high-value content and applications, Imi will utilize InphoMatch's high performance, carrier-grade infrastructure, currently delivering over one billion messages each month and offering the proven quality of service our carrier customers have come to expect."

"In addition," Street added, "the subsequent round of funding, new credit equipment lines, and our available cash flow provide us with a significant war chest with which to acquire the assets and resources that will enable us to quickly become a leader in this space."

"Imi's biggest value to carriers and content providers alike is that Imi acts as the middleman— gathering, certifying, and organizing content for them," said Jorgen Nordin , General Manager of Imi. "For mobile carriers to fulfill the promise of content services and MMS—while generating more revenue than with text messaging alone—they must offer a wide range of ever-changing content and services in conjunction with billing models that provide good incentives for content providers. The launch of this new business unit solidifies our efforts to help our carrier partners create new revenue streams in the mobile content space."

InphoMatch's infrastructure provides automated, end-to-end content handling process, which enables the seamless delivery of high volumes of messages to carriers while, at the sam e time, allowing multiple content providers to customize and localize content using Imi's content creation tools. The availability of content in the Imi storefront is governed by the devices available for each specific carrier. Choosing from the catalog and adding or excluding content is done through a Web-based "select, publish, and manage" functionality.

Imi provides carriers and content providers with three unique service offerings:

Content Services provides thousands of popular content items, from MMS and interactive games to ringtones to screensavers. In addition, Imi ensures—through a rigorous certification process—that content is compatible with a carrier's networks and devices, and that it adheres to quality standards.

Delivery Services connects multiple stakeholders—carriers, content providers, marketers, and businesses—and provides a unified, common delivery method while removing the carrier's burden of having to manage multiple provider links. Delivery Services gives access to the tools and technologies that enable carriers and content providers to deliver non-Imi-hosted content, campaigns, and applications to their customers and partners.

Campaigns and Applications includes features such as voting and polling (one- and two-way), alerts (news, sports, weather, etc.), text feedback and TV interaction, and interactive marketing campaigns. Campaign services offers a turnkey, full suite of cross-carrier, premium text messaging services that uses unified short or long codes integrated across all wireless carriers, and also includes tools to create applications such as localized community events, chat, fan clubs, horoscopes, and more.

More information is available at www.inphomatch.com.

SOURCE InphoMatch