Irish mobile software firm Jinny has struck up a research and development (R&D) alliance with Helsinki-based telecoms software firm Tecnomen Corp.
The strategic partnership will see Tecnomen cease the development of its own Multimedia Service Centre (MMSC) products and instead resell Jinny’s software.
Jinny, which in recent years became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Italian Acotel Group, predicts operators globally will benefit from the messaging focus that the two companies share and will boost the development of new offerings to keep apace with operators’ changing needs.
The deal will create the fourth most widely deployed MMSC solution worldwide, measured by the number of mobile operator customers, behind Ericsson, Nokia and LogicaCMG.
Tecnomen and Jinny Software already have an agreement under which Jinny Software supplies its Short Messages Service Centre (SMSC) to Tecnomen customers. In 2004, Tecnomen and Jinny Software secured a variety of deals under this agreement, including wins in the Middle East, Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe.
The CEO of Jinny Software, Max Wilkie commented: “This partnership provides us with the expanse and reach of Tecnomen’s global sales resources, while allowing us to focus on our core competencies of excellence in development of mobile messaging products and customer service.”
He added: “This deal is good for all mobile operators. Our dedicated R&D and local customer support teams around the world will back Tecnomen sales staff. Customers can expect more messaging for their money.”
Jinny employs 20 sales and technical personnel at its Dublin offices. Acotel customers include TIM in Italy, Tele2 in Sweden, Orange in Denmark and Vodafone in the Netherlands and Ireland.
By John Kennedy