Valista (formerly Wicklow-based Network365) has taken a top prize at the GSM Association Awards 2004 at Cannes.
The company won the Best Mobile Application Developer prize at the awards, which were held last night as part of the 3GSM World Congress.
It was the second big win for Valista in as many days. Valista had previously announced that G-Tech Corporation, the world’s leading lottery-transaction processor, is to use Valista’s technology to allow lottery players around the world to play the lottery using any mobile device. The new service means that customers will no longer have to queue to submit tickets for processing at point-of-sale lottery terminals. Players will now be able to pick their numbers, pay for their ticket and submit their numbers to the lottery using any mobile device. The platform will also allow players to receive notifications on their mobile device of winning results and whether they hold a winning ticket.
Valista was formed in 2003 following the merger of Network365 with US-based iPIN. Its product portfolio includes micro and macro-payments, multi-channel top-up, service delivery, user profile management and cash replacement. All Valista products support multiple access channels and payment models, allowing consumers to transact wherever they are, however they pay.
The GSM Association Awards have been described as the ‘Oscars of the mobile industry’ by The Wall Street Journal.
Commenting on the award, Raomal Perera, CEO, Valista, said: “We are delighted to win such an award which emphasizes the benefits which our suite of payments products brings to users worldwide.”
Joining Valista on the winners’ rostrum were Vodafone Group plc, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile International, SMART Communications (The Philippines), O2 and China Mobile, which received the GSM Association’s Chairman Award for reaching the one billion GSM customer mark.
It is the second year in the row that a company with Irish links top a major award. Irish software developer Xiam was winner of the Wireless in the Community category for a wireless accessibility application it devised for the West Midlands Police in the UK using the Xiam Information Router product.
The full list of winners of the 2004 GSM Association Awards:
Technology Innovation Category
Best mobile terminal, handset or device:
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications for the Sony Ericsson T610 (Global)
Best infrastructure/network solution product:
Argogroup for Monitor Master User Experience Optimisation Platform (UK)
Applications and Services Category
Best mobile application or service – corporate market:
Vodafone Group Plc for the Vodafone Mobile Connect Card (Global)
Best mobile application or service – consumer market:
SMART Communications, Inc for SMART Load (The Philippines)
Best mobile application developer:
Valista (Ireland)
Marketing and Promotion Category
Best TV/broadcast commercial:
Telecom Personal SA for the ‘CUBE’ commercial (Argentina)
Best brand, PR or marketing campaign:
T-Mobile International for the re-branding of VoiceStream to T-Mobile (USA)
Mobile in the Community Category
Best use of mobile for accessibility:
02 and ‘Milly’s Fund’ for Teach UR Mum 2 TXT Personal safety campaign (UK)
Best use of mobile for emergency situations:
WideRay Corporation for Uganda Health Information Network (USA)
Best use of mobile – special needs:
ALVA B.V. for the ALVA MPO (USA, Europe)
GSM Association Chairman’s Award 2004
China Mobile Communications Corporation (China Mobile)
By Brian Skelly
