SAN DIEGO and McLEAN, Va., Oct. 25, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- International Data Corporation (IDC), one of the world's premier market intelligence and advisory firms covering the information technology and telecommunications industries, has named SMS.ac, Inc. (www.sms.ac/corporate) to its prestigious "10 Emerging Wireless Players to Watch" list for 2005.
The annual report is authored by Scott Ellison, senior analyst and program director of wireless & mobile communications at IDC (www.idc.com).
"Beyond the sheer number of carrier relationships and consumers it has secured on a global level, a couple of key concepts set SMS.ac apart in the wireless space," said IDC's Ellison. "SMS.ac is focused on wireless community building around the world. And the company is distinguishing itself as a mobile destination that is adept at creating customer retention programs. But most importantly, SMS.ac is emerging as one of the first recognizable global wireless content 'brands.'"
SMS.ac (www.sms.ac) is now the most popular mobile destination for wireless users around the world. The company's proprietary technology platform enables the interoperable exchange of mobile multimedia (MMS and SMS) across any mobile network, rendering them deliverable to virtually any enabled wireless handset on the planet. The company has tens of millions of self-registered members residing in more than 170 countries.
"SMS.ac is honored to be included on IDC's most watchable list for 2005," said Michael Pousti, chairman and chief executive of SMS.ac. "SMS.ac's global mobile community is growing faster than ever because increasingly, people are shifting towards mobile lifestyles. There is escalating, pent-up demand for anywhere, anyplace access to people, information, content, and other things that were never before available while on the go."
SMS.ac has premium billing arrangements with more mobile operators than any third-party company, allowing SMS.ac to instantly and automatically monetize subscriber accounts in those countries, whenever SMS.ac products and services are utilized (www.sms.ac). User activity is either registered as SMS (text) use on their monthly invoice, or the charges are debited directly to customers' pre-paid phone cards. Revenues are shared with the mobile operators and other partners.
Mobile applications found at SMS.ac include smsFlirt (www.sms.ac/flirt), smsClubs (www.sms.ac/clubs) and smsFriends (www.sms.ac/friends). An estimated 1 million people per month are joining smsClubs each month in 2004.
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About SMS.ac
SMS.ac, Inc. is a mobile data communications company whose proprietary MMSbox(tm) platform enables the interoperable exchange of mobile multimedia (MMS and SMS) and micro-transaction billing across all mobile standards, protocols and the Internet. A demonstration of the MMSbox platform is available at www.sms.ac.
With tens of millions of self-registered mobile consumers in 170 countries, and connectivity to more than 400 mobile operators worldwide, SMS.ac is host to the largest community of mobile phone users in the world. Through its global initiatives, SMS.ac is igniting the widespread adoption and use of wireless data. To view the SMS.ac corporate web site, visit www.sms.ac/corporate.