Echovox Launches the 1st Global, Self-Service Premium Mobile Content Delivery Portal
SMSconnect.com allows users to configure and launch premium Mobile Content services in less than 24 hours; Enables immediate distribution and billing of mobile content to more than 200 million mobile subscribers across Europe; Improves outpayment levels by automating all processes.

March 8, 2006—The world’s first self-provisioning, global mobile content delivery portal was launched today by Echovox. SMSconnect.com™ makes it easy for anyone, from an established content owner to a start-up, to get involved in the burgeoning business of mobile content . The portal provides an easy to use interface to set-up, deliver and bill for mobile games, ringtones, news, blogs or any premium SMS content service. Launching a premium mobile content service takes less than 24 hours on SMSconnect.com, compared to months with other available services. SMSconnect.com enables Premium Mobile Content delivery via all Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in the following territories: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. At launch SMSConnect will provide access to more than 200 million mobile subscribers. This figure will increase rapidly with the inclusion of territories such as USA, Canada and China, reaching nearly one billion mobile subscribers by the end of the year.

Once signed-up, users can instantly define the requirements for their service. These range from end-user tariffs and keywords to shortcodes and service definition. SMSconnect then automatically provisions services with each participating operator. Subscribers benefit from a secure section of the portal where they have access to extensive reporting, and can manage all their services in real time.

SMSconnect.com is the culmination of five years of mobile messaging experience and is underpinned by Echovox’s core infrastructure, ICON™ (Inter-Carrier Open Network) that manages direct connections with carriers. ICON offers superior delivery and billing capabilities thanks to its Smart Retry Engine™ (SRE) feature. Not only does SMSconnect offer the most competitive outpayments based on volume, but combined with SRE, which analyzes the causes of delivery failures and treats them accordingly, successfully billed messages increase revenues for customers by over 14%.

In order to cope with the increasing complexity of regional regulatory requirements, ICON’s Automatic Compliance Engine™ (ACE) is built into SMSconnect.com. ACE lets application developers and mobile content distributors focus on marketing rather than managing the cumbersome regulatory requirements of each territory or carrier.

David Marcus, CEO and founder Echovox commented: "Setting-up a Premium Mobile Service across many countries or even locally can be a nightmare compared to the internet. Regulations, non-standard and multiple interfaces, multiple reporting sources and manual procedures make the launch of a mobile service extremely complex and time-consuming. SMSconnect is to the Mobile Content industry what NASDAQ was to traditional old-time exchanges, a transparent, simple and automated platform in a complex and opaque market."

Mike Short, Chairman of the Mobile Data Association comments: "Customers are asking for a growing range of content to be delivered to their mobiles, and this automated Echovox innovation helps meet the twin goals of wider content diversity with billing accuracy and regulatory compliance. The compliance will provide further reassurance to content publishers, brand owners, regulators and concerned parents that content is properly age classified, and priced appropriately. MDA applauds this new innovation as further support to the expanding and diverse mobile content market."

About Echovox
Echovox is a global managed Mobile Service Delivery Platform (MSDP) provider, enabling brands to launch or improve existing mobile content and entertainment solutions. Its proprietary infrastructure reaches over 60 mobile operators across the world, providing access to nearly a billion mobile subscribers.

In combination with its unique delivery and billing platform, Echovox sources compelling, high-value content from major music labels, movie studios, leading game developers, sports rights owners and mobile application providers.

Echovox’s MSDP infrastructure integrates Content Adaptation, Device Rendering (WAP, imode), advanced Billing, Audio and Video Streaming, Premium SMS and MMS, Content Management, Authoring tools and advanced User Profiling and Cross-Selling tools. Its MSDP platform can be used to develop customised mobile content and entertainment services but is also leveraged in ready-to-go packaged solutions such as white-label mobile content kiosks for: ringtones, full-track music, wallpaper and mobile games and localised mobile entertainment content mini-portals (gossip, news, jokes, prize competitions).

MVNOs, Mobile Operators and Media Groups turn to Echovox for managed mobile content solutions. Content providers rely on the company for the worldwide distribution and monetisation of their content on mobile.

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