Sigmaroc. Regulatory News (SRC)

19 Nov 2008 09:30



Messaging International Plc / Market: AIM / Epic: MES / Sector: Technology

19 November 2008

Messaging International Plc ('the Company')

Partners with Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM)

to add Spanish to its Text to Landline Service

Messaging International Plc, the AIM traded provider of innovative messaging services, has expanded its existing relationship with Virgin Mobile USA. Virgin Mobile USA will add TeleMessage's Spanish feature to its popular Text to Landline application (also from TeleMessage) which allows customers to compose text messages that are converted into voice messages and delivered to landline phones. With the addition of the Spanish Text to Landline feature, Virgin Mobile USA customers can simply compose a text message in Spanish and have it delivered as a Spanish voice message to a landline recipient in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico. In addition, the landline recipient can respond to the message with a recording in Spanish. Virgin Mobile USA is making this feature available to its subscribers as part of the roll out of new voice rates to Latin America and other international destinations. Virgin Mobile USA customers can make calls to Brazil* and parts of Mexico, Venezuela, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan for only two cents per minute.

The Text to Landline application helps bridge the gap between those people that like to send text messages and those that prefer voice calls. It is particularly popular among people under 18 who use this service to communicate with their parents.

"We are continually looking for ways to make it easier for our customers to communicate, so we are pleased to offer this capability to our Spanish speaking customers" said Rich Alexander, Director of Messaging for Virgin Mobile USA.

Messaging International CEO, Guy Levit, said: "Adding this Spanish feature is consistent with many of the other things Virgin Mobile USA is doing to capture the Spanish speaking market in the U.S. and make it easier to communicate internationally. This feature will help them grow the application penetration even further."

* Applies to calls to landlines only 

* * ENDS * *

For further information visit www.telemessage.com or contact:

Notes

About Messaging International Plc

Messaging International Plc joined AIM in August 2005 with the objective of becoming a leading provider in the rapidly growing multimedia messaging market. Its 100% owned subsidiary, TeleMessage Ltd (www.telemessage.com), provides cross-platform media messaging management systems and applications. These are designed to enable PC, browser, mobile phone and wireline telephone users to send, receive and manage voice messages, email, text, IM and MMS across various media platforms. It supports multiple languages, text to speech conversion, e-mail notification, unlimited text length, and direct reply to text capabilities, all illustrating the uniqueness of the service. The Company has a number of contracts with major blue chip companies including Rogers Wireless, the largest wireless provider in Canada.

About Virgin Mobile USA

Virgin Mobile USA, Inc. (NYSE: VM), through its operating company Virgin Mobile USA, L.P., offers more than five million customers control, flexibility and choice through Virgin Mobile's Plans Without Annual Contracts and postpaid offerings through Helio By Virgin Mobile, with national coverage for both powered by the Sprint PCS network.

Virgin Mobile USA is known for its award-winning customer service and was recently rated the best prepaid wireless service for the third year in a row in the Annual PC Magazine Readers' Choice Survey, and 90% of its own customers report satisfaction with its service. Virgin Mobile USA allows customers to earn free minutes in exchange for viewing advertising content online through the innovative Sugar Mama program. Virgin Mobile USA's full slate of smart, stylish and affordable handsets are available at approximately 40,000 top retailers nationwide and online at http://www.virginmobileusa.com/, with Top-Up cards available at more than 140,000 locations. Helio's advanced devices like the Ocean and unlimited All-in voice plans can be explored at http://www.helio.com/.