Sigmaroc. Regulatory News (SRC)

21 Jan 2009 07:00



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

21 January 2009

Messaging International Plc ('the Company')

Uralsviazinform launches Text-to-Landline service with TeleMessage

Messaging International Plc, the AIM traded provider of innovative messaging services, has, through its 100% owned subsidiary, TeleMessage Ltd, signed an agreement with Uralsviazinform to launch its Text-to Landline service. Uralsviazinform is the largest provider of telecommunications services in the Urals region, and is considered as one of the four leading mobile operators in Russia. This agreement to launch Text-to-Landline will allow Uralsviazinform subscribers to send a text message from a wireless phone to any landline phone in the Ural region. 

The Text-to-Landline software enables Uralsviazinform wireless customers to create and send a text message to any landline phone in Russia, and converts it to a voice message for the recipient. The recipient can then respond by voice to the wireless customer, who will receive the reply message in the form of a text. The wireless customer will also receive a status text message confirming if the message was delivered directly to a person or to a voicemail system. The Text-to-Landline application is showcased on the web site: http://u-tel.ru/Mobile/TMS

"Using SMS to Landline, our customers will be able to contact anyone, anywhere using the simple and popular SMS capabilities on their handsets," said Sergey Bershev, Deputy General Director - Director for Business Development of Uralsviazinform. "Convergence is critical to us as a combined fixed line and mobile operator and providing services that combine these two spheres of telecommunications makes a lot of sense to us and our customers."

Guy Levit, CEO of Messaging International, said, "Uralsviazinform is a great example of how a company can use Text-to-Landline to increase customer loyalty by providing an innovative product. We are extremely pleased that Uralsviazinform has chosen to launch this service as millions of its fixed and mobile customers will benefit from our proprietary technology. Importantly, through this agreement, TeleMessage will gain exposure and recognition in the rapidly expanding Russian telecommunications market."

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

Notes

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, SMS, IM and MMS across various media platforms. It supports multiple languages, text to speech conversion, e-mail notification, unlimited SMS length, and direct reply to SMS 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 and Sprint/Nextel, one of the largest wireless providers in the US.

About Uralsviazinform

Uralsviazinform, the leading regional operator of telecommunications services in Komi-Perm AO, announced in 2002 a merger of 7 different operators into one that currently serves seven regions. Uralsviazinform has more then 3.7 million fix subs and 4.5 million mobile ones, shows phenomenal financial performance and is considered as the number 4 mobile operator in Russia.

The company's name, Uralsviazinform, was formed in 1994 when the company went public, and encompasses a wide range of achievements made in telecommunications in the Ural Region.

URAL (or URALS) is the region situated almost in the center of Russia, and covers roughly 2 million km, where the company operates.