Aepona and Altobridge flying high

02-04-2008

by Ciara O'Brien

Belfast-based mobile software firm Aepona continues its expansion, while Kerry-based Altobridge plays a role in mobile industry 'milestone'.

Aepona has announced it is hooking up with location-based services company WaveMarket. Under the new deal, mobile operators will be able to deploy WaveMarket's product suite using Aepona's Telecom Web Services platform. Aepona's platform scooped the award for Best Service Delivery Platform at the GSM Association's 13th annual Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona recently.

WaveMarket's product range includes family finder, search, and asset tracker services, with mobile platform components such as turn-by-turn navigation, mobile social networking and dynamic tiled mapping. It also includes the Veriplace Location Privacy Platform. The firm has already deployed its services on 12 networks in the US.

As part of the deal, WaveMarket will be able to rapidly expand its services, and facilitate the deployment of location-based applications to Aepona's carrier partners.

"We are delighted to offer WaveMarket's powerful suite of enterprise and consumer services as part of our Telecom Web Services solution" said Michael Crossey, Aepona's VP of Marketing. "Our industry-leading platform provides the ideal foundation for WaveMarket's suite of location applications and allows our carrier customers to offer these valuable location-based services to their users."

Location-based services are a growing market and have already found a popular market base in the US. At the beginning of 2007, all four major US carriers were offering the services, with ABI Research predicting that 335 million consumers would sign up for location-based mobile services within five years.

Aepona this week announced it had appointed a new CEO and planned further expansion into the North American market. Recent success in the North American market prompted the move, which will result in the establishment of a new subsidiary, Aepona Inc, based in Denver, Colarado.

Meanwhile, in another coup for Irish mobile firms, technology from telecoms company Altobridge has played a part in the delivery of the first in-flight mobile phone services. The telecoms services were delivered by AeroMobile aboard an Emirates Airline Airbus A340-300 on 20 March.

Kerry-based Altobridge's in-flight technology, AM Gateway Platform, was developed over several years, funded by private R&D investment. It was chosen in 2005 for the world's first commercial deployment of in-flight mobile communications by AeroMobile, a joint venture by ARINC and Telenor

"Altobridge's technology is integral to the AeroMobile system and provides us with unique capabilities in the aviation marketplace, such as the ability to operate over all Inmarsat satellite communications systems. The Altobridge AM Gateway Platform allows AeroMobile and our airline customers to benefit from the highest level of service while at the same time minimising use of aircraft satellite links, improving the commercial viability of our service," said Bjorn-Taale Sandberg, Chief Executive Officer of AeroMobile Limited, in a statement.

Menawhile, chief executive of Altobridge, Mike Fitzgerald, said the firm was happy that Aeromobile and Emirates had reached what he described as a "major, historical milestone" for both the wireless and aviation industries, with Altobridge's core technology at the heart of this success.