Wipro Tech ties up with SmartTrust

Mumbai: SmartTrust a global leader in providing business critical mobile solutions and Wipro Technologies, have announced a strategic agreement to ensure the accelerated delivery of mobile device management solutions to global mobile operators. More than 170 mobile networks around the world use SmartTrust technology.

According to the agreement, Wipro's team in Bangalore will add capacity to SmartTrust's existing Stockholm-based development teams. Both will work towards the delivery of the next generation of subscriberware mobile device management solutions, a vital link in an operator's ability to manage the way consumers access mobile services and download mobile content. Under the terms of the agreement, Wipro will provide software development and testing services.

The sophistication of today's mobile technologies brings with it a challenge for mobile operators to ensure that their customers' mobile phones are correctly configured to access revenue-generating services, such a MMS, email, and content downloads (including games, music and video).

By maintaining correct device configuration, operators are better positioned to realize a return on investment from their handset subsidies and network / service expansion costs. The partnership with Wipro ensures that the development of SmartTrust's solutions continue to meet the demands of today's increasingly complex mobile network environments.

"Mobile data services represent a core element of an operator's portfolio. However, making these services simple and intuitive to use depends on a series of complex settings to be managed both on the device and on the network," explains Paul Cuss, CEO of SmartTrust. "Our agreement with Wipro will help us deliver the next generation of such technology and means we are better positioned to respond to changing market demands, quickly scale our resources and deliver solutions that offer real value to our operator customers."

"This is a strategic customer acquisition for Wipro in the Mobile Device Management space, which is currently growing at an exponential rate" said Dr. A. L. Rao, President, Telecom Solutions, Wipro Technologies. "SmartTrust is the world leader in this niche area and our partnership with them further accentuates Wipro's position of leadership in the telecom domain. We are confident that our relationship with leading mobile handset vendors and Telecom Service Providers will help us bring a strong domain experience to this partnership and further help us contribute to the success of SmartTrust."

"We were the first in the world to deliver a commercial automatic device detection and configuration platform," adds Cuss. "Operators no longer need to rely on the subscriber to configure their device or contact customer care. Working with Wipro we will see an aggressive roadmap of new and innovative solution launches throughout 2005 and beyond."

SmartTrust is headquartered in Sweden with a regional presence in Finland, UK Germany, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Brazil and the United States. SmartTrust is privately held and its investors include The Carlyle Group, Eqvitec Partners, GE Equity and TeliaSonera.