Cellular operator MTN has made its first foray into Europe, signing a 50:50 partnership with Italian systems integrator Aliasnet.
The joint venture operation has in turn signed a licensing agreement with Italian cellular operator Wind, to make MTN`s proprietary mobile Internet cellular technology available to the European market.
The deal was facilitated by Mobile e@MTN, a business unit identifying opportunities arising from convergence technologies.
MTN will initially launch its remote interactive voice response (RIVR) technology to the Italian market.
"RIVR has the ability to deploy mobile Internet to the mass market and allows corporates to fetch specific information off their own database. It does so by leveraging the existing telecommunications infrastructure," says e@MTN chief Sam Michel.
The RIVR technology does not require a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-enabled handset and Michel says it is compatible with most existing cellphones in Italy.
In terms of the licensing agreement, Wind has the right to use RIVR to develop suitable Internet-based information resources for its clients, such as weather forecasts, TV programming and sports scores.
MTN will initially earn a licence fee and a percentage of the increased sales revenue attributed to the new offerings.
MTN management expects the Wind deal to be a catalyst to further European ventures.
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