Microsoft and SingTel Launch Initiative to Develop New Mobile Services
Posted on June 3, 2008
Filed Under Microsoft
ATLANTA, June 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Today at the GSM Association
(GSMA) Mobile Innovation Marketplace - Americas, Microsoft Corp. announced
the Connected Services Accelerator Program, a series of projects designed
to incubate, and ultimately commercialize, new types of consumer, business
and mobile services through collaboration with independent software vendors
(ISVs), developers and operators. Microsoft will collaborate with SingTel
on the program’s first project, the Mobile Connected Services Accelerator.
All Accelerator projects will utilize Microsoft Connected Services Sandbox
as the platform for the creation, development and testing of these
innovative new services.
Mobile Connected Services Accelerator
The objective of the Mobile Connected Services Accelerator is to
develop a new, cutting-edge mobile application for a vertical industry,
which can be supported on Windows Mobile-based devices as well as Windows
Vista-enabled mobile broadband PCs. Examples of such applications include
the collection of patient data in healthcare, telemetry and
fleet-management solutions, real-time financial services, equipment and
property management, and utilities management. SingTel will make its
state-of-the-art infrastructure and resources available to participants for
development and testing purposes.
To qualify, developers and ISVs must have annual revenues not exceeding
$20 million (U.S.) and must not be owned by a publicly traded company or
subsidiary, or mobile operator. Proposals will be evaluated according to a
set of criteria that includes market potential, scalability, ease of use,
ease of deployment, customer demand and originality.
“SingTel is excited to collaborate with Microsoft to accelerate the
development of innovative mobile services that will transform the way we
live, work and play,” said Bill Chang, executive vice president of business
at SingTel. “The Mobile Connected Services Accelerator is a global
initiative that will complement the SingTel Partner Programme in driving
innovation and helping to turn exciting ideas into reality. Participants
may not only benefit from reduced development costs but also achieve faster
time to market for their innovations.”
“Our mission for the industry is to drive the transition to Telco 2.0,
a new era of communications where service providers are delivering hundreds
if not thousands of new services,” said Martha Bejar, corporate vice
president for the Communications Sector at Microsoft. “Building on our
investments in the Sandbox development environment, the Connected Services
Accelerator Program aims to build a truly global marketplace for service
creation that, working with operators, will lead to the commercialization
of a new wave of innovative services. We are working with SingTel on the
first project, which has a mobile focus to tap into the huge potential we
see for applications delivered to mobile devices including mobile-broadband
PCs.”
The Mobile Connected Services Accelerator project will run from July 1
to Sept. 30, during which time Microsoft and SingTel will provide technical
and commercial guidance to support the project team. The project will be
entered into the GSMA’s Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition in the
Most Innovative Mobile Application in a Vertical Market category, with the
winner to be announced at the Mobile Asia Congress in Macau Nov. 18-20.
“The speed of Internet protocol innovation demands that mobile
operators must continue to innovate to deliver compelling new services and
remain competitive,” said Bill Gajda, chief commercial officer of the GSMA.
“Microsoft’s initiatives are consistent with the objectives of the GSMA,
formed specifically for the Mobile Innovation Market, which focuses on
turning ideas into reality. We welcome the association of the Connected
Services Accelerator Program to the GSMA’s Mobile Innovation Global Award
Competition and hope to extend these efforts to a scalable program that
will produce innovative services and applications for the broad mobile
operator community.”
More information about the Connected Services Accelerator Program and
criteria for the Mobile Connected Services Accelerator is available at
http://www.networkmashups.com.
About SingTel
SingTel is Asia’s leading communications group with operations and
investments around the world. Serving both the corporate and consumer
markets, it is committed to bringing the best of global communications to
customers in the Asia Pacific and beyond. With significant operations in
Singapore and Australia (through wholly-owned subsidiary SingTel Optus),
the Group provides a comprehensive portfolio of services that include voice
and data services over fixed, wireless and Internet platforms. To serve the
needs of multi- national corporations, SingTel has a network of 37 offices
in 19 countries and territories throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and the
United States. These offices enable SingTel to deliver reliable and quality
network solutions to its customers, either on its own or jointly with local
partners. The Group also has major investments in Bangladesh, India,
Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand. Together with its
regional partners, SingTel is Asia’s largest multi-market mobile operator,
serving more than 185 million customers in eight markets. SingTel employs
more than 20,000 people worldwide and had a turnover of S$14.84 billion
(US$10.05 billion) and net profit after tax of S$3.96 billion (US$2.68
billion) for the year ended 31 March 2008. More information can be found @
http://www.singtel.com and http://www.optus.com.au.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
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