Sunday, October 24, 2010
Agreement with Narrowminds
Artilium plc is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with the Dutch company NarrowMinds B.V. with the objective of setting up a new Mobile Virtual Network Enabler ("MVNE") in The Netherlands, which enables communities to launch their own mobile offering, including SIM embedded location based and presence services.
A Memorandum Of Understanding has been signed with T-Mobile to become the operating partner for the new company and the technology will be based on Artilium’s market leading ARTA8 platform. Narrowminds will be responsible for marketing the new MVNE to potential customer groups, such as, regional communities, as well as small and medium sized enterprises, social communities and media companies.
The new MVNE intends to launch its services in the first half of 2011. Mobile Virtual Network Operators ("MVNO") are becoming increasingly popular as corporate entities recognise the potential to use a tailored mobile offering to increase customer loyalty and create new marketing opportunities. To date, take up of MVNOs has been restricted by the high cost associated with them which has meant they have only been economically viable for communities of 20,000 subscribers or above. However, using ARTA’s technology, the new MVNE will be able to create MVNOs for communities of only 1,000 subscribers, substantially expanding the potential market place.
Maarten Bisseling, Chief Executive Officer commented:
“This is a very exciting opportunity for Artilium. The significant marketing potential associated with creating specific mobile networks for groups of clients, customers and interest groups has long been recognised by the corporate world. Recently large corporations such as Carrefour, Tesco and Red Bull have all launched their own MVNOs. The problem for smaller enterprises has been the cost has not been scaleable to smaller subscriber groups. ARTA8’s technology creates a solution to this problem and we look forward to developing this exciting venture alongside our partners. It is also foreseen that the digital marketing agencies and media companies will have a growing need for this type of technology to address specific target groups and social communities.”
For further information contact:
Artilium PLC:
+32 (0)50230300
Fred Mulder
Maarten Bisseling
Arbuthnot Securities:
+44 20 7012 2000
Antonio Bossi
Ed Groome
Cardew Group:
+44 20 7930 0777
Tim Robertson
James Milton