While wireless data applications made a big splash at Wireless ’99 last week in New Orleans, a new
company quietly slipped into the pool with the introduction of a new end-to-end mobile data service solution called
Saraide.com.
Saraide.com is a joint venture among Microcell Telecommunications Inc., Nortel Networks,
Omnipoint Communications Inc. and GSM Capital L.P. Other investors include Aerial Communications Inc., Celcom,
Deutsche Telekom AG, Esat Digifone, France Telecom Group, Singapore Telecom and SmarTone.
The company
essentially is a spinoff of Nortel, which developed the Distributed Services Network Platform, the patented service
delivery platform on which the system is based. Like a service bureau, the DSNP is a Java-written host of servers to
which carriers pay to connect. These servers host a variety of Internet-based information services, such as news
headlines, weather updates and sports scores. Eventually, the servers also may connect to private intranets and
corporate databases.
Carriers may buy these data services on a wholesale basis and in turn brand and offer them to
their customers, so they need not spend the time and money developing their own data solutions.
If it sounds a lot
like what Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. are striving for in their Wireless Knowledge L.L.C. joint venture, it
should.
“I’d say for the most part, that’s a good way to look at it,” said Lew Turnquist, Saraide director
of marketing. “Wireless Knowledge is the closest thing we have to a competitor.”
The difference, he
said, is “lineage and focus.” The company was formed by carriers and in turn concentrates on what carriers
want. “It’s a for the carrier, by the carrier focus,” he said.
Much of the company’s philosophy can be
derived from its name. Saraide (pronounced Sara-eed) is one of the names given to the Lady of the Lake, the woman
who-according to legend-bestowed upon King Arthur Excalibur, the magical sword that made him king.
“In a
world dictated by information, Saraide.com gives users the power to achieve their destiny by putting the power of
information, literally, in the palm of their hand,” the company said.
In this endeavor, Saraide.com is designed
as an end-to-end solution that will provide the necessary equipment, servers, billing system, training and support
needed for carriers to offer mobile access to Internet services, messaging, e-commerce and information services. All
carriers need do is pay for the connection.
When a carrier buys the Saraide.com service, the company adds a link to
its Web site where subscribers can go to customize their information profiles. That link actually is Saraide.com’s site,
where customers create a profile, determining what information they want, how they want to receive it (based on time
or event) and on which device they want it sent.
“That’s important because the users are self-
provisioning,” Turnquist said. “It requires no impact to carriers’ operations to get them on board. They’re
provisioning on our system, not theirs.”
The content primarily is Internet-based. The DSNP filters the
Internet-based content for delivery based on the specifications set by each individual user, including sending it in the
format best read by the device listed in the profile.
Turnquist said Saraide can access beyond fire-wall servers as
well, but that is not expected to be a focus until the third quarter, at least.
“It’s not what the carriers are
interested in now,” he said.
Saraide.com may seem designed for Global System for Mobile communications
carriers only, when examining the companies involved in the venture.
“You may look at our investor list and
think we are limited to North American GSM,” Turnquist said. “We’re not. It’s just a coincidence … We’re
capable of delivering across any air interface available,” including TAP for paging, Code Division Multiple
Access and Time Division Multiple Access technologies.
“In an effort to debunk the myth, we’ll be launching
in European markets and (with) non GSM carriers in North America” sometime this year, he said. “Our
first priority is getting our lead customers up and going.”
Saraide.com said Microcell of Canada will be the
first operator to launch the service, sometime in the second quarter, followed closely by Omnipoint.
Neither
Turnquist nor Hatim Tyabji, chairman and chief executive officer, would say exactly how much of a stake each venture
partner owned in the company, nor would they detail the exact overall investment to date. Turnquist said the
management still is seeking further investors and won’t reveal these numbers while negotiations are
ongoing.
Saraide.com is comprised of about 50 employees in three offices. The core technology team is based in
Ottawa, where the technology was developed; the operations center, where the DSNP servers are located, is in Dallas;
and the content development and executive teams have offices in the San Francisco Bay area.
The company said it
plans to open a European operating center sometime in July and another in Asia by the third quarter.
Content
providers named so far include Standard & Poor’s ComStock stock market data coverage, SportTicker’s sports news
and information, Tibco Software Inc.’s Tibco.net information integration and e-business services, and Weathernews
International Inc.’s weather information.
