Last week proved a significantly productive one for wireless data service bureau provider Saraide.com as the company acquired a value-added service provider in Europe and received a $5.5 million investment from L.M. Ericsson.
The week also marked the first time the company’s various satellite offices convened in one place for its first-ever companywide meeting, held in Ottawa, Canada. Sandy Carson, Saraide.com’s marketing manager, said the acquisition of GSM Information Network BV, a value-added services provider based in the Netherlands, was the major catalyst for the meeting.
“The GIN acquisition was a very big step for us,” she said. “They have focused on being a service bureau much like us.”
Saraide.com is a joint venture consisting of Microcell Telecommunications Inc., Nortel Networks, Omnipoint Communications Inc. and GSM Capital L.P. It uses a Distributed Services Network Platform developed by Nortel to host a service bureau of Internet-based services, to which carriers may connect and offer to customers via their wireless devices.
In April, Microcell became the first carrier offering Saraide.com services-a two-way wireless e-mail product for wireless phone users Microcell has branded as Fido E-mail, part of a new service package called FidoPro. Eventually, Saraide.com hopes to offer e-commerce, unified messaging, information services personal information management and location-based services as well.
The company has several agreements with content providers in North America, and plans to name others soon, but was lacking good content to offer potential European customers. GIN’s acquisition meets this need, the company said.
GIN provides services like stock quotes, traffic and weather information, horoscopes, translation services, currency rates, airline schedules and Internet-based provisioning in 10 languages.
Saraide.com bought all of GIN’s shares and will integrate the company’s operations with its own. Both will operate under the Saraide.com name.
GIN brings with it relationships with several carriers in Europe and Asia, as well as much needed content services different than those offered in the United States, such as translation services and currency conversion.
GIN also carries significant clout in the European market. While relatively unknown here, GIN is known as a pioneer of wireless data services and a dominant player on the continent.
Curt Roth, GIN’s founder and president, was named vice president of worldwide strategy and European sales for Saraide.com.
Saraide is backed financially by several European and Asian telecom carriers, including Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and Singapore Telecom. The addition of infrastructure and handset vendor Ericsson further expands the company’s international presence.
“It’s a real confirmation of our strategy,” Carson said, adding that the company is negotiating with other potential investors as well. “It gives us a lot more credibility. We now have 13 carriers in Europe, Asia and North America endorsing our system.”
However, Saraide.com is still relatively unknown, compared with its closest rival-Wireless Knowledge L.L.C., the joint venture formed between Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. Both companies have similar service bureau offerings in mind. Wireless Knowledge gets more press than Saraide.com, even though it has yet to see a commercial launch.
“We’re much further along than they are,” Carson said. “But when you have the power of the Microsoft name behind it, it becomes news. But the interest is building and we’re beginning to make a name for ourselves.”
One interesting difference between the two service bureau companies is that Wireless Knowledge is backed primarily by Code Division Multiple Access companies, while Saraide.com is backed by Global System for Mobile communications providers.
Both insist their services will be available to carriers of any technology, but to date only CDMA carriers are testing Wireless Knowledge’s Revolv service, while only GSM carriers are expected to launch Saraide.com services. The next carrier expected to launch commercial Saraide.com services is Omnipoint.
With Wireless Knowledge standing on one side of the field and Saraide.com on the other, both must race across the gap and collect what carriers it can before the other gets there first.
However, Carson downplayed the gap, while conceding there is only so much ground available.
“I don’t foresee it being a big issue,” she said. “But it’s hard to say because there’s so much jostling for position.”
