An alliance of wireless carriers in Asia, which first formed last year, launched services at the Com- municAsia show this week in Singapore. Bridge Mobile Alliance launched a suite of regional mobile services-roaming, prepaid, enterprise and concierge services-across eight countries and territories under the alliance members’ network.
The original seven alliance members are India’ Airtel, Globe Telecom in the Philippines, Malaysia’s Maxis, SingTel Mobile in Singapore, SingTel Optus in Australia, Taiwan Mobile and Indonesia’s Telkomsel. CSL Hong Kong joined the alliance in April as the eighth member. Combined, the carriers serve 64 million mobile subscribers.
“The services launched today enable Bridge Mobile Alliance members to deliver a seamless cross-border mobile experience to 64 million subscribers across a highly diverse and fragmented region. Roamers can now enjoy greater convenience and consistency of mobile experience in terms of network connectivity and coverage, whenever they log on to the alliance members’ network,” said Dr. Patrick Sim, chief executive officer of Bridge Mobile Pte Ltd.
The roaming service, first announced in November 2004, allows subscribers access to the same short codes for calling customer service or accessing their voice mail as they do at home. In addition, connecting to GPRS or multimedia messaging services will be consistent across all the alliance members’ networks.
Prepaid subscribers will be able to top up their prepaid accounts overseas at designated Bridge Mobile Alliance members’ counters using local currency. The concierge service offers customer-service support at designated Bridge concierge counters to provide roamers with on-site assistance should they lose their mobile phones or require roaming support. For enterprises, Bridge Enterprise provides a regional one-stop shop service with mobile voice, data and messaging packages.
Several wireless vendors are working with the carriers to deploy the regionwide services. LogicaCMG is the system integration partner. Sun Microsystems Inc., Aepona, Utiba and Intec are also supplying technology and services to the alliance.
Several Tier 2 European carriers have formed a similar alliance to serve European customers and compete with global giant Vodafone Group plc for subscribers and technology and equipment pricing from vendors.
