First Hop, Tecnomen PartnerFirst Hop, Tecnomen Partner

HELSINKI -- First Hop and Tecnomen have established a global co-operation for delivering a complete solution for rich content and MMS services to mobile operators. The proven solution includes First Hop Wireless Broker for the delivery, management, and provisioning of multi-channel content services and Tecnomens advanced Multimedia Messaging Service Centre (MMSC). Customers who have recently chosen this solution include Celcom, one of the leading mobile communications providers in Malaysia; Satelindo, provider of satellite, cellular, and international telecommunications services in Indonesia; and CTT Boatphone, provider of wireless telecommunications services in the British Virgin Islands.

First Hop, a proven leader in mobile middleware products, and Tecnomen, one of the worlds leading suppliers of messaging systems, have announced a co-operation in order to provide mobile operators with a complete offering for the delivery, management, and provisioning of rich content services, especially MMS. Tecnomens advanced Multimedia Messaging Service Centre (MMSC) is perfectly complemented by the First Hop Wireless Broker product. First Hop Wireless Broker consists of an SMS/MMS message gateway, routing and direct delivery middleware (Message Router), a WAP gateway, WAP Push and WAP/HTTP content delivery (Wireless Internet Router), as well as of a common multi-channel service provisioning and business management layer (Service Manager).

"The telecoms market needs solutions that cover the entire content services value chain - including provisioning, delivery, and charging - all the way from content providers to mobile subscribers. For us, partnering with First Hop was a natural choice because they have proven products and have established themselves as a leader in the mobile middleware products," says Miika Reinikka, Director, Mobile Multimedia, Tecnomen. "We understand our customers' business, and together we're providing total solutions that meet the operators' needs."

Thomas Dahlblom, Vice President of Sales at First Hop agrees. "The combination of expertise between First Hop and Tecnomen means that we can offer the total solution that mobile operators need in today's increasingly competitive marketplace, with assurance that they're prepared to meet tomorrow's demands easily. MMS and other rich content services, such as browsing and downloading, are clearly experiencing a period of rapid growth. Tecnomen's advanced MMSC offering lies at the heart of the evolution from SMS to MMS-based content services. We are pleased to work with Tecnomen to deliver First Hop Wireless Broker for service delivery and management to operators worldwide."

First Hop Ltd.

Tecnomen Corp.