Boards are platform for premium mobile content

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Mar 27, 2008

IPcom uses Pika's PrimeNet quad E1 boards to power its new Carnival Ringback Tones platform.

IPcom, a Latin American developer of custom telecommunications solutions, is using Pika's PrimeNet quad E1 boards to power its new Carnival Ringback Tones platform.

Ringback tones are the audible rings that the caller hears while waiting for the receiver of the call to answer.

Cellular operators using Carnival Ringback Tones will be able to configure either a welcome message or song, customising the caller's experience.

Advanced features like karaoke tones, advertones and user-customised tones, personalise the user experience and present branding opportunities for companies deploying the technology.

Users can access the system using a variety of methods, including web, WAP, SMS and IVR.

Both prepaid and billable users can use Carnival, which is compatible with any user's handset regardless of brand or model.

"When building Carnival, we needed to utilise the most cost-effective, reliable board solution and we found that with Pika", said Alejandro Fernandez Magnou, Business Innovations Manager, IPcom Technologies.

"As the adoption of mobile telephony grows in Latin America, so too does the requirement for unique, premium content".

"Carnival enables branding of messaging and is accessible to the broad range of users in this region".

According to Frost and Sullivan's report entitled "Latin America mobile communications outlook", "Mobile communication in Latin America has grown by 10% in the last two years to touch 65.5% and is likely to continue on this growth trajectory, at one of the highest growth rates in the world".

"The low-income social segments' uptake of new prepaid plans and low-cost handsets is driving market expansion, while the adoption of advanced technologies such as 3G and the increasing demand for premium mobile content is driving revenue growth".

"The opportunities presented by the Latin American market are tremendous", said Terry Atwood, Pika's Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Customer Care.

"The increased adoption of mobile telephony in this market, coupled with IPcom's timely and flexible solution makes facilitating premium mobile content an exciting growth area for Pika".

This latest partnership is part of Pika's increased involvement in the Latin American telecomms marketplace, with the company continuing to build its relationships with local telecomms solution providers like CommLogik and IPcom.