News & Events > Press Release
SWISSCOM MOBILE, SICAP AND ATRUA IMPROVE USABILITY OF GSM MOBILE DATA SERVICES
Partnership Opens Door to Speed, Simplicity and Security
Cannes, France, February 15, 2005 - Today
at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, Swisscom Mobile, Sicap and Atrua
Technologies announced that they have partnered to improve usability of
GSM mobile data services and enable a new class of mobile network capability
through solutions built on Atrua’s intelligent touch control technology.
The companies are demonstrating one-touch controls that provide easy,
rapid, and secure access to services available on Swisscom Mobile’s
network.
The collaboration between Swisscom Mobile, Sicap and Atrua enables attendees
of this year’s 3GSM World Congress to see first-hand how easy it
is to utilize these innovative capabilities. By merging each company’s
respective strengths, users are able to simply slide their finger across
an Atrua Wings intelligent touch control device on their mobile phone
that recognizes their fingerprint and instantly provides access to an
on-line site, a service or product, or a physical location. For example,
with one touch users can automatically gain access to a site selling concert
tickets, and with another touch securely provide credit card information
for a ticket purchase. Data for the transactions are stored securely on
the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), which enables users to carry their
personal profile from one mobile to another.
“Swisscom Mobile subscribers expect advanced new capabilities
for service providers, but also count on us to make those capabilities
easy to use”, said Christian Petit, Head of Product Marketing and
member of the Swisscom Mobile Executive Board. “By partnering with
Atrua and Sicap we are able to make it very easy for users to access advanced
new mobile data services such as secure physical access to offices, hotel
rooms and automobiles, as well as one-touch access to on-line services.”
“We are pleased to partner with Swisscom Mobile and Sicap to demonstrate
how Atrua’s solution not only makes using data services simple,
but also enables whole new classes of applications,” said Anthony
Gioeli, president and CEO of Atrua. “Intelligent touch controls
solve a host of usability issues to provide fast, easy and secure access
to mobile data services.”
“Together with Atrua and Swisscom Mobile, we are demonstrating
how users can use their mobile phone to quickly and securely navigate
to on-line locations, confidently pay for products, and even gain access
to physical locations” said Joos Cadonau, Product Manager, Sicap.
“Using Sicap’s Smart Access Module users securely store personal
profile information such as fingerprint data, passwords and credit card
numbers on a SIM, which works with Atrua’s intelligent touch processor
to provide users with easy access to beneficial mobile data services and
give them peace of mind knowing that their transactions are more secure.”
An acknowledged innovation leader in mobile networks and services, Swisscom
Mobile is part of Switzerland’s largest telecom operator and is
the country’s largest and most innovative mobile operator. Constantly
developing new ideas and the needed intellectual property to bring value
to their customers, Swisscom Mobile is considered to be a test market
for their partner Vodafone.
A leader in SIM and Over-The-Air (OTA) applications and solutions, Sicap
is one of the two independent OTA vendors. The company is also the market
leader in Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) gateways and
provides a wide range of advanced charging and rating solutions. Applying
their broad expertise, Sicap is known as a pioneer in the development
and deployment of OTA rechargeable prepaid SIMs. Serving mobile network
operators worldwide, the Smart Access Module enhances Sicap’s product
portfolio and represents a simple way to offer subscribers added functionality
while increasing potential revenues.
Atrua Wings™, Atrua’s flagship product line, provides a
compelling value proposition to both mobile phone makers and network operators
by providing advanced controls that improve the usability of mobile phones
through easy mastery of games, multimedia applications and mobile data
services. Utilizing the company’s proprietary intelligent touch
processing technology, Atrua Wings detects and converts intuitive finger
movements into rich and responsive control capabilities. Phones equipped
with Atrua Wings are enabled with one-touch commands that accelerate m-commerce
and other mobile transactions as well as advanced user controls that enhance
the mobile gaming experience and improve handset navigation.
About Swisscom Mobile
Swisscom Mobile is number one in the Swiss mobile communications market
with a market share of around 65%. In 2003 Swisscom Mobile generated revenues
of CHF 4,1 billion. The company has about 3.9 million NATEL® customers.
Since 1 April 2001 Swisscom Mobile has been a public limited company in
which Swisscom Ltd has a 75% shareholding. The British Vodafone Group,
global market leader in mobile communications, has entered into a strategic
partnership with Swisscom Mobile taking a 25% holding. The NATEL®
network (GSM900 and GSM1800) supports all technologies such as HSCSD,
GPRS and has been expanded with Public Wireless LAN in popular places.
With 99.7% coverage it is Switzerland's best mobile network. It is also
the only one to provide access to more than 390 mobile networks worldwide
in about 170 countries. In July 2004, Swisscom Mobile was the first Swiss
carrier to put its UMTS network into operation. And late summer 2004 saw
the rollout of Mobile Unlimited, the world's first PC data card to support
the three mobile transmission technologies WLAN, UMTS and GPRS, and offer
seamless selection of the fastest available network. www.swisscom-mobile.ch
About Sicap
Sicap is a software company based in Bern, Switzerland that develops and
provides mobile applications and network products for GSM operators. Sicap’s
goal is to continuously improve and innovate by adding value through ingenuity.
Since 1995 Sicap has focused on cost-effective products and solutions
that minimize infrastructure upgrades, thereby ensuring a quick return
on investment for Sicap’s customers. Sicap provides solutions in
the areas of Charging and Rating and Over-The-Air. For further information
on Sicap please visit www.sicap.com.
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