UK-based Synchronica, a global provider of nextgen mobile messaging solutions, has received its third expansion order in seven months from mobile operators from the Middle East.

The latest order for additional mobile gateway user licences, with a value of $740,000, follows an initial $1.5 million order for licences received in December 2010. Mobile gateway enables the operator to offer mass-market messaging services including push email and instant messaging.

According to a recent study from Effective Measure, a specialist in online audience measurement, 71 per cent of Middle Eastern mobile internet users rank email as their most important online activity, followed by access to social networking services.

The Middle East and Africa region is forecast to attract 53.8 million mobile email users by 2014 according to Gartner, and is expected to achieve revenues of $2.5 billion.

“This is the second significant expansion order to come from the Middle East this year, and provides a resounding validation of Synchronica’s success in the region,” said Carsten Brinkschulte, Synchronica CEO.

“As the market leading product for mobile messaging in emerging markets, mobile gateway provides subscribers with access to their favourite Internet communities, regardless of the type of mobile phone they own – an incredibly strong proposition for operators who wish to provide advanced services to a mass-market low ARPU base,” he added.

Synchronica's mobile gateway provides push email and mobile synchronisation services in addition to instant messaging, news feeds and access to popular social networking sites, a statement said.

Mobile gateway is based on industry standards and requires no additional software client to be downloaded to the handset and enables push email for the broadest range of handsets, from high-end smartphones to low-cost, entry-level devices, it added. – TradeArabia News Service