GemVentures Invests in SoloMio
Gemplus International, the world’s largest provider of smart card solutions, and SoloMio, a visionary leader in next-generation Smart Call services and technology, today announced a strategic partnership that will accelerate delivery of call completion solutions to mobile operators. Together, the companies will jointly market and develop call management and call completion solutions for Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Cards that will enable telecommunications operators to capture revenue normally lost to uncompleted calls.
The strategic partnership is part of a larger commitment by Gemplus and GemVentures to SoloMio. GemVentures, the corporate Venture Capital fund of Gemplus, will have a minority equity interest in SoloMio. Additionally, Philippe Vallée, head of Gemplus’ Telecom Business Unit, will join the SoloMio Board of Directors. Philippe Vallée is chairman of the Board for the SIM Alliance and has tremendous experience in both telecom and the smart card industry. To reinforce this partnership on a practical level, SoloMio has joined Gemplus’ partner program, SIMXplore, which works with content and service providers to offer SIM-based solutions to operator’s networks.
“Our partnership with SoloMio is multi-layered to provide both companies with the greatest benefit in this competitive market,” said Philippe Vallée, Executive Vice President, Telecom Business Unit for Gemplus. “SoloMio is very well positioned as an innovator in the call completion and call management space. The combination of our efforts will make the operators more successful, giving them new branded services for increased average revenue per user.”
Combining the Smart Card technology with SoloMio’s solutions enables mobile operators to successfully drive more calls to a billable conclusion, increasing the operator’s profitability and the average revenue per user by recapturing revenue normally lost to uncompleted calls. In addition, the operator-branded services enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The companies will collaborate on further development of solutions that can be provided to end users “over-the-air” for a wider market deployment. More and more, operators are searching for ways to brand their services and increase end user loyalty. Over-the-air is a more effective way of transmitting data, value-added services or applications to an existing customer’s handset that doesn’t require the customer to physically remove and service the SIM card. The companies will cross train their sales forces and coordinate solution services to support operator rollouts of SIM renewals.
“Gemplus has a global footprint that is unmatched in the industry and SoloMio’s partnership with Gemplus strengthens our position and momentum in the marketplace. Through our cooperation, we can accelerate penetration of call completion services that are ultimately more profitable for the operator and more supportive for the end user,” said Richard Schwartz, CEO at SoloMio.