InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

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Fastmobile: Consumer launch of 'fastchat' fastmobile kickstarts the

Apr 03, 2003 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Pioneering phone application company fastmobile will next week [Tuesday April 8th] announce public availability of its push-to-talk (P2T) service fastchat(tm), kickstarting a scramble among European mobile network operators hoping to grab a slice of the euro1 billion P2T revenue pie

A number of mobile network operators from across Europe have already seen fastchat demonstrations or piloted the technology, and have expressed interest in offering the service to their network subscribers. Interested parties include several well-known UK mobile industry companies.

Push-to-talk has proved a huge success in the United States, to the extent that operator Nextel already generates around 20 per cent of its revenue from P2T.

If Nextel levels of usage are achieved in the EU then P2T could rapidly eclipse SMS as the messaging tool of choice.

fastchat works across all UK operators, and in all countries that have GPRS-enabled networks. Significantly for operators, fastchat is easy to install, complies with all existing and planned standards, and requires no infrastructure investment.

fastchat will be available to consumers and to business users from April 8th, initially from the web at www.fastchat.com for Nokia 7650 and 3650 handsets with the Sony Ericsson P800 following soon. fastmobile plans full support for all GPRS-enabled Smartphones and mass-market Java phones.

European managing director James Tagg commented: "When we announce fastchat, the key points we'll be conveying are that it's more fun than SMS, more flexible, easier to use, quicker, more convenient and no more expensive.

"Usage is inevitable: customers are buying new phones which are capable of just about anything, and they will want to use the features. Quickly they will discover how easy, fun and convenient it is, and it will take off like SMS did.

For the industry, Tagg believes that fastchat will be the new 'next big thing': "The mobile world has been racking its brains to find something that will succeed on the scale of SMS. Based on experiences in the States we believe that fastchat will help to plug the hole left by the failure of WAP and the delays in 3G.

"Push-to-talk will generate real growth for a number of the industry's major players, spurring GPRS adoption which, in turn, is critical to operator 3G strategy. fastchat is a rare 'crossover' service that works well on today's 2.5G network but that will be even better when 3G networks kick in. It has the potential to bring home the bacon now."

The only question left, Tagg concludes, is to guess just how big "push to talk" will get: "Our estimates suggest that the push-to-talk market could be worth a euro150 million in Europe over the next year, becoming a multi-billion euro market in a few years."

About fastmobile:

fastmobile Limited develops advanced messaging technology products for use on all mobile phone networks in EMEA.

fastmobile Limited is the UK subsidiary of Chicago-based FastMobile, Inc. The company is backed by private investment and venture capital from US companies BlueStar Ventures, Leo Capital Holdings and Red Barn Investments, and raised $4 million in its first round of funding.

The company employs more than 30 people across offices in America, the United Kingdom and South Korea. More information on the products and people at fastmobile is available at www.fastmobile.com

CONTACT: Tim Donnelly Smith, Mental Communications Tel: [phone] e-mail: [e-mail] Edward Waldron-Davies Tel: [phone] e-mail: [e-mail] John O'Boyle, marketing director, fastmobile Tel: [phone] e-mail: [e-mail]

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