Synchronica, which provides mobile email and synchronization solutions, is offering its mass-market push email infrastructure software, Mobile Gateway, to mobile operators in Africa who are looking to provide affordable BlackBerry-like services.
The software which has already been licensed to two major African operators, uses industry standards for push email and synchronization and works with more than 1.5 billion phones in use around the world today. Synchronica says that this makes it ideal for consumers, prosumers, and small businesses in Africa, where basic handsets are the norm and where mobile email solves the inherent problems caused by low fixed-line and PC penetration. Synchronica is currently in trials with a further three operators following the take-up of licenses by two mobile operators.
Africa is at a metaphorical crossroads, says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. Mobile operators in the region now have the unique opportunity to establish the mobile phone as the primary device for accessing the Internet, but many are unsure about which applications to focus on. Forward-looking operators have identified mobile email as a key differentiator and, more importantly, as a way to reduce churn while also increasing ARPU.
Forecasts point to emerging markets as a breakthrough area for mass market mobile email. Nigeria, for example, saw a 38% year-on-year growth in new mobile subscribers during 2006, to 30 million, while Informa predicts that there will be 4.81 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2012, with the next billion subscribers coming from emerging regions, such as Africa, where PC and fixed-line penetration is low,  and consumers rely on their mobile phones for communication.
Mobile Gateway delivers push email and synchronization services for calendar and contact data, targeting consumer and business users with built-in connectors to mass market mailboxes such as Gmail or Yahoo, as well as Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino accounts for business users. With Mobile Gateway 3.5, says Synchronica, even the most basic phones can receive email via an email-to-SMS gateway.
Lindsey McDonald, ICT Analyst at Frost & Sullivan Africa, says:
Theres definitely a lot of interest in mobile email from companies and prosumers, and a service like Synchronicas that does not require people to go out and buy expensive mobile phones makes a lot of sense.
Synchronica says a second product, Mobile Backup, is also ideally suited for emerging markets where the mobile phone is increasingly becoming the primary repository of choice for social and business contact information. Mobile Backup 1.2 features two fast and simple ways for consumers to sign up easily to the service directly from their phone, which is important for emerging markets. Customers can register via a straightforward WAP interface or through a simple SMS signup procedure. A built-in client provisioning module automatically configures the phone.