ZYB, the online mobile backup service that has been offering free unlimited backup since June 2006, has announced a partnership with Germanys third largest mobile network operator, E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. The partnership will see E-Plus recommending  to its customers that they backup their mobile phones address book on ZYB.
This is the first partnership between ZYB and a large network operator. Until now, ZYB has been attracting a steady stream of users by simply offering the free service to all mobile phone owners worldwide, regardless of network operator. The ZYB backup service can be used with any SyncML enabled handset. ZYB utilises the SyncML standard to work seamlessly together with more
than 300 different mobile handsets. Since the launch of ZYB in June
2006, users have uploaded more than 3 million contacts to the online
service.
The backup service is offered for free; users only pay for the data traffic charges during synchronisation with the mobile handset. E-Plus customers can easily subscribe to the service via the E-Plus website.
With this partnership, E-Plus takes an important step towards securing our customers mobile phones address book says E-Plus CEO, Michael Krammer. The importance of backing up the mobile is increasing, as people are storing ever more information on their mobile handsets. Losing all the information stored on ones mobile is a distressing experience that we will work actively to prevent by promoting ZYB backup.
E-Plus customers will benefit from easy access to all of ZYBs standard services, including backup of all contacts and calendar events on the mobile; online mobile content; sharing the mobiles contacts and calendar with others; and syncing the mobile with other devices and services, including Google Calendar.
The partnership with E-Plus will give us a privileged position in the German market, but ZYB will still stay open to all mobile owners in Germany and all other countries in the world, says Tommy Ahlers, CEO and co-founder of ZYB.
In the coming months, ZYB will allow users to back up pictures and SMS messages as well as syncing their mobile with Outlook and other desktop applications. ZYB will also launch a new set of community features that will enable users to activate their mobile content in new and innovative ways.
ZYB is a popular mobile backup tool, but it is more than just that says Ahlers. ZYB is also a social community, where every user benefits from the information generated by others. The partnership with E-Plus will help us attract users at a higher pace, and in effect, improve our service by the hour.