Skip to main content

Get the latest announcements from MEF Members across the mobile ecosystem globally in this weekly review of member news…

OpenMarket unveils global SMS dashboard

Enterprises that use SMS for customer comms now have a drastically improved tool for managing their campaigns.

OpenMarket has just launched a ‘Global SMS Dashboards and Reporting Service’, which lets companies easily analyse results and then make data-driven decisions.

The web-based tool features interactive graphs, geo maps and tables to make it easier to visualise results and future scenarios.

“In an era of data-driven decision making, enterprises expect to be able to quickly access, visualize and adjust any of their key business programs, including their SMS messaging campaigns – especially if they are on a global scale,” said Jay Emmet, general manager at OpenMarket.

OpenMarket offers two-way global SMS messaging to over 80 countries.

Read more…

TerraPay buys Pay2Global to boost European footprint

The market for mobile-based international remittance is booming. Now, it has a new major player.

Netherlands-based TerraPay, which is incubated by Mahindra Comviva, has acquired UK-based
Pay2Global for an undisclosed sum.

Pay2Global is a regulated digital money transfer company with passporting rights into the 32 countries of the European Economic Area (EEA).

The deal therefore helps TerraPay instantly scale its service footprint. Ambar Sur, CEO of TerraPay, said: “The acquisition provides a smooth passage into key European markets and will drive increased adoption of the TerraPay platform globally.”

Read more…

Telenor Digital increases commitment to mobile ad space

Sigve Brekke, CEO of Telenor Digital, says the firm will set up a new business unit to focus on the mobile advertising market in Asia.

He told Reuters that telcos have to take drastic action to counter digital content providers like Netflix, Spotify and Facebook to grab back ad revenue.

“A lot of digital players are coming in and taking parts of the value chain,” Brekke said. “”You can choose to be a ‘dumb pipe’, a network provider or you can try to take a larger digital position.”

Telenor has already bought mobile re-targeting ad specialist Tapad. It has more than 211 million subscribers across Asia, Scandinavia and south eastern Europe.

Read more…

InMobi launches re-marketing platform in Indonesia

Developing markets ad powerhouse has teamed up with Miip to help Indonesian e-tailers promote products to existing users when they are seen on other mobile apps.

Its new re-marketing service delivers a storefront-like experience to users through in-app native feeds and carousel ads.

E-commerce players such as Myntra and PayTM in India, and Nuomi in China are already using the platform. Inmobi says, on average, advertisers are seeing an average return of $8-$10 worth of transactions for every dollar spent.

InMobi’s chief revenue officer Abhay Singhal said: “The remarketing platform will be critical in enabling e-commerce businesses in Indonesia to extend beyond driving brand awareness and app installs, to increasing sales and transactions through mobile advertising.”

Read more…

Huawei to start making handsets in India

Rising Chinese OEM Huawei has been selling mobile phones in India for 16 years. Now it wants to manufacture phones there too.

“We already have licences for manufacturing in place. We will announce our local manufacturing plan in one month,” said Peter Zhai, President for Huawei India Consumer Business Group at the launch of Huawei P9.

It’s part of a renewed drive in to India that will also see Huawei increase its retail footprint to 50,000 stores by end of this year.

Read more…

Empays plans a $10 million funding drive

India’s mobile payment specialist Empays Payment Systems is targeting its first major investment round since its launch in 2012.

The company wants to raise money expand to the Middle East, UK and North America, and to invest in its technology.

Emotes lets people send money from a bank account to a person using the mobile number as the identifier. The receiver can use the code to get cash from an ATM. It works with banks such as Bank of India, Axis Bank and others.

Read more…

MEF