Turkcell launches with Novarra to drive Internet penetration

Turkey's leading mobile communications provider taps consumer demand for 'anytime' internet access

Chicago, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Novarra, the internet mobility company, announces that Turkcell has integrated a new 'open internet' offering to their portal service using Novarra's Vision(TM) platform for next-generation mobile internet and multi-media services.

The application will be immediately available to more than 20 million Turkcell customers.

Through the Vision platform, Turkcell customers will be able to access the breadth of the internet with a rich mobile user experience, without requiring any change to their existing handsets.

Turkcell's new service is built upon Vision platform Version 7.0 that provides operators and content providers the most comprehensive support for internet technology, mobile handsets and mobile browsers.

With five years of global commercial deployments, the Vision multi-media platform delivers performance, scalability and reliability required for mass-market everyday services.

Cenk Serdar, Chief Officer - Value Added Services, Turkcell commented: "This service is our strategic initiative to deliver popular and personally- relevant internet applications 'anytime, anywhere' to our customers."

He continued: "Novarra brings experience and quality critical to achieving our goals for consumer uptake and ARPU growth."

"There is strong revenue growth across our all our customers due to steady consumer uptake and increasing usage per user," said Jayanthi Rangarajan, president and CEO of Novarra.

She added: "With eight years of focus on mobile internet platforms, our product quality and roadmaps meet the needs of operators and internet businesses deploying robust mobile consumer offerings."

About Turkcell

Turkcell is the leading GSM operator in Turkey with 34.8 million postpaid and prepaid customers as of September 30, 2007 operating in a three player market with a market share of approximately 58% as of June 30, 2007 (Source: The Telecommunications Authority).

In addition to high-quality wireless telephone services, Turkcell currently offers General Packet Radio Service ("GPRS") countrywide and Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution ("EDGE") in dense areas, which provide for both improved data and voice services.

Turkcell provides roaming with 565 operators in 196 countries as of November 7, 2007. Serving a large subscriber base in Turkey with its high-quality wireless telephone network, Turkcell reported US$4,521 million net revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2007 and US$4,700 million net revenue for the year ended December 31, 2006 as per IFRS financial statements.

Turkcell has interests in international GSM operations in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Northern Cyprus and Ukraine. Turkcell has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and the Istanbul Stock Exchange ("ISE") since July 2000 and is the first and only NYSE listed company in Turkey. 51.00% of Turkcell's share capital is held by Turkcell Holding, 4.22% by Cukurova Group, 13.07% by Sonera Holding, 4.07% by M.V. Group and 0.01% by others while the remaining 27.63% is free float.

About Novarra:

Novarra, the internet mobility company, is the leading provider of high performance mobile web platforms for operators and content providers to create new services and revenue streams. Novarra developed the first server-client architecture for web content transformation and network optimization designed for mass-market, high volume mobile consumer deployments. Novarra's open, standards-based platforms deliver a high quality mobile user experience for services like full rich web, search, premium portals, personalization and advertising. Global, commercial deployments over 5 years on both 2.5G and 3G networks have proven consumer satisfaction, uptake and increased data services revenue.

For more information:
Europe:
Ivana Farthing / Alexis Dalrymple
Hotwire PR +44 (0) 20 7608 2500
Ivana.Farthing@hotwirepr.com
+ 44 (0) 7841 982 597
alexis.dalrymple@hotwirepr.com
+44 (0) 7713 998 642
North America:
Doug Haslam
Topaz Partners
Novarra@topazpartners.com
+1 (781) 404 2419

SOURCE Novarra
CONTACT: Europe,
Ivana Farthing,
+ 44 (0) 7841 982 597,
Ivana.Farthing@hotwirepr.com, or
Alexis Dalrymple,
+44 (0) 7713 998 642,
alexis.dalrymple@hotwirepr.com, both of Hotwire PR,
+44 (0) 20 7608 2500; or
North America,
Doug Haslam of Topaz Partners,
+1-781-404-2419,
Novarra@topazpartners.com, all for Novarra
Web site: http://www.novarra.com

COPYRIGHT © 2008 - ANTARANEWS

GSMA selects LG handsets to lead `Horizon Phone` campaign

Barcelona, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - The GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association for the mobile industry, today announced that a panel comprising of nine operators has selected two mobile phones developed by LG Electronics as the winning products to spearhead its GSMA's Horizon Phone initiative. The initiative aims to provide a range of multi-band Mobile Broadband handsets that will support HSPA and meet the needs of customers around the world.

Last year, the GSMA and several operators established an 850 User Group to promote more widespread adoption of the 850MHz spectrum along with other dominant frequencies. This led to the creation of the Horizon Phone initiative. In the first phase of this initiative, a competition amongst handset vendors was launched to produce a portfolio of 850/1900/2100 MHz tri-band HSPA mobile phones that could be launched into the global market.

"The GSMA's Horizon Phone initiative will help operators to establish the 850 MHz spectrum as an integral 3G frequency band, which will lead to greater scale economies, more cost effective communications and greater choice of products for users," said Craig Ehrlich, Chairman of the GSMA. "We congratulate LG as the selected supplier for the Horizon Series of phones."

To judge the competition, a panel of experts from nine leading operators including Ancel, AT&T, Cable & Wireless International, Entel PCS, Rogers Wireless, Telecom Personal, Telefonica Moviles, Telenor and Telstra worked together on the requirements and specifications needed by their customers to meet the new demand for ubiquitous Mobile Broadband. Handset vendors were then invited to submit proposals for tri-band HSPA handsets operating at 850/1900/2100 MHz, as well as conventional GSM bands.

LG Electronics was chosen as the winner for two of its handsets, the LG-KM560/LG-CM560 and LG-KP330/LG-CP330. Both phones run on high-speed 3G networks (HSPA) at 850/1900/2100 MHz as well as on GSM at 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. The handsets were selected for their style, performance, and competitive pricing to meet operator's market requirements.

"The selection of LG's HSPA phones for the GSM Association's Horizon Phone initiative demonstrates that operators have recognized LG's strong commitment to advanced technologies and business practices in the 3G sector," said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "LG will continue to provide new and better 3G phones that customers want, based on our cutting-edge technologies and high standard of quality."

LG's winning handsets will be endorsed and promoted by the GSMA as part of the GSMA Horizon Series. The GSMA Horizon Series will encompass a range of different handset models at attractive prices supporting the most popular frequencies used around the world.

"With the GSMA we have played a lead role in the Horizon Phone competition. Our experience shows the 850 MHz spectrum can provide superior in-building coverage penetration compared to the conventional higher frequency bands and expansive low-cost 3GSM and wireless broadband coverage to the more lightly populated areas of the world," said Sol Trujillo, Chief Executive Officer of Telstra Corporation Ltd. "We continue to support the creation of an integral 3GSM world standard for the 850 MHz spectrum and welcome the release of the GSMA Horizon Series range as an initial step in a globally unified offering that simplifies the customer experience."

Alex Katouzian, Vice President of Product Management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, the chipset supplier for LG's selected handsets, said: "Qualcomm is proud to have provided the chipset for LG's winning handsets and to be supporting the GSMA and the entire 3G community to help evolve wireless technologies in terms of roaming capabilities and ease-of-use. We are very pleased that our partner has been recognized by the GSMA for their outstanding work, and look forward to many more successes that benefit the industry as a whole."

The Horizon Phone competition is one of a number of GSMA led initiatives for 2008 that will stimulate the awareness of mobile broadband. Further announcements concerning additional Horizon Series phones, supported by leading mobile operators, handset vendors and other key stakeholders are anticipated in 2008.

About the GSMA:

The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 218 countries and territories of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners.

The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association's members serve more than 2.5 billion customers - 85% of the world's mobile phone users.

SOURCE The GSMA's Mobile World Congress
CONTACT: Mark Smith or David Pringle,
GSM Association,
press@gsm.org
Web site: http://www.gsmworld.com/

COPYRIGHT © 2008 - ANTARANEWS

Digi Cellular router replaces cellular modems in low-speed app`s

New Cost Effective, Commercial Grade Cellular Router Expands Drop-In Networking Product Line

Minnetonka, Minnesota (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Digi International (Nasdaq: DGII) today introduced the Digi Connect(R) WAN GPRS, a second generation (2G), commercial grade, GSM GPRS Class 10 cellular router that provides secure connectivity to remote sites and devices.

It adds a cost optimized solution to Digis industry-leading line of commercial grade cellular routers and Drop-in Networking solutions. It is ideal for applications requiring connection speeds of up to 40 kbps such as remote assetmonitoring, meter reading, vehicle tracking, security and many more.

"The Digi Connect WAN GPRS is a commercial grade cellular router available for about the price of a cellular modem," said Larry Kraft, senior vice president of global sales and marketing, Digi International. "It offers customers requiring analog modem-like speeds greater flexibility when connecting remote devices."

The Digi Connect WAN GPRS provides reliable GSM wireless TCP IP data communications via cellular networks for primary connectivity to remote sites and devices. It enables drop-in networking to devices that are hard to reach or do not have convenient access to wired connections.

The Digi Connect WAN GPRS features one Ethernet port, one serial port, Digi SureLink(TM) for persistent connections over wireless networks, and Digi Connectware(R) Manager for easy setup, configuration and maintenance of large installations. It also supports Python, an easy-to-use, object based, free, open-source programming language for developing customized control applications. Python allows application developers to easily use the powerful processing capabilities of the Digi Connect WAN GPRS.

The Digi Connect WAN GPRS is available now for USD450 MSRP.
For more information, please visit http://www.digi.com/productscellulargateways/.
For more information about Drop-in Networking, please visit
http://www.digi.com/products/wirelessdropinnetworking/.

About Digi International

Digi International, the leader in device networking for business, develops reliable products and technologies to connect and securely manage local or remote electronic devices over the network or via the web. Digi offers the highest levels of performance, flexibility and quality, and markets its products through a global network of distributors and resellers, systems integrators and original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs).

For more information, visit Digi's Web site at http://www.digi.com , or call +852-2235-2206.

All brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Press Contacts: Hokie Chan Channel Marketing Manager, Asia
Pacific Tel:
+852-2235-2206 Email: hokiec@digi.com
SOURCE Digi International Inc.

COPYRIGHT © 2008 - ANTARANEWS

GSMA announces 13th Annual Global Mobile Awards nominations

London, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - The nominations for the 13th Annual Global Mobile Awards were announced today by the GSMA in London.

The winners will be presented at the gala awards dinner on Tuesday 12th February, during the world's biggest communications industry event, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (11-14th February 2008).

The GSMA also announced that International comedian Graham Norton will host this year's awards ceremony, which promises to be a highlight of the congress calendar, as well as the GSMA's celebrations of twenty years of global mobile communications.

With the most diverse range of entries in the 13 year history of the competition, the judging panel -- see: http:/www.globalmobileawards.com/judges/bios.shtml -- were faced with a challenging and demanding task in evaluating the submissions and electing the nominees. Categories range from best mobile handset to a host of mobile entertainment awards, for games, video, music, advertising and social networking services.

"Entries to the Global Mobile Awards this year demonstrate the social, business and economic impact that mobile communications is having in every corner of the world," said Rob Conway, GSMA CEO. "I congratulate the nominees on their achievement thus far, being nominated by our independent judging panel is no mean feat given the calibre of experts it comprises, and the quality and quantity of submissions received. We await the announcement of the winners at the Global Mobile Awards evening with keen interest."

The Global Mobile Awards are sponsored by Qualcomm. Verisign is a category sponsor. Nominations for 2008 can be found at http://www.globalmobileawards.com/nominees.shtml

For full details of the Awards, and to book your place, please visit: www.globalmobileawards.com
For full details of the Mobile World Congress, please visit: www.mobileworldcongress.com

About the GSMA:

The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 218 countries and territories of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners.

The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association's members serve more than 2.5 billion customers -- 82 per cent of the world's mobile phone users.

CONTACT: Mark Smith or David Pringle of The GSM Association,
press@gsm.org
Web site: http://www.globalmobileawards.com
http://www.mobileworldcongress.com
http://www.globalmobileaward
s.com/judges/bios.shtml
SOURCE: The GSM Association

COPYRIGHT © 2008 - ANTARANEWS