Fontera, a South African mobile development company, is expanding its operations in Europe and North America.
Simon Lepps, marketing director of Fontera, says the company would like to see the proportion of its revenue from the US grow to 75% by the end of the year. The US market currently accounts for 50% of revenue.
Lepps says there is potential for big growth in the mobile applications market in the US, as the population is large and the level of SMS-based services and products is still low.
Fontera will retain its business model whereby the technical development and support team is based in Cape Town, with sales and marketing offices in London, Atlanta, Johannesburg and the cities it expands to, Lepps says.
"We will continue to do our technical development in SA because operational costs are as low as a third of what it would cost in the US without compromising on quality," he says.
Fontera will also continue to test its products in SA before they are launched overseas, as South African users are experienced in using mobile service applications, he says.
Lepps says Fontera will later consider expanding into Africa, with its head office based in SA. Countries that will initially be considered include Nigeria, Botswana, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, all of which are "moving forward" with cellular technology, he says.
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