Mobile value-added services provider iTouch - founded in Cape Town and listed on the London Stock Exchange - has formed an alliance with mobile services and solutions company RangeGate.
The alliance sees iTouch outsource all of its mobile fat client requirements to RangeGate.
"We have always been considered as the leading wireless applications service provider when it comes to SMS messaging, along with a wide range of consumer offerings. We have around 600 corporate clients, who from time to time require complex and intricate end-to-end mobile solutions," says iTouch SA sales director Wayne Levine.
"RangeGate is the leader in the end-to-end mobile fat client space, so rather than re-inventing the wheel, we have partnered with RangeGate to make its professional services available to our clients. This ensures our clients get the best possible solution, the first time."
iTouch is one of the forerunners in its market. It evolved from a company that provided telematic services to Telkom in the early 1990s. With the advent of cellular and Internet services, it became a Vodacom value-added service provider, and was responsible for the launch of Yebo! Internet for Vodacom. This was the world`s first Internet access service to be made available via GSM cellular network.
The company enjoys a list of well-known clients in the consumer space, such as Big Brother and Vodacom Service Provider Company, while it also offers financially oriented services such as Shareline, which feeds financial information from I-Net Bridge to subscribers. It also has an online B2C portal with over 300 000 subscribers.
RangeGate`s expertise stems from its work with mobile integration services in enterprise systems to deliver projects that are on budget, built to specification and arrive on time with the lowest possible risk.
"Our solutions lifecycle methodology means that appropriate services are brought to bear at the right stages in the delivery process, ensuring they are correctly tailored to meet customer demands," says RangeGate SA MD Mark Lilje. "The lifecycle typically includes consulting and business analysis phases, a system design phase and an implementation phase involving project management, application customisation and system integration."
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For over 14 years RangeGate, 83.6%-owned by JSE-Securities Exchange-listed Datatec, has focused on leveraging mobile technologies to give its customers a competitive edge - a Mobile Edge - in their supply chain and service operations. The company helps its customers take advantage of the real-time data capture capability of wireless mobile technologies in order to optimise business processes and accelerate the return on investment from back-end systems. RangeGate`s MOBILE-EDGE solutions provide supply chain execution spanning manufacturing, warehouse control, electronic proof of delivery, in-store fulfilment and field service enablement. RangeGate is an accredited mobile partner of major IT vendors including Microsoft, Symbol Technologies and SAP. RangeGate`s blue-chip clients include Sainsburys, Scottish Courage, Exel, Daimler-Chrysler and Johnson & Johnson.
iTouch
iTouch plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange. iTouch is a leading mobile application services provider, offering mobile services to consumers and businesses through an international presence.
iTouch aggregates, packages and transmits a broad range of consumer information and corporate solutions on multiple network types. iTouch delivers services through voice, SMS, WAP and MMS and is a pioneer in launching PDA-based corporate solutions.
iTouch plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange in August 2000 and has operations in SA, Ireland, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. iTouch also has a revenue-sharing and licensing agreement with MIH in Indonesia and Thailand.
iTouch has relationships with over 160 media companies and 45 portals worldwide to deliver its mobile services along with contractual relationships with 18 mobile operators and a further six through the MIH partnership, giving its clients access to over 90 million mobile users globally.
For more information, visit the iTouch plc Web site at www.itouchplc.com or the iTouch South African Web site at www.itouch.co.za.
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