Using a mobile gateway middleware from Synchronica, Costa Rica’s incumbent provider, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE, is delivering a push e-mail service to its GPRS data subscribers.
The gateway middleware, called Syncronizate, will be used to add new push functionality to the existing ICE webmail service, Acelera. The service will be provided free of charge to any Acelera or internet GPRS subscriber.
Synchronica's Mobile Gateway provides full device compatibility by using the built-in e-mail and synchronization clients found in many handsets. It also provides e-mail-to-MMS and e-mail-to-SMS messaging.
Oscar Arias, director of the services division at ICE, said a push e-mail service in Costa Rica needs to be affordable and to work on any handset to succeed. “Synchronica's solution ticked both boxes, and we're excited to be launching our cost-effective Syncronizate push e-mail and mobile synchronization service to all of our subscribers," he said.
Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica, said mobile e-mail has proven to be a very appealing data service which can help to reduce churn and improve average revenue per user. “The Mobile Gateway provides push e-mail on literally all handsets, enabling operators to extend data services successfully to the mass market," Brinkshulte said.
The Grupo ICE founded in 1949 is a state-owned holding composed of ICE (Electricity and Telecommunications Sectors) and their companies Radiografica Costarricense SA (RACSA) and Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz S.A (CNFL.) ICE is based in San José, Costa Rica.
Synchronica is headquartered in England, but also maintains a development center in Germany in addition to a regional presence in the U.S., Hong Kong, and Dubai.
