Company Press Release:
 
BPL Mobile leads the way in launching International Voice SMS on Kirusa’s patented platforms
World’s First Commercial Launch of International Voice SMS

Mumbai and New Providence; New Jersey; February 8, 2008: BPL Mobile, a leading cellular service provider from Mumbai – India with more than 1.2 million subscribers across Mumbai, has launched International Voice SMS service, allowing BPL Mobile subscribers to send Voice SMS messages to Mobile users across the world.  To launch the service, BPL Mobile has chosen Kirusa, inventor of Voice SMS and a leading provider of Mobile value added services, as its vendor.  The two companies had partnered in 2007 to provide Voice SMS service to BPL Mobile subscribers within India.
 
The international Voice SMS service built upon Kirusa’s patented Voice SMS platform allows BPL Mobile subscribers to send a Voice SMS to people across the globe whenever convenient, without having to worry about time zone differences or the high cost of international voice calling.  The recipient is able to retrieve the Voice SMS with a local call, and reply to it easily.  With this launch, sending Voice SMS messages internationally will become as simple and timely as delivering a Voice SMS message within India.  No special user training is required for either the sender or recipient. A BPL Mobile subscriber dials *00 and the international number; records a voice message; and then hangs-up to send the message. The recipient gets an SMS from the BPL Mobile subscriber, with an embedded Direct Listen link, which is a local number in the country of the recipient.  The recipient can click on the Direct Listen link to listen to the message.
 
Coinciding with the International Voice SMS launch and to take the Voice SMS success story forward, BPL today also announced the launch of an excellent value-for-money offer for all its mobile subscribers. They can now send unlimited Voice SMS messages to anyone in India for a flat fee of INR 50 (USD 1.26) per month.

The international Voice SMS service will allow BPL Mobile subscribers to connect with more than 68% of the world’s Mobile subscribers at launch. Expansion to additional countries and subscribers is planned in the future.

“We have always believed in innovation and have set benchmarks in value added services offerings to our subscribers. Users today are demanding compelling services that make their lives easier and their work more productive, this service is a another leap we are taking in that direction” said Mr S Subramaniam, Director  & CEO of BPL Mobile. Commenting on the development, Mr Sunzay Passari, VP-VAS and Devices at BPL Mobile said “Our sustained effort towards customer delight had initially prompted us to offer Kirusa’s Voice SMS to our customers.  The growing use of voice messaging services, and the feedback from our customers led us to offer the convenience and flexibility of Voice SMS on a global basis.”

Mr. Jaikishan Rajaraman, Director of Product and Service Development for the GSM Association noted that: “The success of innovative messaging solutions such as Voice SMS depends on seamless interconnectivity and the ability to deliver the messages without regard to where the recipient might be. The launch of international Voice SMS is going to increase usage and acceptability of Voice SMS worldwide."

The Kirusa International Voice SMS Solution is available to Mobile carriers across the world with immediate effect. Any Mobile carrier can use the Kirusa solution to allow their Mobile subscribers to send Voice SMS messages internationally.

Mr. Taranjit Singh Batra, VP-Sales, Kirusa added, “For our current and prospective customers, this unique international offering increases their overall value proposition in offering voice messaging.  Our customers can be confident in our ability to help them deliver a world class service today and in the future.  The international messaging is especially relevant for the people in South Asia, where many families are dispersed around the world and business communication occurs on a global basis.  We are pleased to partner with BPL Mobile in offering a unique yet extremely useful service to their subscribers.”


About Kirusa
Kirusa is a leading developer of value added Mobile services that provide the freedom of multimodality.  Kirusa’s solutions include the hugely successful KV.SMS™, the world’s most advanced “Voice SMS” solution, which allows Mobile users to send and reply to SMS messages with voice, and works on all handsets and on all networks. The Voice SMS solution offers the industry’s most intuitive user interface, with features such as Direct Listen™ for direct access and reply to messages, Speed CodesTM for quickly sending messages using codes, group messaging, Mobile number portability, interconnect, and international Voice SMS. KV.SMS can be deployed in a matter of weeks, and its fast user adoption has led to explosive revenue growth for Kirusa's customers.  KV.SMS is built on Kirusa’s patented and patent pending technology and its highly reliable and scalable multimodal platform. The platform’s ability to manage and synchronize data and voice interactions, plus its integration with IMS and 3G standards, enables customers to cost effectively deploy additional revenue-generating services such as messaging, search, information, and entertainment applications. Kirusa’s solutions are deployed worldwide and used by millions of Mobile subscribers.  Headquartered in New Jersey and led by an experienced team of wireless telecom executives and technologists, Kirusa has sales offices in Paris, France; Delhi, India; and Abu Dhabi, UAE; with a research and development facility in Bangalore, India. ‘Kirusa Voice SMS’, ‘Direct Listen’, and ‘Speed Codes’ are trademarks of Kirusa, Inc.  For more information, please visit www.kirusa.com .

About BPL Mobile
Having started its services in 1995, BPL Mobile currently operates in Mumbai city with more than 1 million happy and satisfied subscribers. In the latest TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) benchmark study on quality of service of Mobile phone service providers across all GSM & CDMA operators places BPL Mobile amongst the top in Mumbai. BPL Mobile scored high marks in  critical network performance parameters of Call Set Up Success Rate, Call Completion Rates & % age connections with good voice quality with scores ranging between 98.6- 99.5%. BPL Mobile has set benchmarks in the sector with its innovative value added service offerings like Voice SMS, m-commerce, Mobile Tracker, Mobile TV among others. Please visit www.bplMobile.com