BridgePort, Oberthur, CounterPath Team on MobileSTICK

By Spencer D. Chin

TMCnet Web Editor

 

Seeking to compete against Skype and other VoIP services, three companies—BridgePort Networks (News - Alert), Oberthur Card Systems, and CounterPath Solutions—have combined their hardware and software to form the MobileSTICK solution, now commercially available.

According to the companies, MobileSTICK enables any broadband-connected PC to perform voice, SMS, and multimedia messaging for mobile operator devices, by leveraging Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. It maintains security and mobile operator control through the same SIM card-based authentication GSM and UMTS operators rely on.

Plugging the MobileSTICK USB device into a PC or laptop with a fixed line or Wi-Fi broadband connection launches a PC softphone, secured by a SIM card that utilizes the user’s existing mobile phone number to make and receive calls, SMS messages, and multimedia messages. This enables mobile operators to offer flat rate voice and messaging services to PC users.



Up to now, users trying to use their mobile phone with Skype, Yahoo Messenger with Voice, Microsoft (News - Alert) Windows Messager, and Goggle Talk have had to deal with issues such as multiple numbers to be reached on, multiple voicemail boxes, lack of integration with SMS and MMS services, and the complexities of additional billing.

According to the companies, MobileSTICK stimulates more MMS usage through a drag-and-drop feature. Photos and multimedia content can be dragged to the softphone client and dropped on a buddy or contact, in turn generating an MMS message uploaded from the PC to the network over the PC broadband link and sent to a mobile phone. The message contains the source address of the MobileSTICK user’s mobile phone number, in turn stimulating return phone calls and messages.

“MobileSTICK target hundreds of millions of current and future PC softphone users, who also have GSM or MTS mobile phones, with an integrated and highly secure proposition, and is forecast to penetrate 10 to 15 percent of a typical mobile operator’s subscriber base in strong PC broadband markets within three years,” said Marc Bertun, chief strategy officer of Oberthur Card Systems, in a statement.

Oberthur is supplying its AngellC USB memory drive with embedded USIM release 6 SIM card and 256MB of flash memory, while CounterPath Solutions (News - Alert) supplies its VoIP SIP softphone, combining voice and messaging functionality. BridgePort Networks’ NomadicONE Network Convergence (News - Alert) Gateway software release 6.1 is located in the mobile service providers’ network running on IBM BladeCenter T Linux servers.

All three companies are demonstrating the MobileSTICK solution at the 3GSM (News - Alert) World Congress, being held February 12 through 15 in Barcelona.