FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MobileSphere Partners with NexTFund Capital to establish Inter-Mobile in France
Boston, MA – February 21, 2005 – MobileSphere, Ltd. a leading provider of global telecommunications solutions announced today a partnership with NexTFund Capital (www.nextfund-capital.com), a leading French private equity firm, to establish Inter-Mobile SAS (www.inter-mobile.com) to market MobileSphere products and solutions in France, and subsequently Europe.
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, MobileSphere (www.mobile-sphere.com) serves institutions, service providers, consumers and an expanding international market. MobileSphere's suite of advanced telecommunications solutions includes CellularLD™, the company's innovative wireless international long distance service that provides savings of up to 80% on wireless international calling. MobileSphere utilizes it's proprietary, softswitch-based provisioning technology to enable both wireless and landline users to bypass their current carrier, saving substantially on global telecommunications.
InterMobile SAS will originally target the French market, and will offer enterprise and consumers a way to save on their international calls originating from mobile telephones. In addition, InterMobile SAS will offer a full suite of online account management capabilities. The company intends to expand into the rest of Europe shortly.
"With mobile phone penetration above 70% in most European countries, this market represents a tremendous opportunity," said Toufic Mobarak, President of MobileSphere. “Business and personal travel between Europe and the U.S. creates significant synergies for the enterprise and the consumer market segments. We look forward to building a successful partnership with NexTFund and Inter-Mobile."
"We are proud to create a company that is bound to become a European leading alternate solution provider for mobile phone users," said Hugues Ferreboeuf, CEO of Inter-Mobile SAS. "Our intent is to build a family of solutions that will dramatically reduce the cost of cross-border communications and therefore contribute to developing global commerce and relationships. I am sure our team of experienced telecommunications professionals will make the best of MobileSphere's technology and proven operational performance."
"We are very pleased to develop the French and European markets with our partner MobileSphere," said Jean-Francois Grenon and Maurice Khawam of NexTFund Capital. "We have been working on this project for the last 18 months and it is a great satisfaction to see how significant efforts on both sides of the Atlantic gave birth to a real technological breakthrough. This investment particularly fits our strategy in terms of investment approach from a maturity and sector points of view. We believe we can bring some added value to the development of the company."
About MobileSphere
MobileSphere, Ltd. is a leading provider of global telecommunications solutions, serving large enterprise, universities, telecommunication service providers, and consumers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, and with office locations in Los Angeles and Paris, MobileSphere (www.mobile-sphere.com) provides a suite of advanced telecommunications solutions, including CellularLD™, the company's innovative wireless international long distance service. Utilizing MobileSphere's proprietary, softswitch-based technology, the company also provides its provisioning and billing platform to telecommunications carriers and service providers. For more information, please visit www.mobile-sphere.com.
About Inter-Mobile SAS
Inter-Mobile is a European provider of mobile telephony services, operating cost-effective alternative solutions for international wireless communications. Based in Neuville-sur-Oise near Paris and close to Charles De Gaulle airport, Inter-Mobile (www.inter-mobile.com) targets corporate customers and consumers, as well as operators looking for the "last wireless mile." The company operates a suite of communications services based on innovative technology platforms and partnerships with VoIP vendors. For more information, please visit www.inter-mobile.com.
About NexTFund Capital
NexTFund Capital invests in companies between 2 to 20 M in revenue in the expansion phase. The company invests in the technology and services sectors, and also looks into the traditional sector when innovation drivers can be leveraged. By providing growth capital to its portfolio companies, NexTFund helps them scale their businesses and reach critical size. For more information, please visit www.nextfund-capital.com.