China Unicom, the number-two mobile operator on the Chinese mainland with 35 million customers, has signed an agreement to use the 1rstWAP platform to provide instant and mobile messaging services in the Chinese market.

Starting during Chinese New Year in February, the 1rstWAP platform will be rolled out to China Unicom's 35 million strong customer base who are expected to welcome the platform's features that enable the integration of the now familiar internet and the mobile world which is increasingly popular with China's younger consumers.

Some of the key services, which will be available for the first time in the Chinese language, include:

	Multiple SMS sending to groups.
	SMS delivery reports.
	Instant messaging from PC to mobile.
	Mobile originating reply to instant messages.
	Multimode news and alert delivery by SMS, email or instant message.
	Vehicle tracking system & location-based services.
	Multimedia Messaging.

In addition, the features of the 1rstCommunity part of the platform will be a welcome addition during the festive Lunar New Year celebrations. These community and connectivity capabilities will enable China Unicom customers with shared interests to communicate in a privacy-protected and safe way via SMS, email or instant messages. 1rstCommunities has proven to be particularly popular amongst youth markets, and this should be the case in China too. This feature alone is expected to bring significant revenue growth to China Unicom through increased SMS traffic and lower customer
churn.

1rstWAP's Managing Director, Pascal Lalanne, said: "The 1rstWAP platform will enable China Unicom's customers to be 'always-on' and enjoy richer, 3G-like mobile services on existing networks and handsets. Being extensively brandable, the 1rstWAP platform will increase both short-term and long-term revenue opportunities for China Unicom. This is a ground-breaking development and 1rstWAP is proud to be a partner of China Unicom in the Chinese mobile market."

About 1rstWAP

With offices in Vienna and Jakarta, 1rstWAP has developed a robust global instant and mobile messaging platform. The company founded in 1999 is a wireless ASP providing an integrated communication platform and branded portals in four languages which bring together the internet and mobile worlds for consumers with PCs, mobile phones and PDAs.

Popular 1rstWAP applications include instant message and SMS email notifications, SMS reply to PC, Community Building, Multi-mode News and Alert delivery and Multimedia Messaging.

1rstWAP operates its own grid of eight SMSCs, and its coverage in over 130 countries through 500 telecom operators is truly global. Customers include Mobilkom Liechtenstein, Indosat, Telkomsel, MobilTel, Unicom, MCM and several media companies.

For more information about this press release or for images and artwork, please contact public_relations@1rstwap.com

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