Alcatel to provide Orascom with its Mobile Kiosk solution to build mobile multimedia portals in North Africa and the Middle East

Alcatel's cost-effective solution will be used by ARPU+ to build mobile multimedia portals that provide value-added services such as video and multimedia messaging for Orascom subsidiaries Mobilink in Pakistan and Djezzy in Algeria.

With Alcatel's Mobile Kiosk solution, Orascom and ARPU+ will be able to integrate, monitor and manage an unlimited number of SMS, MMS, WAP and Video services provided by a wide array of third-party content and service providers, generating new streams of revenue, and boosting average revenue per user (ARPU). With this solution, Orascom will be able to create new services such as marketing campaign, voting or chatting in less than 30 minutes.

In a key benefit for Orascom, Alcatel's solution minimizes the operator's investment cost, while drastically reducing operating expenses, by industrializing and automating much of the mobile service management process. Moreover, Alcatel's Mobile Kiosk Service handles the technological and operational side of the portal including its integration to each mobile operator network, vastly simplifying the task of ARPU+.

As Ossama Bessada, Orascom's VAS Director explains: "Alcatel's turnkey Mobile Kiosk Service will enable Orascom to rapidly build a multimedia mobile portal in Pakistan and Algeria while minimizing the investment. Alcatel's solution helps us to provide value-added services that satisfy the multitude of requirements and needs of our subscribers while reducing expenses ."

John Herrinck, Vice-President of Alcatel's Service Office in the Mobile Communication Group states: "Alcatel is breaking the rules with its Mobile Kiosk solution, by offering a solution in ASP mode which enables operators like Orascom to have a competitive premium data offering from day one. This new project with Orascom will allow Mobile Service Providers in the region to create a whole ecosystem of new and attractive mobile contracts and confirms that Alcatel's Mobile Kiosk solution can meet the business challenges facing mobile operators and application service providers for rapid delivery of end-user services at minimum cost."

Alcatel's Mobile Kiosk solution bridges the gap between mobile operators and content providers, enabling mobile service providers (MSPs), application service providers (ASPs) and content providers to rapidly, securely and economically deliver a rich portfolio of attractive mobile services to end-users.