Syniverse Messaging Momentum Grows

Reflecting the growing role of the mobile lifestyle in today’s society, Syniverse Technologies (NYSE:SVR) moved an average of 1.52 billion mobile messages per day in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 32 percent from the first quarter of 2009. The company’s peer-to-peer (P2P) messaging volumes, which include both short messaging service (SMS) and multimedia message service (MMS), were up 17 percent from first quarter 2009, including a 49 percent year-over-year increase during the 2010 Valentine’s Day holiday.

"Our fast-growing numbers are no surprise as more and more consumers embrace mobile messaging,” said Tony Holcombe, President and CEO of Syniverse, a leading provider of mobile messaging services globally. "The growing proliferation of connected mobile devices along with an always-improving photo, video and data sharing experience have all contributed to the mainstream acceptance and use of mobile messaging.”

Today, SMS is one of the world’s most widely used, ubiquitous mobile applications and comprises 98 percent of Syniverse’s P2P volumes. In first quarter 2010, Syniverse closed more than 20 SMS contracts with customers across all global regions.

Holcombe pointed out MMS, which was initially slow to catch on with subscribers, is now making up for lost time. Syniverse, the leading provider of MMS services in North America, saw 235 percent growth for this messaging format from first quarter 2009 to first quarter 2010 as more individuals turn to their mobile phones to serve as their primary camera and video recording devices.

Holcombe said that in addition to more mobile devices and improved messaging experiences, Syniverse benefits from the exponential worldwide growth of popular community-based services, such as social networking and mobile giving, and new market entrants – cable operators, application developers and Internet companies – that need a bridge between them and those in the traditional mobile space.

Syniverse already is powering and moving messages for cable companies as well as application developers, such as Pinger. Syniverse also recently signed a contract with a major U.S.-based social networking client to provide its international alerting and notifications.

"When someone updates his or her status on a social networking site via a mobile device, uses a text message to pledge to a charitable organization or sends a family photo from a mobile phone, an MMS or SMS must move across the global mobile network,” Holcombe said. "The result of this ongoing growth in mobile connections among friends, family and organizations has resulted in a stable growth platform for all of us in the mobile messaging space.”

The company’s overall messaging growth is not attributed solely to the P2P sector. The mobile enterprise services (MES) business is growing at a steady rate as more consumers show an interest in application-to-person (A2P) solutions, such as mobile banking. In the first quarter of 2010, Syniverse saw a 73 percent increase in the total number of enterprise messages delivered year over year. Syniverse also moved its 1 millionth message for the U.S.-based text4baby mobile health initiative in April 2010, another signal for increasing popularity of text-based A2P messaging communications among consumers.

As Holcombe recently explained, the Syniverse MES solution drives a relatively small portion of the company’s overall messaging business at this point. However, he believes it has significant upside potential.

"We have developed our MES offering as a white label solution available to our Tier 1 operator customers on a global basis so they have the ability to offer their business accounts a proven, reliable messaging product that allows them to effectively communicate with their employees and customers,” he said. "We also are poised to aggressively expand our footprint and serve a market segment driven by consumer demand for mobile transactional capabilities across verticals that include the financial, health, travel and hospitality sectors.”

For more information about Syniverse’s NEXT messaging solutions, including the SMS, MMS and MES portfolios, please visit http://www.syniverse.com/NEXT/.

About Syniverse

Syniverse Technologies (NYSE:SVR) makes mobile work for more than 800 mobile operators, cable and Internet providers, and enterprises in over 160 countries. With unmatched expertise and more than 20 years simplifying the complexities of roaming, messaging and networking, Syniverse serves as the force at the center of the mobile communications universe, keeping people connected today and forging new connections for tomorrow. Nobody knows mobile like Syniverse. For more information, visit www.syniverse.com, follow Syniverse on Twitter or find Syniverse on Facebook.