Synchronica, the England based mobile messaging solution provider, has conditionally agreed to acquire Nokia's operator-branded messaging (OBM) business, which provides email and instant messaging services to tier one mobile operators in North America, for $25 million. The company will buy the source code for the technology, patents and patent applications, and licences for further patents as well. As a part of the deal, Synchronica will acquire Nokia's technology that includes Nokia's email, Instant Messaging (IM) and Social Networking Gateway and client software, reports PTI. Following the deal, approximately 250 employees, and contractors including those in India are planned to transfer from Nokia to Synchronica. With this deal, Synchronica will be able to foray into the North American market, and claims to expand its user base to 1.8 billion worldwide. Nokia has transferred 10 North American operator contracts including contracts with AT&T, Bell Canada, Rogers Wireless, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon Wireless to Synchronica. Following this, Synchronica will be responsible for the development, maintenance, and support of the Nokia Messaging software shipped with Nokia mobile devices and the gateway functionality for both Nokia Series 40 and Symbian devices. Nokia's operator-branded messaging service enables mobile operators to offer customized email and IM service on mobile devices integrating multiple networks including MSN, Yahoo, AOL, Google, and others, via a single client application. Synchronica intends to continue to develop the acquired messaging platform and to merge it with its own mobile gateway messaging infrastructure software to create a solution with enhanced functionality. Synchronica Deployments in India…
