SingTel and Popular to offer interactive e-assessment materials for Singapore school students

SingTel and Popular to offer interactive e-assessment materials for Singapore school students

(Singapore mobile market)

Singapore, 18 November 2011 - Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and Popular Holdings Limited today announced they will collaborate to offer access to hundreds of assessment books and study guides for Singapore primary and secondary school students via Apple and Android tablets.

The e-assessment materials will be available through Skoob Go-easel, a service to be launched jointly by SingTel and Popular in January 2012. Skoob Go-easel will provide students with an experience that is similar to using paper assessment materials. In addition, it will be equipped with powerful time-saving features such as auto-marking and score analysis, and can provide students with model answers.

Skoob Go-easel will also offer a range of teaching guides to help parents to actively support their children’s learning.

Payments can be made via Singapore credit cards. SingTel customers can choose to have purchases conveniently charged to their monthly bills.

SingTel and Popular will also explore ways to work with top schools and the Ministry of Education (MOE) to offer a range of assessment papers, study guides and supplementary materials through the service.

Mr Goh Seow Eng, SingTel’s Chief of Digital Home, said: “For the first time, students and their parents will be able to enjoy the sheer convenience of having Popular’s extensive range of assessment materials at their fingertips. Gone are the days when students lug around stacks of heavy books. With the flexibility to revise anytime, anywhere, they will have a tremendous competitive advantage.”

“We believe Skoob Go-easel will change the way students prepare for exams and help them to save precious time. The service will also allow busy parents to keep track of their children’s progress and performance more effectively,” he said.

Mr Chou Cheng Ngok, Popular’s Chairman, said: “We believe e-learning is the way of the future. Skoob Go-easel complements our traditional paper book business by providing a powerful digital platform to reach a wider audience. By working with SingTel, we are confident of extending our market leadership.”

Syniverse Strengthens Relationship with KT via Competitive Takeaway

(South Korea mobile market)

TAMPA, Fla. – Nov. 17, 2011 – Syniverse today announced a major contract with top-tier South Korean operator KT (KT Corporation). This significant competitive takeaway is a multi-year agreement for data and financial clearing services, fraud detection, and roaming agreement management – all of which are compatible with LTE standards that will help the operator as it transitions to 4G. A milestone in Syniverse’s continued expansion in the advanced mobile market of South Korea, this new agreement paves the way for the company to support KT’s future path to 4G.

“Our expectation toward Syniverse’s best-in-class solutions, outstanding regional support teams and culture of innovation reinforced the decision to strengthen our relationship,” said Seokjun Kim, Ph.D., Vice President, Mobile Business Group, KT. “We are confident these core Syniverse services will enable us to deliver the best possible roaming experience for our customers now while ensuring we are prepared for the introduction of 4G and beyond.”

Among the solutions selected by KT are Data Clearing House for GSM/WCDMA; Financial Clearing House for GSM/WCDMA; DataNet, a Near Real-Time Roaming Data Exchange solution; knowledge-based fraud detection system FraudX; and Roaming Management Services.

The most recent KT contract adds to Syniverse’s fast-growing momentum in the Asia Pacific region in which it serves more than 180 customers, including some of the largest Tier 1 mobile operators. In September, Syniverse announced major wins in China and in India.

Syniverse President and CEO Jeff Gordon acknowledged the company’s success in the region is due in large part to its strong local presence, global infrastructure and scalable solutions.

“We understand that each region, country and operator face a truly unique set of challenges – there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution,” Gordon said. “We are committed to working with each of our customers to fully understand their needs and then tailoring a solution set that helps them deliver brand-protecting services to subscribers while realizing new efficiencies. We are proud to extend these roaming support services to KT, which will help them to continue to exceed the expectations of their customers.”

SingTel cloud security solution protects businesses from cyber-threats anywhere and anytime

SingTel cloud security solution protects businesses from cyber-threats anywhere and anytime

(Singapore mobile market)

Singapore, 17 November 2011 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced the launch of the SingTel PowerON Security suite of cloud-based cyber-security solutions and services for businesses.

SingTel PowerON Security offers enterprises comprehensive on-demand protection from viruses, malware, spam and other online threats to allow employees to access email, company servers and the Internet securely, whether they are in the office or on the move. The solutions can also provide automatic security updates to protect employee laptops, desktop computers and servers, and will soon be enhanced to include tablets and smartphones. PowerON Security works with any mail client and server configuration. A user-friendly web-based portal allows IT administrators to manage staff devices and view real-time service statistics and reports.

Powered by SingTel’s cloud computing capabilities and Symantec’s cloud security solutions and services, PowerON Security is offered on a monthly subscription basis. Companies do not need to make upfront investments in equipment and can avoid the ongoing costs of implementing and maintaining complex systems and hardware. This allows them to save up to 75% on their operating costs and reduces the set-up time significantly. (See Annex 1 for detailed cost calculation). In addition, they pay only for what they use and enjoy the flexibility to scale their requirements quickly to meet immediate business needs.

According to Symantec’s 2011 State of Security Survey, 20 percent of Singapore businesses have incurred over US$100,000 in expenses from attacks within the last year. PowerON Security, which is backed by Symantec’s technologies, assures enterprises of comprehensive protection without restricting how, where and when employees work remotely.

Mr Bill Chang, SingTel’s Executive Vice President of Business Group, said: “SingTel is excited to work with Symantec to offer an enterprise-class cloud-based security solution. With an increasingly mobile workforce, security has become a vitally important issue for businesses today. PowerON Security brings together fixed, mobile and cloud technologies to enable companies and their staff to operate from any location with total peace of mind.”

“By relieving companies of the complexities of managing IT systems and software, we aim to help them to improve their productivity, increase business agility and reduce their operating costs significantly. Today, more than 150,000 users trust SingTel’s cloud services to drive their business operations, and we are aiming to continue to grow these services with a CAGR that is greater than 50% over the next 3 years,” he said.

“Today’s mobile workforce wants simple and secure access to their information from wherever they are,” said Enrique Salem, Symantec’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This provides a challenge for organizations as they grapple with how to enable greater mobility against an ever evolving threat landscape. Symantec’s partnership with SingTel to provide cloud-based security services fulfils this gap. Utilizing Symantec’s cloud-based email, web and endpoint protection technologies, this creates a very compelling solution for SingTel customers looking to enable greater mobility with confidence that their information is secure and protected.”

SingTel launches Singapore’s first e-book service - SingTel

SingTel launches Singapore’s first e-book service

(Singapore mobile market)

Singapore, 15 November 2011 - Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today announced the launch of skoob, Singapore’s first e-book service. Skoob breaks new ground by being the first e-book service to offer the works of Singapore writers, as well as study guides and educational books for local primary and secondary school students.

At launch, skoob offers more than 39,000 local and international bestsellers for smartphones, tablets and PCs. It is the first e-book service to accept payments in Singapore dollars and offers tremendous savings versus the cost of traditional paper books. For example, fans of John Grisham can enjoy his novel, The Confession, at S$9.00 instead of S$17.07 at a bookshop. Neil Humphreys’ acclaimed Complete Notes from Singapore is available at S$13.90 instead of S$29.90. Skoob also offers a range of classics for free download, such as Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.

Mr Goh Seow Eng, SingTel’s Chief of Digital Home, said: “The Singapore market has long been overlooked by e-book services from abroad. With the launch of skoob, Singapore readers finally have a service that offers local books and caters specifically to their tastes and needs. It also provides local publishers and writers with a powerful digital platform that allows them to reach a wider audience.”

“We are continuously working with publishers to expand our catalogue. We believe skoob’s range of local study guides and educational books will be well received by school students, and we are looking to include assessment papers soon,” he said.

Skoob is available on Apple and Android tablets and smartphones via a free app. It can also be enjoyed on PCs and Macs using standard browsers. Customers have the flexibility to download books on up to five devices. Payments can be made via Singapore credit cards. SingTel customers can choose to have purchases conveniently charged to their monthly bills.

Mr Goh said that skoob is an important addition to SingTel’s growing suite of multimedia offerings, which includes the award-winning AMPed music service, deF!ND digital concierge, ESC games service, De!ite e-magazine service, exCite web video app and mio TV.

“SingTel is transforming from a provider of traditional telecommunications services to a multimedia solutions provider. We are constantly developing new apps and services that make the most of our networks and smartphone technology to enhance the lives of our customers,” he said.

Vodacom and Opera Software improve Tanzanian mobile web browsing

Vodacom and Opera Software improve Tanzanian mobile web browsing

(Tanzania mobile market)

Tanzania’s largest cellular network, Vodacom, has launched the improved Vodafone/Opera Mini browser solution, enabling improved compatibility for more mobile phone types.

Previously Vodafone’s Opera Mini offering was limited to only few handset makes, the new version supports web accessibility to around 3000 handsets, including those with small screens and limited memory.

Tanzania is the most recent country to benefit from a global Vodafone agreement with Opera Software.

Speaking at the launching ceremony of the product, Vodacom Tanzania's Chief Officer of Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Mwamvita Makamba said Opera Mini will offer a unique faster browsing experience and super fast loading of webpages.

“The software will be available for download, free of charge, to all Vodacom customers with compatible handsets. Vodacom subscribers can now reach the content they want, with less frustration and expense. With just one click,” Mwamvita said.

New customers can get the browser by visiting the Vodacom mobile portal, http://m.vodacom.co.tz, and downloading it for free. Existing customers will receive a message prompting them to update to the new version.

More than one million Vodacom Tanzania customers will have music, news, games and information on Vodacom’s products and services at their fingertips through Speed Dial on the browser.

To date, 128 million people all over the world have discovered how Opera Mini can enhance their mobile web experience. Opera Mini delivers the Web faster to almost any phone. It also dramatically lowers data costs by compressing the size of the pages before they are delivered, while retaining all the functionality of a normal webpage.

This technology makes it possible for users to enjoy a desktop-like browser experience on their mobile phones.

“Opera believes that Internet access is a universal right, and being part of bringing that to Tanzania is important for us. We welcome Tanzanians to the global Opera family," said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software.

He further commented that Africa is a booming market, and the agreement with Vodafone will bring the best Internet experience possible to millions of people eager for mobile web access.

A key reason for the success of Opera in Africa is its speed: loading Facebook just once on a handheld device will use up more than 200 KB worth of data. With a browser like Vodafone Opera Mini, which shrinks data down to a fraction of its original size, users can view Facebook 8.5 times using that same 200 KB.

The latest Vodafone/Opera Mini browser solution fulfills Vodacom's promise to bring to market innovative, high quality and highly sought products that cater to their users' needs, enabling Tanzanians to experience positive change in their lives through telecommunication technologies.

“This is another initiative taken by Vodacom to bring fun, hip and affordable services to Tanzanians. Vodacom is empowering Tanzanians by connecting them, creating possibilities and changing their lives” Mwamvita said.