Sonofon and End2End secure wireless services of the future

Denmark's second largest mobile operator, Sonofon, has entered an agreement to join the Wireless Application Infrastructure Provider (WAIP), End2End, in a strategic alliance. End2End will deliver a true turnkey, carrier-grade solution for hosting, managing and supporting wireless e-services for Sonofon.

Just months after starting out, End2End, which is based in the UK and Denmark, has entered an agreement with Sonofon in the areas of content, applications and integration, managed by End2End's cutting-edge managed services infrastructure. The agreement will ensure Sonofon flexibility in the introduction and management of new innovative e-services.

With wireless application infrastructure and data centres throughout Europe linked via an IP network to central service management centres, End2End will deliver a fully scalable and flexible WAIP platform for e-services.

- We believe that End2End's e-solutions will strengthen Sonofon's position as a leading provider of mobile communication solutions and help us introduce and manage a greater menu of services, like entertainment, to our customers, says Ulrik Bülow, CEO of Sonofon. End2End's strength is its focus on true end-to-end wireless e-services solutions and the quality and commitment of its partners.

End2End has secured USD 110 million in funding. Its key partners are Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), Cisco Systems, and Deutsche Bank Venture Partners (DBVP). HP supplies integration services along with the principal components of End2End's applications delivery platform. Cisco supplies the principal components of the End2End platform's access architecture, linking it to the Internet and to End2End's customers. Besides equity finance, DBVP brings specialized knowledge and strategic capital to the commercial development of End2End.

End2End is arguably the first true WAIP in the world and can be compared to managed service companies in the wireline world such as Exodus, Akamai and Digital Island. End2End is set up to help mobile network operators implement currently available data applications such as games and entertainment, and very soon more sophisticated applications, including m-commerce, content distribution and streaming media applications. As seen in the wireline world, when the complexity of creating and delivering applications increases, the benefits from an externally managed applications strategy - e.g., better performance, scalability, faster deployment and lower costs - gain considerably more importance.

- We offer mobile network operators and mobile virtual network operators the possibility to outsource practically all "mission critical" aspects of their e-services strategy, says Peter Langkilde, President of End2End. The need for this type of service is fuelled by requirements in the wireless world for a high degree of personalisation, localisation and security. The success of the wireless Internet will depend on wireless networks becoming more "intelligent", and that is what End2End is designed to help operators achieve.

- From storage of content to hosting of applications to integration into back office systems, we provide the operators with everything they need to realize the next chapter of their data strategy and take full advantage of the opportunities created by higher transmission speed and greater variety of applications, Langkilde concludes.

Sonofon was established in Denmark in 1992 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company has over 1.600 employees and had revenue of 3 billion DKK last year. Sonofon is owned by Telenor (53,5%) and BellSouth (46.5%).

End2End is headquartered in London with sales, marketing and administration in Copenhagen, Denmark. Operations are placed in Aalborg in northern Jutland, Denmark. The company started out with the name Pre-tel, and, the trademark-name End2End has recently been launched.