Data on Air and Iris Wireless Deliver First SMS Interoperability in Peru; Connect Three National Carriers.

Business/Technology Editors

ORLANDO, Fla. & GREENWICH, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2002

Project is first case in Latin America where CDMA, TDMA and GSM 

operators have simultaneously launched national SMS interconnection.

Data on Air and Iris Wireless jointly announced today that subscribers to Peru's three largest national carriers are, for the first time, able to send and receive SMS messages among the three networks. The SMS interconnection service is a joint effort from Data on Air, a leader in creating and delivering technology for wireless data carriers; and Iris Wireless, a leading-edge developer of next-generation global messaging solutions.

The three carriers worked with the Data on Air/Iris team to simultaneously launch the interconnection among their networks. The interconnection service is based on Iris Wireless' iNode(TM) Platform technology, which uses a common routing, management and billing platform to manage all SMS traffic flowing among the carriers. This interoperability improves message delivery performance for subscribers and reduces operating costs for the carriers. As a combined group, the three carriers have approximately 1.4 million SMS subscribers.

"Message volume among the carriers was significant from the first day of availability and continues to climb," said Dean Fresonke, co-founder and CEO of Data on Air. "We had high expectations for the inter-carrier message volume because of the excellent job our carrier customers have done with marketing SMS in Peru, "but the sheer volume and ramp up speed of that volume far exceeded our expectations."

"The Peru implementation is the first nationwide launch of Iris Wireless' iNode Platform technology for SMS interoperability, and represents a milestone achievement for our company," said Peter Rinfret, co-founder and CEO of Iris Wireless. "We are pleased that the three largest Peruvian carriers selected our technology over competing offerings. Also, the immediate success of the implementation further validates the iNode Platform as a proven, cost-effective solution for integrating SMS services across all platforms and protocols, regardless of carrier or handset technology."

Iris Wireless' inter-carrier SMS messaging platform has been introduced to the market by Data on Air as their new ProLific(TM) platform, part of the company's ProPlatform(TM) product suite. Available from Data on Air and Iris Wireless as both a hosted service and a licensed application, ProLific allows carriers to provide consistent and high-quality delivery of SMS messages across disparate networks. It intelligently processes and routes messages while simultaneously performing billing reconciliation and messaging filtering.

"We have tested ProLific with the other carriers here in Peru, and the results are very exciting," said Marco Ridolfi, network director for TIM Peru, which spearheaded the project with the Data on Air and Iris Wireless team. "The new capability of our customers to send SMS messages to their friends, family and business associates, regardless of which carrier network is involved, will greatly expand our overall SMS message traffic and revenue opportunity. The service also -manages the complex tasks of inter-carrier message management and billing functions, making the ProLific platform both a powerful management tool and a revenue generator for us."

The success in Peru results from combining the expertise of each vendor. Data on Air led the product rollout effort, building on their extensive customer base of Latin American wireless carriers and experience in turnkey data service center operations. Iris Wireless provided its iNode Platform technology, its proprietary carrier-class software platform, which facilitates integration of services across all platforms and protocols for SMS or MMS to and from any device in the world, regardless of carrier or device technology. The iNode Platform is an advanced, proven communications solution that Data on Air and Iris Wireless have made available to carriers worldwide.

SMS Poised for Continued Growth

"SMS messaging is growing rapidly in popularity worldwide, but still poses many technical and operational problems for mobile operators," said Sunir Kochhar, co-founder and COO of Iris Wireless. "The primary focus to date has been interconnection among carriers. The success in interconnecting all of Peru demonstrates the business sense of inter-carrier message management, and showcases our ability to seamlessly bridge the gap among carriers worldwide, regardless of divergent network technologies, SMS protocols or character sets."

"The power of SMS goes well beyond intercarrier handset-to-handset messaging," said Fresonke. "It also includes important revenue generators, such as innovative content, games and business applications. We've been pleased to work with Iris Wireless to incorporate message management, routing and billing features within ProLific that bring carriers to an entirely new level of play in the SMS game."

About Data on Air

Data on Air, Inc. is a technology company that helps wireless carriers successfully grow their wireless data businesses. The firm sells turnkey hosted services and innovative licensed software that assist carriers in streamlining the operation and speed to market of WAP, SMS and 3G offerings. Data on Air is the leading provider of hosted services for wireless data carriers, with customers throughout North, Central and South America. For more information, visit www.dataonair.com or email at [e-mail].

About Iris Wireless

Iris Wireless, LLC, is a leading-edge developer of next-generation, global messaging solutions. Iris has deployed a software platform that collects, intelligently organizes and distributes messaging data from diverse Internet and telecommunications technologies. Through the Iris platform, users can manage and deliver text, multimedia, or streaming services from a PC or wireless device to a wireless device, and vice versa. This creates a simple and cost effective messaging solution.

Data on Air, ProPlatform and ProLific are trademarks of Data on Air, Inc. Iris Wireless and iNode are trademarks of Iris Wireless, LLC. All trademarks, service marks and company names are the property of their respective owners.