Bytemobile’s Mobile Internet Gateway Provides Carrier Options for Tiered Pricing, Policy Enforcement and New Services

SANTA CLARA, Calif., February 16, 2010

Bytemobile, Inc., the global leader in mobile internet solutions, today announced new capabilities of its WebGate™ Service, a mobile internet gateway designed to reduce the cost and increase the monetization of wireless data for network operators. The new capabilities help operators to increase uptake of existing data plans, intelligently roll out new data plans and streamline the delivery of third-party content, while enforcing fair-use policies more efficiently. WebGate Service is available with the latest release of Bytemobile’s Unison™ Mobile Internet Platform, which delivers throughput at a 10-gigabits-per-second (Gbps) line processing rate in a single 12U chassis.

In its February 2010 Global Telecommunications Industry Overview, Bank of America Merrill Lynch cites several recent studies arguing that exponential growth in mobile data will outstrip the ability of carriers to monetize it, and concludes that usage-based pricing and traffic prioritization will become critical in managing future growth.

“Looking at a cross-section of operators that service smartphones, our own research indicates that 5% of mobile data users generate approximately 75% of data traffic,” said Joel Brand, vice president of Product Management at Bytemobile. “The predicted surge in traffic – plus the fact that a handful of users consume the majority of bandwidth – will not only strain the network, but also strain profit margins due to escalating infrastructure costs. WebGate Service offers operators new ways to alleviate the margin pressure by enabling tiered pricing plans, stricter policy enforcement, and value-added services leveraging partnerships with premium content providers.”

Increase Data Subscriptions
Network operators have been successful in selling unlimited data plans to high-end smartphone users. However, data subscriptions remain low among the mass-market device segment due to user concerns about exceeding the limits of a ‘per-kilobyte rate plan’ and – because of newness to mobile browsing – reluctance to sign up for long-term, recurring plans. WebGate Service enables operators to increase data uptake among this segment of new users by offering daily – or even hourly – internet access with predictable rate plans that do not require long-term commitments. Such plans will help operators increase revenues from this segment and also facilitate the conversion of users to monthly unlimited data plans.

Targeted Data Plans
Functioning as a content-aware Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF), WebGate Service helps operators deliver variably priced data plans to targeted customers by enabling users to opt in to – or out of – specific data services. For example, an operator could offer a lower-priced plan that excludes viewing of high-quality videos or, conversely, a premium plan that includes multimedia. With video consuming approximately 40% of network traffic, such a rate plan helps offset the discrepancy between operators’ data revenues and traffic volumes.

Partnering with Content Providers
WebGate Service helps operators add value for users through the delivery of personalized content in partnership with third-party content providers. Operators can extend to their trusted content partners the ability to communicate intelligently with consumers and bill them directly, while protecting their identity. As a result, carriers are able to tap into new revenue streams while delivering a richer mobile internet experience with increased consumer stickiness.

About Bytemobile, Inc.

Bytemobile’s Unison Mobile Internet Platform enables wireless operators to meet consumer demand for mobile video and web content. The company’s solutions also dramatically improve bandwidth efficiency and reduce infrastructure costs throughout the network. Bytemobile® products and services have been deployed with 115 operators in 56 countries and 12 of the world’s top 15 tier-one operators. The company is committed to helping its customers and partners deliver green mobile internet services in a sustainable network environment. To learn more, visit www.bytemobile.com.

Bytemobile, the Bytemobile logo, WebGate and Unison are trademarks, service marks and/or registered trademarks of Bytemobile, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks, service marks and product names used herein are the property of their respective owners.

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