Info2Cell Chooses Myriad Group to Deliver Mobile Social Networking Services Across Middle East and North Africa Region

DUBENDORF-ZURICH, Switzerland, April 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- -- Myriad to be prime mobile social networking services provider to Info2Cell, serving 40 operators and 160 million subscribers in Middle East and North African (MENA) region

-- Myriad's unrivaled portfolio of social networking, messaging & web 2.0 services and robust, carrier-grade cloud-computing platform were key factors in selection

-- Landmark deal signifies Myriad's growing leadership in mobile social networking on mass-market mobile phones and increased footprint in MENA region

Myriad Group AG (SIX: MYRN), a global leader in mobile technology, having shipped over 3.8 billion software applications on more than 2.2 billion phones, today announces it has been selected by Info2Cell, MENA's first and largest Value Added Service Provider, to power mobile social networking, messaging and web 2.0 services to over 40 operators and 160 million subscribers across the MENA region.

In particular, Info2Cell will leverage Myriad's unrivalled portfolio of mobile social networking services, such as Myriad Updates, a new, first-of-its-kind text-based mobile social networking service accessible on low-end phones, launched at Mobile World Congress earlier this year. Myriad Updates leverages Myriad's leading mobile social networking platform and Self-Care systems, which powers services for Telefonica and other Tier 1 operators around the world.

Under the Info2Cell brand, Myriad will manage and power Info2Cell's entire mobile social networking offering, enabling deployment in just a matter of weeks. This in turn allows Info2Cell to focus on promoting its new service amongst its 40-strong network of mobile operator customers, rather than being burdened with technical integration and rollout.

"Adoption of social networking in the MENA region is growing at an exponential rate. In order to keep pace with market demands, we needed a partner that would enable us to quickly deliver mobile social networking capabilities on a massive scale across multiple device segments," said Bashar Dahabra, co-founder and CEO of Info2Cell. "Myriad has allowed us to seamlessly integrate social networking services into our overall offering with little technical challenges, while enabling us to quickly capitalize on this growing phenomenon and better serve our operator customers' needs."

Through this new partnership, operators will have the opportunity to monetize data services in a new way that is complementary to their existing data offerings, but is open to all subscribers, making mobile social networking accessible to mass-market mobile phone and non-data users throughout the entire MENA region.

"This is a landmark partnership and a real milestone for Myriad. Because of Info2Cell's extensive relationships in the MENA region, we have the opportunity to rollout our mobile social networking services on an unprecedented scale," said Simon Wilkinson, CEO or Myriad. "This not only further reinforces our leadership in mobile social networking, it also dramatically increases our footprint in what is an exciting, fast growing marketplace - added together with the Latin America footprint we support with Telefonica, it pushes our exclusive addressable market to over 300M mobile users. We look forward to working with Info2Cell to further evolve its offering, while driving mobile social networking in the MENA region."

About Myriad Group:

Myriad Group AG is a global leader in mobile technology and has shipped over 3.8 billion software applications in more than 2.2 billion mobile phones. Its comprehensive portfolio includes browsers, messaging, Java, social networking, user interfaces and middleware for all types of mobile phones, from ultra-low cost handsets to advanced smartphones.

The company provides both individual components and complete solutions, which enable handset manufacturers and operators to deliver amazing experiences on mobile phones. Myriad also develops USSD-based customer self-care platforms that deliver over 10 billion messages a year to 220 million mobile users across more than 35 mobile operators worldwide.

Myriad was created from the combination of industry leading companies, Esmertec and Purple Labs. It operates worldwide, with offices in Switzerland, France, UK, USA, Mexico, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. Headquartered in Dubendorf Zurich Switzerland, Myriad is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX Symbol: MYRN).