Ericsson acquires world’s leader in IP-messaging components

Ericsson has announced that it will acquire the business and assets of Mobeon AB, the world’s leader in IP-messaging components for mobile and fixed networks.

The deal represents yet another step in Ericsson’s strategy to become the leader in multimedia. Twenty-one percent of Mobeon is already owned by Ericsson, which is also the primary partner and original developer of Mobeon’s CompEdge series of carrier-class messaging.

Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Mobeon is the leading supplier of IP-based voice and video mail, key elements of Ericsson’s Enriched Messaging solution which, in turn, is a cornerstone of its multimedia strategy.

Jan Wäreby, senior vice president and head of Ericsson’s Business Unit-Multimedia, said, "Voicemail is one of the most used messaging services by consumers and Mobeon is bringing us the latest IP generation messaging system prepared for both voice and video mail."

"This acquisition is an important part of our networked media and messaging strategy. The combination of Ericsson and Mobeon’s technological innovation will allow operators to offer an enhanced multimedia messaging experience to their customers," he added.

Once the acquisition is complete, Ericsson will accelerate the development of its new messaging architecture, which will allow easier integration of new messaging applications with established messaging methods, such as SMS, voicemail and MMS, to maximize the addressable user base for these new messaging services.

With this acquisition, Ericsson is targeting traditional networks as well as IMS-based and converged networks, and expects to grow the messaging area by bringing an innovative approach to traditional voicemail.

Mobeon produces the key component of Ericsson’s Messaging over IP (MoIP) solution — an IP-based voice and video-mail solution for telecom operators.

The largest MoIP installation has more than 26 million mailboxes, making it the largest IP-based voicemail system in the world.