CIBENIX, A Dublin-based mobile software developer, has won a deal worth more than €2 million to supply its on-device service to Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile phone company with more than 120 million subscribers.
The mobile operator, which trades as Airtel in India, is said to be adding more than 3 million new customers every month, and is now the third largest mobile network in the world.
Airtel will use the Cibenix ODS software app as a portal to promote its music, apps and internet-access services to customers directly on their phones.
Cibenix won the deal ahead of competition from multinational IT services firms and Indian software providers.
CEO Mike Brady said it was significant that a small Irish company had successfully sold to a customer in India, one of the global centres for software development.
The Dublin-based company has been paid close to €440,000 up front, and will earn a minimum of €2 million over the next two years.
The total value of the deal will rise based on how many Airtel subscribers use the Cibenix ODS portal.
Mr Brady said the deal was unusual because it does not involve a traditional revenue-sharing model, whereby the operator pays no up-front fee and the provider earns a percentage of the income generated through its software.
“It’s a measure of how important Airtel sees Cibenix that it has paid in advance for software licences. This is highly unusual in India,” said Mr Brady.
Part of the reason for this is the strategic value that on-device software platforms now have for mobile networks. The operators used to have relationships with customers largely to themselves, but they are now coming under direct competition from devices like the iPhone, Android and high-end Nokia handsets that all have their own dedicated app stores.
Pressure is also coming from internet services such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare that are encroaching on mobile operators’ turf. As a result, many providers are looking for ways to make their own services more compelling for consumers and ultimately to earn more revenue from them.
In the Indian mobile market customers buy the phone handset separately from the network operator’s SIM card. According to Mr Brady, what helped to clinch the deal for Cibenix was that its software was compatible with 160 of the 200 most popular phones that are used on Airtel’s network.
Cibenix sells its software internationally through partners, and the Airtel deal was won with the business and technology consultancy Infosys.
The deal has helped to boost Cibenix’s credibility in the Asian market, Mr Brady said.
“Airtel is number one in India so as a result we’re talking to the top six operators there. We’ll get more business out of India. Plus, Airtel is well known in Asia, so it’s a great calling card.”
The privately-held company was founded in 2002, and employs 25 people at the Digital Hub in Dublin. Its customers include Vodafone Group, 3 Group and Orascom Group, a mobile provider based in the Middle East.
