REDWOOD SHORES, Calif.-Wireless e-mail provider Visto Corp. scored a major win Thursday, announcing a deal to deliver a “push” e-mail service to European users through Vodafone Group plc.
Vodafone will offer contact, calendar and automated e-mail delivery services on a variety of handsets for both enterprise and consumer subscribers. The agreement builds on existing services in Germany and Italy and will be deployed throughout Europe this year.
“It’s a big deal for Visto,” said Eugene Signorini, a program manager for The Yankee Group’s wireless/mobile enterprise solutions group. “Visto has had solid technology, but everybody was waiting for them to make a big splash in terms of a deal.”
Vodafone has long carried Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry, which continues to be the overwhelming device of choice among mobile e-mail users. But the ability to provide services to a number of handsets from different manufacturers may help drive uptake in what is still a largely untapped market, Signorini said.
“Vodafone can brand Visto’s service and offer it on a wider variety of handsets than the BlackBerry,” he said. “I think that’s the key.”
