ForgetMeNot Africa Update

RNS Number : 1278X

LonZim PLC

01 December 2010

 



1 December 2010

LONZIM PLC

("LonZim" or the "Company")

ForgetMeNot Africa's first deployment for French language speakers is launched in the Republic of the Congo

LonZim Plc (AIM:LZM) is pleased to announce that ForgetMeNot Africa Limited ("FMNA"), the Company's 51% owned subsidiary in the telecoms sector, has signed its sixth agreement with a telecommunications provider in Africa. The latest deployment in the Republic of the Congo is the second with an Essar Group company - Warid Congo joins Kenyan network yu in deploying ForgetMeNot Africa's technology.

Using FMNA's unique unified messaging platform, Warid Congo is providing access to low-cost internet messaging on first generation, SMS-enabled mobile phones to its entire 450,000 subscriber base.

The accessibility and usability improvements involved in the Congo deployment increases the market potential for FMNA to include French speaking people in Africa, as the mobile email and online chat service now supports the French language.

The partnership with Warid Congo is FMNA's first deployment in Central Africa, following previous deployments in east, west and southern Africa, with a contract signed in Zimbabwe and several more deployments planned. The deployments with Econet Telecom Lesotho, Kenya's Safaricom and yu and Nigeria's Glo Mobile are already providing access to mobile email and online chat for more than 42 million Africans.

David Lenigas, Executive Chairman of LonZim, stated:

"We are extremely pleased with the progress FMNA is making. This new partnership enables the company to bring mobile email and online chat on basic mobile phones to millions of French speaking Africans as well as Anglophones. This deployment is the sixth contract for the use of FMNA's unique telecoms solution in five African nations in just over a year.

"FMNA's new partnership with Warid Congo enables the network's entire subscriber base to now exchange email messages and online chat messages wherever they are, whenever they wish, and with whomever they like without the need for Internet access, expensive smartphones, device upgrades or application downloads."

Jeremy George, Chief Operating Officer for ForgetMeNot Africa, said:

"This fifth deployment of our unique technology signifies huge potential to expand the adoption of our technology across Africa with our new French language support as we estimate there to be  more than 100 million French speaking Africans. Our cloud computing approach turns basic handsets into virtual messaging smartphones, providing internet messaging to people who otherwise, for both economic and technical reasons, would be unable to access internet services."

"We are continuing to develop the technology, with a focus on accessibility and usability, to provide people in Africa with easy to use low-cost mobile email and online chat. While internet access across Africa remains very low, mobile phones are the only way for the vast majority of Africans to ever access internet messaging."

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Notes to Editors

For further information contact:

LonZim Plc
David Lenigas	Executive Chairman	[phone]
Geoffrey White	Chief Executive Officer	[phone]
Emma Priestley	Executive Director	[phone]
WH Ireland Ltd: Nomad and Broker
James Joyce		[phone]
Pelham Bell Pottinger
Charles Vivian		[phone]
		[phone]
James MacFarlane		[phone]
		[phone]

About ForgetMeNot Africa

ForgetMeNot Africa Ltd. is a "software as a service" (SaaS) company specialising in unified messaging that supports seamless interoperability between SMS, email and Instant Messaging clients for telecommunications operators.  The core product is Message Optimiser which allows telecom operators to immediately provide cost-effective comprehensive unified messaging services to all of their customers without any upgrades to the device or any need for downloading new applications onto the device. This opens up a range of previously inaccessible services to many of their customers including 2-way email and 2-way instant messaging communication capability.  For more information  visit www.fmnafrica.com.

 

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