Pirelli Broadband Solutions Provides UK-Based Mobiboo With GSM/ WiFi “Dual-Mode” Phones

Pirelli Broadband Solutions Provides UK-Based Mobiboo With GSM/ WiFi “Dual-Mode” Phones

Mobiboo addresses growing FMC market with Pirelli’s dual-mode phone now available at Tesco

Milan, 8 November 2006 – Pirelli Broadband Solutions, the broadband access and second-generation photonics company of the Pirelli Group, and Mobiboo Mobile, the UK’s first WiFi mobile VoIP operator, signed an agreement for the supply of Pirelli’s GSM/WiFi “dual-mode” phones. These handsets will be used by Mobiboo for its new mobile Internet phone services branded under the name tovo. The tovo phone is available at selected Tesco stores nationwide, online at http://www.tovo.com/ and through a growing number of Mobiboo dealers.

The Pirelli “dual-mode” phone is an innovative handset which enables the convergence of fixed and mobile services, integrating cell phone technology with the advantages of phone calls over the Internet. The handset, based on SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), can function as a telephone handset in both WiFi mode or as a traditional mobile phone.

“Pirelli has provided an enormous amount of support in the design and delivery of what we believe to be the best dual-mode handset on the market,” said Martin Heath, CEO of Mobiboo Mobile. He continued, “Feedback from our trial customers has been very good and we are already in discussions with Pirelli over further product launches and enhancements. In the lead-up to our launch, Pirelli’s team provided us with excellent support and we look forward to strengthening our relationship with them.”

“Our dual-mode phone is just one example of our ability to exploit gaps in the marketplace,” said Mauro Sacchetto, CEO of Pirelli Broadband Solutions. “Through the use of innovative technology and a customer-oriented mindset, we can enable new services in highly competitive markets. Working with Mobiboo shows the strength of our experience and the breadth of our solutions.”
Using the “dual-mode” phone, users will be able to make regular mobile phone calls using a SIM card or make internet phone calls via WiFi. This solution enables the use of mobile features such as SMS, MMS, e-mail and Internet through a WiFi enabled broadband connection, with the added benefits of greater bandwith and cost savings.

About Pirelli Broadband Solutions
Pirelli Broadband Solutions specializes in broadband access technology and photonics. The Access division provides a range of broadband CPE, including access gateways, set-top boxes, multiple handsets, and a remote management system. The Photonics division leverages nanotechnology and its use of tunable and pluggable solutions to deliver multi-wavelength components, modules and subsystems, including tunable lasers, GPON triplexers, an integrable tunable laser assembly, radio over fiber and a CWDM metro access system. In full year 2005, Pirelli Broadband Solutions posted revenues of 112 million euros (+78% compared to a year earlier).

About Mobiboo Mobile
Mobiboo Mobile Limited is the UK’s pioneer in the emerging mobile Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and the Content over Internet (CoIP) marketplace, with a global business focus. Mobiboo Mobile is the next generation of mobile internet telecommunications – providing all of the benefits of traditional cellular but at significantly reduced costs and vastly increased bandwidths.

Mobiboo Mobile’s WiFi Mobile service in the UK, known as tovo, allows users to make and receive VoIP calls whenever they are within range of any open WiFi environment – whether at home, in the office or in the vicinity of a “Hotspot”. tovo is the mobile internet phone. It does everything a mobile or fixed phone does plus also allows free internet calls; low cost calling to other numbers from anywhere in the world and avoids the need to pay roaming charges. Mobiboo customers can also choose to associate a normal landline number with their mobile and receive calls to their home number on their tovo handsets.

Mobiboo Mobile is launching its tovo brand in the UK this next month and is planning to role out across the US and Europe over the next 12 months.

Please see www.mobiboo.com or www.tovo.com for further details of our current range of handsets and call rates.