CTIA: Merger creates WAP, SMS local content service

SAN FRANCISCO--Wireless local content providers Go2 and 80108 announced at the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment show that they will merge to create a unified local content and directory service powered by both mobile Web content and real-time messaging.

Santa Ana, Calif.,-based Go2 runs dozens of WAP sites featuring local information on everything from golf courses to pets. Boston-based 80108 runs real-time directory and local information solely on an SMS delivery platform using its eponymous short code. The Go2 portals have grown to become some of the most accessed mobile-only properties on the mobile Web, with more than 20 million page views a month. The platform was ultimately limited by being WAP-only, 80108 CEO Rob Adler said. Content discovery was limited to carriers’ content decks, and WAP provided no mechanism for delivering content to customers, depending rather on customers seeking information, Adler said.

“One thing that WAP can’t be is timely,” Adler said. “It’s a pull versus push environment.”

Meanwhile 80108 was limited by depth. It’s SMS content delivery service is timely and pervasive, but a text message can’t deliver the richer media experience or sheer volume of content that a WAP portal can, Adler said. By integrating the two platforms, 80108’s messaging platform can direct users to Go2 content through embedded links, while Go2 can augment its static Web content with SMS alerts and other push content, all supported by a unified advertising model.

Adler is taking over as CEO of the combined company, which will take the Go2 name. Go2 CEO and founder Lee Hancock will join the new Go2’s board and remain as part of the company’s executive management team.

In other wireless M&A news, German mobile gaming platform provider End2End is acquiring Terraplay, a company that develops connected mobile gaming solutions.