NeuStar is helping Germany's Telefonica O2 generate more revenue via the short code directory giant's Next Generation Messaging (NGM) platform.

Telefonica O2 Germany, a mobile wireless carrier, chose NeuStar based on its experience in IM delivery and its ability to customize services after a mobile IM trial in 2008 that yielded positive user feedback. Telefonica plans to use NeuStar's NGM to deliver mobile IM service options to its 14.7 million German customers.

"NeuStar's strategy is really to help mobile operators generate new revenues and drive brand loyalty by providing compelling next generation messaging services," said Guenter Krauss, senior vice president and general manager at NeuStar NGM, Sterling, VA.

"We see mobile IM as a key service that enables mobile users worldwide to communicate with their online contacts instantly, anytime, anywhere," he said. "It's an evolving service and one that we believe is paving the way to new next generation communications services."

NeuStar is a service provider that enables real-time communication across a variety of networks, applications and enterprises around the world.

"If we look at the market from a global perspective, the challenges to bring a new mobile IM service to market differ in each region," Mr. Krauss said. "Operators can no longer rely on their traditional voice and SMS offerings to increase profits.

"Mobile IM offers operators new revenue streams and provides mobile subscribers with a valuable and richer messaging service," he said.

NeuStar is also joining forces with the Instant Messaging provider ICQ which will allow O2's customers in Germany to communicate with ICQ's 42 million IM users worldwide.

ICQ cites its collaboration with NeuStar and Telefonica O2 Germany as a stepping stone toward the regularity of mobile Instant Messaging, as the demand for mobile IM dramatically increases.

The ICQ mobile IM client is accessible from the mobile handsets of O2 subscribers in Germany and displays similar functions to that expected from a PC-based IM.

The service is available upon launch as a downloadable client on several handsets such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung mobile devices.

"We believe that the address book is a huge asset," Mr. Krauss said. "In the next two years, we are going to see a significant change in how the mobile address book is used and this will have a major influence on the market.

"By providing a mobile user with a choice of services and the ability to instantly interact with anyone or any service opens a large untapped market," he said.