FusionOne has tapped Mike Mulica as CEO to strengthen the company's position in the $1 billion mobile backup services business.

Mr. Mulica will be responsible for the overall strategic direction and management of FusionOne, a mobile phone backup services provider. He will focus on driving widespread market adoption of FusionOne's backup solutions.

"My vision is to dominate the mobile content backup [industry] and restore space," Mr. Mulica said.

"FusionOne is well poised to take on this challenge globally," he said. "We have an extensive IP portfolio, a robust product/platform and great relationships with operators and device makers to make this a tremendous success."

Mr. Mulica has been involved in the mobile industry for more than two decades. Prior to joining FusionOne he was president/CEO of BridgePort Networks, a player in mobile-to-voice-over IP roaming technology.

Before that, he was senior vice president of customer operations for Openwave Systems, previously known as Phone.com. He was also president of global sales and marketing for Adaptive Broadband and vice president of worldwide sales for Motorola's Wireless Alliance Group.

No back down on backup
Mr. Mulica's mandate is to help establish FusionOne's leadership in the industry by implementing backup services in wireless carriers worldwide.

"FusionOne has evolved from a startup to being the unequivocal leader in the mobile backup space," Mr. Mulica claimed.

"I see tremendous potential for further growth," he said. "FusionOne's solution is more than just an application on a mobile user's phone -- it's a guarantee that subscribers' data will be protected and will never be lost."

FusionOne's MightyBackup service currently protects nearly 500 million contacts.

Mr. Mulica cited a recent survey where FusionOne found that one in three U.S. mobile phone subscribers pay $4 a month for handset insurance. Of those surveyed, 67 percent reported that they do not have their address book backed up anywhere and 66 percent re-enter contacts manually when replacing their phone.

Other types of mobile phone content such as ringtones, games and music that are bought by 34 percent of subscribers and pictures taken by nearly 60 percent of subscribers are equally difficult, if not impossible, to replace -- just ask the 35 percent of subscribers who have previously lost their phone, per the survey.

In addition, with 40 percent of industry revenue coming from subscription applications, providing subscribers with a service that makes the appropriate content -- version and format -- available to subscribers for restoration or migration to their new device reduces revenue loss for carriers.

"We see the mobile phone becoming a media-rich, dynamically updated hub for social and business communication," Mr. Mulica said.