Boston, MA - October 19, 2006 - A new report from Strategy Analytics finds that a number of supply and demand side catalysts are aligning to accelerate business use of mobile Instant Messaging (IM) into a $2 billion-plus opportunity in Western Europe and North America by 2010. From wireless access, to secure and fully auditable enterprise IM platforms, to public mobile IM services such as MSN Messenger, AIM and Yahoo! - both IT-sanctioned and rogue use of mobile IM is set to grow significantly. Mobile IM will emerge as a valuable real-time data complement to voice, mobile email and SMS, and set the stage for the integration of Presence into a range of enterprise applications. The latest Wireless Enterprise Strategies report, "Time for Real-Time: Gauging the $2 Billion Mobile Enterprise Instant Messaging Opportunity," cites several key IM drivers including increased enterprise awareness of IM's benefits, a new breed of sub-$150 QWERTY smartphones pouring into the market, the advent of IMS core networks, and millions of IM-dependent users ready to enter the workforce."

According to Antoine Mathiaud, Strategy Analytics Senior Analyst, "Surveys we have conducted clearly suggest that mobile IM strongly resonates with business cellular users looking for efficient always-on real-time communication tools. 33 percent of business cellular users in Western Europe, and 48 percent in North America, are interested in presence-enabled services such as IM. Moreover, the next generation of worker is one that cannot remember life without the Internet. This is a segment that is extremely receptive, even addicted, to IM and presence-enabled applications."

"We see wireless IM as the new data challenger to voice's exclusive to date on real-time mobile communications," adds Cliff Raskind, Director, Wireless Enterprise Strategies. "The inefficiencies of a decade of `hiding' behind store and forward messaging are catching up with the business world, and managers well-versed in organizational behavior are starting to realize that the high cost of inbox hygiene or playing excessive `phone tag' often make email and voicemail ineffective communication channels. Presence-enabled services including IM and SIP-based voice will allow better coordination and control of highly effective interactive real-time communications, while reigning in their often intrusive nature."

This report also examines how Microsoft, IBM, Nokia, and RIM are defining a mobile messaging platform roadmap that integrates additional Presence-enabled functionalities, while a bevy of IM vendors including IMlogic, FaceTime, Akonix and even Oracle are starting to eye the wireless arena with envy. On the network infrastructure level, analysts note that vendors such as Lucent/Alcatel, Nortel, Ericsson and Nokia are all pushing the presence and location benefits of their IMS solutions as enablers of blended/converged services within a single session (IM, VoIP, email & video).