Vodafone Omnitel, the Italian subsidary of the global network operator, has emphasised its commitment to Cash-U’s mobile entertainment platform by upgrading to the latest edition.

Pecan 2.0 is a platform for deploying and managing SMS, WAP and Java mobile entertainment applications over virtually all types of network. The new version has been enhanced with portal management capabilities and facilitates multi-player gaming and tournaments. According to Cash-U, Omnnitel’s original Pecan deployment generated 100m mobile gaming transactions and is adding users at a rate of 150,000 per month. Cash-U also has relationships with Telefonica Moviles, Wind, Cellcom and Pelephone.

“This is the first repeat order to our core product and is testament to Vodafone Omnitel’s satisfaction and confidence in our technology,” comments Amir Peleg, CEO of Cash-U. “Omnitel has effectively illustrated the return on investment that can be achieved from mobile entertainment services. This is an excellent endorsement of mobile games and we look forward to continued success.”

Insight

This is another major win for Cash-U and validates its strategy of providing a complete mobile entertainment solution, including development tools (Pistachio), server platform (Pecan) and a portfolio of third party applications (Peanut Butter). The data from Vodafone are also interesting, clearly demonstrating that even simple text games can attract a significant user base. That Omnitel has decided to invest in the latest version suggests they have already achieved a return on investment or are confident of doing so in a relatively short space of time.