Michelle Chan demonstrating Clearhub’s e-mail service on mobile phones.

July 2009: Millions of mobile phone users in Vietnam will now have access to e-mail services on their mobile phones without paying hefty monthly charges.

Clearhub, a mobile application developer, works in tandem with mobile operators to provide mobile subscribers e-mail access while on the move. The local start-up recently partnered with Vietnamese mobile operator Mobifone to launch ringE-mail in June this year.

ringE-mail is a three-in-one access service that offers pushmail to mobile users while consuming minimal memory on handsets. Users of this service can preview attachments in various formats such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, PDF, html and graphic files without using third party applications. For instance, you will not require a PDF reader to read PDF files on your phone.

Mobifone bundles this service with unlimited General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), so no matter how often users access their e-mail every month, the monthly fee remains the same.

Using only about 5MB per month, the solution has minimal impact on battery life.

The service is targeted at SMEs and the enterprise market. As this service is supported on virtually any phone, enterprise users can access Exchange or Lotus notes mail on their existing mobile phones.

So how does this service differ from the ubiquitous Blackberry wireless handheld device familiar to most road warriors?

Managing director Michelle Chan said, “We don’t compete with Blackberry because our service is more affordable and it can be used on any GPRS-enabled device. We only target handphone users. We mobilise business users who are unwilling to change their phones just for the purpose of receiving mobile e-mail. By filling this gap in the market, we are tapping on the mass market for Mobifone which is 50 to 80 percent of mobile users in Vietnam.”

Clearhub has its eye on capturing a large chunk of the Vietnamese market by setting an ambitious target of attracting half a million new subscribers a year through its partnership with Mobifone. Mobifone also plans to offer ringE-mail to enterprises a few months down the road.

“Vietnam has tremendous potential for growth as their mobile users are very savvy. Internet access in Vietnam is not widely available, hence, most people rely on their mobile phones for IP services. We think we can grow our market in Vietnam to at least a few million subscribers. Now we intend to capture 80 percent of the market share in Vietnam through our tie-ups with Mobifone and two other mobile operators Vinaphone and Viettel, said Ms Chan.

Clearhub has also collaborated with various mobile operators to launch this service in Taiwan and South America.

Singapore-based Clearhub is a mobile data exchange hub specialising in the delivery of mobile messaging connecting mobile operators, enterprises and value-added service providers. With Web-based applications, it offers true access capabilities in the most cost-effective, efficient manner in the industry today.

Clearhub's core technology platform includes a propriety messaging gateway software forming the infrastructure for a truly global mobile data exchange hub on a packet network.

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