Bedford-based NewPace Technology Development Inc. has signed six-figure sales agreements with Nokia Corporation of Finland and an unnamed European company, accelerating the traction of its Rich Communications Service, or RCS, mobile phone products.
NewPace has spent years developing a suite of RCS products, which increase the flexibility that companies can offer in texting services on mobile handsets. It means texts can be used for chat, group chat, file transfer, video and voice calling across networks and using any smartphone. The goal of this initiative is to upgrade the current standards of voice and text messaging offered by mobile carriers.
The deals with the two European clients mean the company is beginning to get traction with these products and can build on these relationships.
“The reason these two deals are so important is these are significant companies, and a small company like us needs these referrals when we meet other clients,” Mike Flynn, director of customer development, said in an interview.
The company said Thursday that Nokia, a handset maker, has chosen NewPace’s rcsTestConnect to support its development team. The rcsTestConnect product allows vendors to test their product on an operating RCS platform rather having to go to a live RCS-enabled network. That lets them bring their RCS devices to market faster.
The unnamed European operator — which will announce the details of the deal later in the summer — has agreed to buy NewPace’s rcsCloudConnect product. This allows mobile operators to deploy RCS to their customers through a hosted solution.
NewPace has said rcsCloudConnect was the first hosted RCS service to receive the GSMA “Accreditation Ready” designation, which was awarded in May. CEO Brent Newsome said receiving the accreditation is similar to approval by the Food and Drug Administration for a biotech company.
Two years ago, NewPace signed a deal to borrow $850,000 from the Business Development Bank of Canada in order to finish development of the RCS product and increase its sales effort. That funding is now paying off with sales.
“The reality is that there is a long sales cycle,” said Newsome. “People are going to make an investment now but you won’t see a return for two years.”
Yet the company believes it has turned a corner, as more than 30 companies are now in discussions about taking a NewPace product.
“Last year at this time I was on the phone all day trying to get people interested in this,” said Flynn. “Now the phone rings every week with people asking about it.”
Newsome and CTO Gavin Murphy founded the company in 2009, retaining a core of software developers who had worked for AOL Canada Inc. in Halifax on similar projects. The company has a revenue history from notable telecommunication companies, and a team of more than 35 people, most of whom have worked together for 10 years.
The company also operates in a huge market, as the market for text messaging on mobile devices was $127 billion in 2010 and is projected to reach $334.7 billion by 2015.