Opera browser on Portuguese mobile phones

LISBON -- Optimus, Portuguese mobile operator, and Opera Software have agreed to include Opera's Web browser on Optimus Zone, the new multimedia Optimus’ offer, supported on Nokia 3650 and Nokia 7650 and other smartphones. Optimus is the first mobile operator to choose Opera as the default browser for its smartphones. 

Opera's breakthrough Small-Screen Rendering (SSR) technology has made the full Web available on smaller smartphones for the first time. Before Opera introduced SSR, mobile phone users were restricted to use stripped down WAP browsers based on XHTML for which there is not much content available. SSR massages HTML Web pages to fit on a smaller screen, eliminating horizontal scrolling, making the full Web useful on small screens.

"The unique Web browsing experience that Opera provides is what new data services like Optimus Zone are all about," said Miguel Almeida, Optimus Marketing and Sales Executive Administrator. "Optimus subscribers will now get the power of the full Web in their shirt pocket, ahead of everyone, not only in Portugal, but in the world."

HTML browsing

Including Opera on smart phones benefits mobile operators like Optimus. Full HTML browsing increases data traffic on the network and ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). This adds an additional lucrative revenue stream for operators besides the one already available through WAP, where traffic suffers because of the lack of available contents.

"Just within the last month we made Opera available for the Nokia 7650 and 3650 for sale to the public on our Web site, and now new Optimus subscribers in Portugal will get it for free," said Rolf Assev, Executive Vice President Marketing and Strategic Alliances, Opera Software. "We've been very impressed at the speed at which this agreement has come together; the smooth collaboration, and the speed of deployment. Dynamic companies like Optimus will shape the mobile industry in the years to come." Optimus has localized the browser, making Opera available on Optimus Zone in Portuguese.

Since its launch in 1998, Optimus has grown to 2.1 million customers and reached a market share of 22.4%. Optimus claims to be the only telecommunication's operator in the world to have received three GSM Award's for three consecutive years and has been recently recognized by the national telecommunications regulator as the best network operator in the Portuguese market. Launching new products and services in Portuguese market -- mobile portals, SMS information services, entertainment services, GPRS services -- Optimus is also in the lead on the deployment of new technologies.

Opera Software ASA is an industry leader in the development of Web browser technology, partnering with companies such as IBM, AMD, Nokia, Macromedia, Symbian, Canal+ Technologies, Ericsson, Sharp, Metrowerks, and MontaVista Software. The Opera browser has received international recognition from users, industry experts and media for being faster, smaller and more standards-compliant than other browsers. Opera's browser technology is cross-platform and modular, targeting the desktop, smartphone, PDA, iTV and vertical markets.

Opera Software ASA is a privately held company headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with development centers in Linköping and Gothenburg, Sweden, and a sales representative in Austin, Texas.