Chikka connects to UK mobiles

Manila-based Chikka.com, creator of the popular Internet gateway to texting mobile phones, announced its connectivity to all mobile network operators in the United Kingdom, including Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, Virgin, 3 and Orange.

Chikka’s patented "unified account systems" will allow UK mobile users to log on to their PC-based instant messenger (IM) using their mobile numbers to enjoy instant messaging whether online or on-the-go, all via simple SMS.

"Now anyone, anywhere in the world may send free text messages from our IM to all mobile phones in the UK," said Chito Bustamante, chief operating officer of Chikka Asia Inc.

"With our new connectivity to operators in the UK, Chikka is uniting hundreds of thousands of Filipinos (there) with their loved ones back home. But in the past years, we have also connected to operators in the United States and India. It is equally exciting to open mobile instant messaging between these countries and their migrant populations," Bustamante said.

With all major carriers supported in the UK, the service becomes available to over 70 million mobile subscribers in that country. Among the world’s highly sophisticated mobile cultures, UK mobile users send 4.7 million messages every hour, according to the Mobile Data Association (MDA).

"We are proud to bring Chikka, most reliable for PC-to-mobile messaging, to such an exciting mobile market," Bustamante said. "The online world will appreciate the seamless connectivity to mobile subscribers in the UK, an important financial and commercial center and a melting pot of many cultures."

Chikka created the world’s first mobile instant messenger to run on SMS. Launched in the Philippines in 2001, it now has over 35 million registered users and also counts close to two million users across India where it opened to all major operators in 2005.

Chikka is freely downloaded from www.chikka.com.