3G UMTS Operator Deploys FAST’s Mobile Search Solution

Europe : Fast Search & Transfer (FAST™) announced that 3 Italy, the Mobile Video Company of Hutchison Whampoa Group Ltd (HWL) in Italy, has fully deployed FAST mSearch™ to power the search functionality across all the mobile multimedia content on its 3 mobile Portal. FAST mSearch is the industry’s first mobile search solution to collectively integrate content such as music, games, ring tones, and images with highly relevant content from the mobile Web, providing users with an optimized and more personal search experience on their mobile devices.

3 Italy delivers third-generation mobile multimedia and communications services, offering a convergence of media, information and communications to enable live video calls, multimedia content and entertainment while on the move and has over 3.56 million subscribers in Italy alone. 3 Italy has been the first in the Italian market to launch a 3G mobile Portal from which its users can access a wide range of mobile multimedia content on their videophones.

3 Italy turned to FAST’s mSearch because it is the only search solution on the market that provides the depth and breadth of functionality 3 Italy required to power the search of its “3” mobile Portal and be usable by all mobile devices. In addition, because all of the data is indexed and provided by 3 Italy or its content partners, the search application needed to be enterprise-scale, and not a simple adaptation of Web search technology. FAST mSearch also stood out because of its broad range of features and ability to be optimized for mobile search queries, which inherently have specific requirements and relevancy needs, such as queries using one or two words.

“FAST mSearch offers companies such as 3 Italy a complete solution that addresses the need of the mobile end user, while also creating multiple revenue streams for carriers and content providers,” said John M. Lervik, FAST’s chief executive officer. “With the proliferation of mobile multimedia, search will increasingly become a critical component of any mobile carrier’s offerings. FAST is the only enterprise search technology that can help carriers and content providers to leverage this extraordinary growth.”

Based upon the architecture of the FAST Enterprise Search Platform (FAST ESP™), FAST mSearch improves the revenue opportunities for carriers and content providers by powering a number of business models, such as personalized local search, targeted mobile commerce and advertising services, and multimedia search. Unlike branded applications such as Google, which threaten the business models of carriers and content providers, FAST mSearch offers a breakthrough solution that delivers an integrated and highly relevant set of search results from the Mobile Web and from content sources that meet all appropriate mobile formats.

FAST continues to transform enterprise search from a powerful, yet narrowly perceived function, into an enterprise-wide strategic and tactical capability of pivotal importance. FAST ESP and FAST’s portfolio of platform solutions and SDAs supply a complete information retrieval solution ideal for a growing number of key vertical markets and applications including e-Commerce and Internet Portals, Financial Services; Government; Life Sciences; Media and Publishing; and Telecom. For FAST, the search never stops.

About FAST
FAST creates the real-time search and filter technology solutions that are behind the scenes at the world’s best known companies with the most demanding search problems. FAST’s flexible and scalable integrated technology platform elevates the search capabilities of enterprise customers and connects people to the relevant information they seek regardless of medium. This drives revenues and reduces total cost of ownership by effectively leveraging IT infrastructure. FAST’s powerful enterprise search technology solutions are used by more than 2,000 global customers and partners, including America Online (AOL), AT&T, Cardinal Health, CareerBuilder.com, Chordiant, CIGNA, CNET, Dell, Factiva, Fidelity Investments, Findexa, FirstGov.gov (GSA), IBM, Knight Ridder, LexisNexis, Overture, Rakuten, Reed Elsevier, Reuters, Sensis, Stellent, Tenet Healthcare, Thomas Industrial Networks, T-Online, US Army, Virgilio (Telecom Italia), Vodafone, and Wanadoo.