Pat Phelan: Bits, bytes and telecomsA little bit of everything

Sometimes things really do come together and todays announcement at Qik was a beginning of a new road and the end of a very long journey.
We had been discussing this product since MWC 2008 so I was so happy to get it out the door.
A few noteworthy people to thank first though.
Tainaste Mary Coughlan, incredible, what a represenative for us overseas, David Smith and all the team at EI Palo Alto and finally the teams in Cubic Telecom and QIK who done an amazing job.

Press Release

Cubic Telecom partners with Qik, Inc to bring low cost voice and data roaming to worldwide users

Cubic extend their partnership program by powering Qik Roam product that allows travelers to make calls and stream live video from their mobile devices for up to 80% less

REDWOOD CITY, CA – April 13, 2009 – Cork based Cubic Telecom today announced a partnership with Qik, Inc., the leading live mobile streaming video service to bring massive savings to Qik users who love to stream video while traveling. The Qik deal follows on from other deals with travel service Dopplr, Big Red Book, Shandon Travel, GetCover Insurance and Invincible Mobile. Details on these partnerships are available here: http://www.cubictelecom.com/partners

Supporting nearly 120 mobile devices, Qik allows anyone to broadcast video live from their cell phone. With users in more than 160 countries, Qik is a truly global mobile utility. For example, Qik user Joseph Tame from the UK streamed live for hours as he ran the Tokyo Marathon, and Qikkers in several world cities all streamed the simultaneous, global Twitter meet-up Twestival live on Qik .

The partnership with Cubic Telecom will see Qik give its users the opportunity to purchase Qik-branded SIM cards enabling them to stream video live from all corners of the planet – without coming home to an astronomical phone bill. The Qik SIM also provides massive savings on voice calls, email, web browsing and texting while they travel. Under the tagline “Go mobile, not broke,” Qik is offering its users a simple, inexpensive way to share live video no matter where they are.

The Qik pre-paid SIM cards with full voice and data can be purchased from http://qik.com/roam. This is also where customers can manage their accounts.

“Travelers can now share their world journeys with videos, photos, text, and calls from their mobile device without it costing the earth.” said Pat Phelan, Cubic Telecom CEO “We’ve heard of the horror stories of travelers returning from a trip abroad to cell phone bills in the thousands of euros. The Qik SIM eliminates this worry for our customers.”

“We are excited to partner with Cubic Telecom to offer Qik SIM cards to our users,” said Ramu Sunkara, Qik CEO. “With the Qik pre-paid SIM cards, Qikkers across the world can now share their moments when they are traveling without having to worry about voice or data roaming costs. It’s like sending a live video postcard to your friends and family from wherever you are.”

“The tagline says it all,” added Sunkara. “Go mobile, not broke.”

Cubic’s Phelan added: “We’re delighted with the ongoing interest from companies like Qik who want to use our platform to bring value to existing and new customers all around the world and look forward to expanding our reach into more countries and to more people with these partnerships.”

About Cubic Telecom
Cubic Telecom provides global low cost telecommunications with a particular emphasis on mobile cellular global roaming. Its back-end infrastructure powers the Qik Roam product and other innovative services for businesses and consumers in more than 200 countries.
Within one year of launch, Cubic’s MAXRoam offering had saved its customers more than €1 million in global roaming costs. A Cork, Ireland-based company founded in 2005 by CEO Pat Phelan, Cubic has made significant investments in both web-based R&D and mobile telecommunications R&D, and was recently honoured by the Cork Chamber of Commerce as Emerging Company of the Year.

About Qik
Qik, the world’s leading mobile live video streaming platform, currently available on more than 100 mobile phones, enables anyone to stream video live from their mobile device from anywhere, to anywhere.
Its innovative, patent-pending technology allows anyone to share their moments live with friends and family or the entire world. Notable live videos captured recently with Qik include the Discovery shuttle launch, exclusive backstage events with Heidi Klum and Adriana Lima at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, and behind the scenes footage of “Loveline” host Dr. Drew interviewing celebrities live on air. Find additional Qik videos, including those streaming live, here:
http://qik.com/ and learn more about Qik Roam at http://qik.com/roam.
Media Contactsaa
Jackie Danicki Pat Phelan
Qik Cubic Telecom
513.328.7929 714-820-3583
jackie@qik.com pat.phelan@cubictelecom.com