AKN MTECH aims for 50mil subscribers - 10 July 2003, The Star AKN Messaging Technologies Bhd (AKN MTECH) expects to increase its subscriber base to 50 million over the next three months from 9 million as a result of its expansion to Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia, said managing director Lim Seng Boon. The regional expansion was an immediate target as the company had laid the groundwork for it in the preceding months, he said. AKN MTECH is a Multimedia Super Corridor status mobile content and applications service provider. Lim spoke to StarBiz after receiving the gold award at the Ericsson Malaysia Kacip @ Cut-Edge Award 2003 in the professional category for the company's latest software application Mobile Soccer from Energy, Communications & Multimedia Minister Datuk Amar Leo Moggie in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. "We are confident of being able to achieve our targets as in being awarded the gold , it is clear that the judges themselves, made up of telco industry representatives, have seen the potential in our application and thus it can be expected to sell, and sell well," he said. Lim said the win also meant a higher level of credibility for AKN MTECH, including worldwide recognition in the Ericsson Mobility World, an initiative that emphasized mobile Internet content based on ever evolving technologies. AKN MTECH won the Kacip Challenge trophy, the Gold Kacip @ Cut-Edge plaque, a cash prize of RM10,000, one year's free membership to Ericsson Mobility World Malaysia worth RM5,000 and two Sony Ericsson T610 mobile terminals, automatic inclusion in the Malaysian delegation to attend the APICTA ceremony in Cairns, Australia, a trip for two to Cairns to attend the ceremony and a certificate of participation. The Kacip Awards, an initiative launched in 2000 under the Ericsson Mobility World Malaysia, also known as Malaysia Focal, is to encourage and support a healthy growth of content for network providers through the rapid creation and market deployment of mobile Internet applications and services. Members of Malaysia Focal had access to Ericsson's expertise right through conceptualisation and development through the use of its facilities as a physical test-bed to run their applications, said Ericsson president and country manager Mats H Olsson. Olsson said the Kacip, or Cutting-Edge Awards, were created to spur the development of local content and applications specifically to meet the expanding needs of Malaysians. The silver medal in the professional category went to EssentialBiz Sdn Bhd for its QuizMaster application, a short-messaging services game, while the bronze medal went to mobileExec Sdn Bhd for mobileExec, a one-stop messaging gateway service for businesses.