MBlox

Mblox, Inc.
Privately held company
Industry Wireless technology
Founded 1999 (1999) in London, United Kingdom[1]
Founders Andrew Bud, Paul McGuire
Headquarters Campbell, California, United States
Number of locations
 10 [2]
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Tom Cotney (CEO)[3]
Services Enterprise mobile engagement
Mobile messaging
One-way and two-way global SMS
MMS
Push notifications
HLR / Number Lookup
Number of employees
 200
Website www.mblox.com

Mblox Inc. is a global company that provides Saas-based mobile messaging solutions to enterprises, including global one-way and two-way SMS, MMS, push notifications, short codes and virtual mobile numbers. Mblox Ltd. was founded in 1999, in London, United Kingdom but later Mblox inc. became the US based parent company after the successful merger with Mobilesys.[4] The company is headquartered in Campbell, California, USA, with offices in Atlanta (US), London (UK), Paris (France), Lund (Sweden), Stockholm (Sweden), Canterbury (UK), Madrid (Spain), Prague (Czech Republic), Sydney (Australia)

History

Products

Mblox product lines are all Enterprise to Consumer communications related:

Public Criticism and Fines

Since phone bills from some carriers attribute charges to the company doing the billing, rather than to the business that actually sold and provided the service, Mblox has been accused in Internet forums of enabling a process called cramming,[11][12] or automatically signing mobile customers up for unsolicited services and billing them accordingly.[13] As of 2008, the company had been fined 22 times for cramming-related offences, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.[14] Since mBlox has never had any involvement, direct or indirect, in creating or promoting such services, its responsibility is to try to prevent its customers abusing the SMS-based billing services it provides them. Following the sudden spate of problems in 2008/9, in 2010 the UK regulator Phonepay Plus commended mBlox for "a significant investment in new technology, personnel and resources to aid compliance and prevent further harm occurring to consumers from services operating over its platform."[15] In the UK, mBlox has not been cited in any case since December 2011, at which time the regulator described its actions as "exemplary".[16] On March 19, 2013, Mblox sold its PSMS business to OpenMarket as it chooses to focus exclusively on Enterprise to Consumer mobile messaging. This brings an end to its involvement in mobile payments[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Mblox Ltd Company Record". Companies House.
  2. ↑ "Mblox locations". Mblox.com.
  3. ↑ Collier, Christophe. "mBlox Announces Tom Cotney As New Chief Executive Officer". Business Wire.
  4. ↑ Cullen, Drew. "Mblox merges with Mobilesys: Two headed SMS monster". The Register.
  5. ↑ "Comverse Powering UK SMS Marketing Provider". Cellular News.
  6. ↑ Murphy, David. Mobile Marketing Magazine http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/mblox-opens-singapore-office/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "mBlox Opens New Office in Italy in Response to Market Potential". WirelessDevNet.com.
  8. ↑ "Mblox Acquires CardBoardFish and Zoove". Reuters.
  9. ↑ "Mblox Acquires 4INFO's SMS Services". BusinessWire.
  10. ↑ "Virtual Hold Technology Acquires Zoove to Revolutionize How Customers Connect With Brands". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  11. ↑ The Alphaville Herald: The Great SMS Cramming Game
  12. ↑ Gordon's Notes: Crammed: Mblox $9.99 a month
  13. ↑ New York Times: To Stop Cellphone Cramming, Don't Let It Start
  14. ↑ Mirror: Mblox fined again over premium rate phonelines
  15. ↑ PhonepayPlus Consent Orders 13 May 2010
  16. ↑ PhonepayPlus Adjudication against Wild ACE Marketing Limited 8 December 2011
  17. ↑ http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/mblox-sells-psms-business-openmarket/
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