Merger creates £6bn giant for unified messaging

Openwave will use IP to let users move between different devices, both fixed and wireless, while taking their data with them. Currently, Phone.com's WAP browsers are licensed by manufacturers like Alcatel and Siemens. Its mobile gateways are used by carriers including BT Cellnet and One2One. Software.com's messaging services are used by internet carriers including Excite.

Openwave's marketing director for EMEA, Nigel Oakley, sees scalable directories as the future of mobility. He said: "A user moving between different environments - say from wired to wireless - needs messaging between those systems that is based on a common directory. At the moment carriers are using hundreds of directories because they have been rolling out their own bespoke services."

Oakley said Openwave plans to bring out unified messaging services that will let users access voice and data from a variety of devices. The company also has plans for sophisticated synchronisation services that will allow, for example, address books to be synched more easily across phones, PDAs and PCs.