Reuters to launch WAP data service

NEWS Global news group, Reuters, has joined forces with US mobile data provider, Aether Systems, to launch a WAP data service. The new company, called Sila Communications, will establish wireless data centres around Europe. The service will allow customers to access corporate information, Reuters content, Internet applications and email via their WAP phones and pagers. Aether holds a 60 per cent stake in the new venture. Its offering included £15m cash and the recent $85m acquisition of IFX Group, a European provider of mobile financial data. Reuters owns the remaining 40 per cent, after contributing £22m cash and its UK based paging and data-delivery company, Futures Pager. Sila will debut on the financial market, but there are plans to expand into other areas, like healthcare and education. A spokesman for Reuters said: "It is part of our core strategy of making the financial market accessible on the internet." He added that Sila hopes to grow through acquisition and is considering flotation plans. According to David Oros, chairman of Sila, the company hopes to expand to Asia in the near future.