Chikka

Manila-based Chikka.com, creators of the popular Internet gateway to texting mobile phones, announced its connectivity to all mobile network operators in the United Kingdom including Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, Virgin, 3 and Orange. Chikka’s patented “unified account systems” will allow UK mobile users to to log-on to their PC-based IM using their mobile numbers to enjoy instant messaging whether on-line or on-the-go, all via simple SMS.

“Now anyone, anywhere in the world may send free text messages from our instant messenger (IM) to all mobile phones in the UK,” said Chito Bustamante, chief operating officer of Chikka Asia, Inc. “With our new connectivity to operators in the UK, Chikka is uniting hundreds of thousands of Filipinos in the UK with loved ones back home. But in the last years, we have also connected to operators in the US and in India. It is equally exciting to open mobile instant messaging between these countries and their migrant populations,” said Bustamante.