Aldiscon

Aldiscon was a telecommunications software company founded in Dublin, Ireland in 1988. The company was an innovator in supplying software products to the mobile sector and became a market leader in the supply of Short Message Service Centre's (SMSC's) [cite news |title=Looping text messages are caused by a network fault |url=http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2007/07/23/looping-text-messages-are-caused-by-a-network-fault |work=The Inquirer |date=2007-07-23 |accessdate=2008-06-23 ] to mobile operators globally.

Aldiscon invented SMPP, the short message peer-to-peer telecommunications industry protocol for exchanging SMS messages between SMS peer entities such as short message service centres.

Aldiscon is historically significant to the mobile sector in two major aspects.
* It represents the successful introduction of major independent software suppliers to the technology of global mobile networks. To this day, the firm (under the name Acision) is one of the largest such companies of this type to have ever been created and matured.
* The founders were instrumental in establishing several mobile software startup companies based in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, UK. Aldiscon, Apion, Aepona, Anam, Ammeon, Accuris Networks and Altion are just a handful of such Irish companies (in fact, all of these specific companies were started by the original Aldiscon founders) [ [http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2004/09/19/story82040044.asp Chairman of the boards: ThePost.ie ] ] .

Aldiscon originally consisted of three companies: Aldiscon Telecommunications Software Systems, Ltd. based in Dublin, Ireland; Aldiscon, Inc. based in Dublin, Ohio USA; and Aldiscon Northern Ireland Ltd. based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Following rapid expansion through the mid 90s, the two Dublin companies were merged and renamed Aldiscon, Ltd.

Acquisition by Logica

Aldiscon, Ltd. was acquired by Logica Plc of London, UK in 1997 for GBP 51 million. Logica Plc was a large multinational systems integration firm and it renamed Aldiscon the Logica Mobile Telecom Products Division. Aldiscon Northern Ireland was spun out into a separate company, Apion Ltd, and retained by the original owners. The mobile division was sold by Logica in 2007, with the new company named Acision and Aldiscon founder Lawrence Quinn returning to the helm.

In 1999, Phone.com acquired APiON's WAP product division. APiON shareholders received 1.3 million shares of Phone.com valued at approximately US$239 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/472042.stm BBC News Northern Ireland | NI software producer in £150m takeover ] ] . A new spin off company AePONA was created at same time retained by original owners.

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