In Brief: Pager Firm Expands Certificate Licensing Pact

Research in Motion Ltd., which makes pagers that have become popular for the wireless delivery of stock-trading and other information services, has expanded its licensing agreement with Diversinet Corp.

Diversinet, a provider of digital certificate software called Passport that is well suited for wireless communications equipment, said it will be working with both Research in Motion and 724 Solutions Inc. to create turnkey wireless packages for such applications as banking and stockbrokerage.

All three companies are based in Ontario. Diversinet's technology is making its mark in such devices as the RIM Interactive Pager 950, distributed by BellSouth Wireless Data and others. Bank of America, Bank of Montreal, and Bell Mobility are among the companies working with 724 Solutions.

"The agreement with RIM expands Diversinet's distribution channel for providing wireless e-commerce security over a variety of devices," said Diversinet president and chief executive officer Nagy Moustafa.

Diversinet also announced that Intelligent Information Inc., a developer of portals and personalized Internet content for the wireless industry, is licensing the Passport Certificate Server. Intelligent Information would use the system to become a public certificate authority for smart phones and pagers.

Mr. Moustafa said the deal is a breakthrough for Diversinet, in that Intelligent Information customers include Nokia, Phone.com, and other subscribers to the proposed Wireless Application Protocol standard.