Irish software company Mobile Aware has won multimillion euro contracts with Denis O'Brien's Caribbean mobile operator Digicel and the Middle East's largest telco, Saudi Telecom.

The Digicel deal is initially worth approximately €1 million, while the contract with Saudi Telecom has an initial value of about €2.5 million.

In both cases, Mobile Aware's software is being used to enable the operators to provide data services to subscribers such as news, ringtones, videos and other digital content.

The Saudi Telecom service also allows users access information on Islamic prayer schedules as well as text and streaming video excerpts from the Holy Quran, Holy Haddith and Dua.

Mobile Aware chief executive Kevin McCloskey declined to put a value on either contract but said the nature of the firm's software meant that the contract value would grow as usage increased.

Digicel operates in 22 markets in the Caribbean and earlier this month announced that it had 4 million subscribers.

Mr McCloskey said the deal came about through the company's relationship with Ericsson rather than as a result of Denis O'Brien's holding in the company. He said Mr O'Brien's investment vehicle Island Capital was a seed investor in Mobile Aware in 2000 and was now a relatively small shareholder.

He said Mobile Aware was chosen as its mobile data platform is open and extensible. "Customers can create a mobile portal that makes it easy for subscribers to find content relevant to them," he said. "They are only exposed to information that is relevant to their device and their region."

Mobile Aware will announce both contracts at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona next month, the world's largest event for the mobile industry.