A pair of Irish companies, part of a broad Irish trade mission to the United States, have announced expansions into North America with an eye at the wireless market place.

The Ireland-based payments and marketing company Valista says it has joined an IBM sales and marketing program called PartnerWorld Industry Networks to develop and deliver on-demand solutions for telecommunications operators.

Craig McDonald, North American vice president for Valista, says the partnership means Valista's software will be tightly integrated with IBM's Service Provider Delivery Environment (SPDE) architecture. Valista's main solutions are its PaymentsPlus and OffersPlus technologies.

Valista and IBM already are implementing their joint solution with a Tier 1 carrier in the United States, although McDonald wouldn't say if it was a wireless or wireline carrier. He did say the implementation will enable the carrier to sell and deliver premium content to its subscribers.

The second Irish company, Arantech, announced the opening of a North American office in Boston. Arantech, which also said it has secured $10 million in funding, provides what it calls mobile customer experience management software for wireless carriers.

Arantech's Boston office will be headed by Cathal McGloin as vice president for North America. McGloin is former CEO and founder of Performix Technologies.