Umniah, as a new GSM/GPRS/EDGE operator in the Jordan market, has proven its capabilities by acquiring 200,000 plus subscribers in its first three months of operation.

To gain market share, Umniah simplified and accelerated service activation and provided flexible convergent billing for its pre- and post-paid subscribers. Working with HP, Umniah deployed HP OpenView Service Activator to automatically configure network equipment to set up and manage mobile services.

The solution enabled Umniah to deliver and provision new services more quickly — and consolidate provisioning on a single platform, which reduced cost and complexity. The HP solution also linked directly to Umniah’s customer relationship management (CRM) application, so subscribers can customize services in real time.

With HP OpenView Internet Usage Manager, Umniah can mediate all billing data, pre- and post-paid, into its billing system and CRM application.

“Umniah is committed to providing its customers with the fast, easy activation of services and billing flexibility that other operators lack. The HP OpenView solutions and OSS expertise have been a key part of that effort,” said Michael Dagher, managing partner, Umniah. “By delivering new services to customers faster, with the billing choices they want, Umniah can provide a better customer experience — and reduce our own operational costs.”

The HP OpenCall Media Platform, already widely deployed, has now been expanded to incorporate the MRF capability in emerging IMS networks. Current and planned capabilities include audio and voice services (interactive voice response, voicemail, conferencing) as well as a wide range of multimedia, collaborative and interactive services such as video mail, video conferencing, participation TV and music sharing.

A key feature of the HP OpenCall Media Platform MRF is that it can support the real-time, simultaneous blending of voice, data and multimedia services on IMS networks. For example, in an IMS network, wireless users can create an audio or video conference, share photos and messages and provide location-specific information — all in one integrated session that is seamless and easy for the callers.

By bundling sets of services that support people’s on-the-go lifestyles, operators anticipate that IMS-based networks will help increase average revenue per user. Also, the layered, standards-based IMS architecture enables operators to streamline infrastructure, reduce costs and converge wireline and wireless networks.

HP (NYSE:HPQ)(Nasdaq:HPQ) today unveiled products that will help the world’s telecommunications providers evolve to the all-digital networks that are needed to offer blended voice, data and multimedia services across wireless, wireline and broadband networks.

In the software arena, HP introduced a powerful media server, the HP OpenCall Media Platform Media Resource Function (MRF), that provides a foundation for advanced multimedia and interactive services in emerging Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks.

In the operations support system (OSS) market, HP announced that Umniah, a new, fast-growing mobile operator in Jordan, is using HP Integrated Service Management and HP OpenView products to streamline service activation and subscriber provisioning.

“With both IT and telecom expertise, HP is in a unique position to help our customers evolve their legacy networks toward IP-based technologies,” said Marc Rotthier, vice president, Network and Service Provider Business — EMEA, HP. “Few if any companies can match HP’s array of software, service-oriented architectures, carrier-grade platforms, end-user devices, partners and global integration services.”

Comptel Corporation, a leading convergent mediation, charging, provisioning and network inventory software vendor, has deployed Comptel Online mediation solution for SMS services to Indosat a leading telecommunication and information provider in Indonesia. The system was delivered by Comptel jointly with PT Lintas Teknologi Indonesia and Comptel’s associate company Tango Telecom. The value of agreement has not been announced.

Comptel Online Mediation solution for SMS is based on Comptel OnlineLink® and Comptel SMSLink™ products using Tango Telecom’s signalling technology with network level pre-delivery control function for SMS services. The solution enables Indosat to perform flexible online charging for all SMS traffic and services. In addition it provides an instant SMS delivery architecture with full scalability to meet the demanding requirements of the Indosat network. Solution provides capability to massively increase the capacity, performance and flexibility of the existing SMS infrastructure.

The system has successfully handled in excess of 106 million SMS attempts over the two days of recent Eid Al Fitr celebration which creates the highest peak traffic of the year in Indonesia. The system has provided higher quality of service to Indosat’s customers during the busy period that is challenging the network capacity.

The solution was chosen by Indosat after rigorous, fair and highly competitive evaluation and it was deployed in timely fashion. The solution has been integrated effectively across multiple sites utilising Indosat’s existing infrastructure. The new SMSC architecture is implemented with sophisticated real time charging and rating capability and is able to provide advanced new services rapidly to Indosat’s growing customer base. Furthermore, the solution improves effectively the promptness of the SMS deliveries, which is essential to improving further the ever important customer satisfaction.

“We are delighted to be able to announce the deployment of our market leading Online Mediation solution with Indosat, one of the largest such deployments worldwide. It is a key vote of confidence in the Comptel OnlineLink and Comptel SMSLink products, and we look forward to strengthening our cooperation with Indosat and to helping them to consolidate their position as a leading operator in the huge Indonesian market”, said Kari Miettinen, Vice President and head of Comptel’s APAC business, Comptel Corporation.

“Lintas has played the key role of system integration for this project. Key success factors for this large project have been our long relationship with Indosat, our competent local resources and the robust and advanced technology provided by Comptel and Tango and also I am proud of the team that worked round the clock with the Indosat team to ensure that solution was implemented on-time and supported during the critical period”, said Subagia Handaja, President Director, Lintas Teknologi Indonesia.

In addition to the new name, the company has expanded its management team to include new CEO Ashley Stirrup and CTO Rao Kota, launched a new website at www.ultriva.com, and has renamed its upgraded products — Ultriva Electronic Kanban and Ultriva Lean Scheduling.

Ultriva Electronic Kanban, an enabler of consumption driven replenishment processes, eliminates stock-outs while reducing inventory levels. Ultriva Lean Scheduling complements Ultriva’s replenishment capabilities by optimizing production schedules in real-time around the customers’ want date. These solutions shorten cycle times, increase on-time delivery performance, reduce inventory levels and reduce the overall cost of manufacturing.

“The new name marks a new chapter for our company,” said Stirrup. “When Ultriva was founded we were ahead of the market, working with a handful of charter customers that were early adopters. Today we see tremendous interest from mainstream manufacturing and we have expanded every area of our business to meet the needs of the market.”

As chief executive officer of Ultriva, Stirrup has overall responsibility for the company’s strategy and operations. He brings more than 15 years of enterprise software and consulting experience. Most recently, Stirrup was vice president of products, marketing and business development at Elance, Inc., a leading provider of procurement software. New CTO Rao Kota, Ultriva’s chief software architect and head of development for all applications, was most recently with Amdocs where he was one of the primary architects of their web-based CRM applications. He joins a management team that also includes Ultriva founder and president Narayan Laksham, and vice president of sales Gene Cranford.

“Ultriva with their electronic kanban functions addresses the rapidly growing market for lean manufacturing software,” said Ralph Rio, Director, ARC Advisory Group. “Lean is the primary improvement methodology used in the discrete industries and we continue to be impressed with the substantial inventory savings and stock-out reductions that Ultriva customers experience on their Lean journey. Ultriva is clearly positioned for a growth surge.”

Using Ultriva’s software, customers around the world have been able to move toward advanced, pull-based, lean manufacturing systems. Ultriva customers report inventory savings while improving their on-time delivery performance and eliminating stock-outs. The visual nature of the software reinforces lean processes and enables users to continuously improve plant operations. On average, Ultriva customers realize more than $2.2 million per plant in inventory savings, delivering a return on their software investment in less than six months.

“The (Ultriva) Electronic Kanban has enabled us to successfully apply desirable lean techniques in the area of pull systems during the last two years,” said Glenn Miller, plant manager — Bridgeton Operation, IR-Hussman Corporation. “The tool enables key closed loop communications with external and internal suppliers. The loops have been quite successful in reducing inventory and eliminating stock-outs in the areas where the demand is stable as well as where the orders are not accurate relative to actual requirements.”

Ultriva’s current customers are medium-to-large manufacturing operations. The company plans to expand and enhance its product offerings to current customers and seek new users.

Through partnerships with lean consultants, and hardware and software providers, Ultriva provides a comprehensive solution that enables companies to quickly adopt lean manufacturing techniques while streamlining and optimizing their supply chain across customers, plants and suppliers.

Syndesis, the worldwide leader in Convergent Service Delivery Management solutions, today launched new enhancements to its IP solutions that dramatically simplify and expand the ability of communications service providers to create and deliver high-margin IP services, including Triple Play, IP-VPNs, IPTV, VoIP and many others.

The enhanced IP functionality is available in the award-winning Syndesis® NetProvisionâ„¢ 5.0 product line and reaffirms Syndesis’ leadership in the ever more critical IP service delivery management space. Syndesis’ unique offerings provide Convergent Service Delivery Management, combining industry best practices for IP service implementation with the power and legendary effectiveness of Syndesis’ industry-leading provisioning and discovery solutions.

The IP service delivery management enhancements are available today and include:

IP Solution Extensibility: An environment for the rapid creation or modification of services, combining the immediate advantages of a robust off-the-shelf IP solution set with flexible extensions to address specific tailoring for the most customized of carrier environments.

IP Configuration Management: Supporting new equipment commissioning and router configuration management, to leverage network investment more quickly and deliver services to market earlier.

MPLS Traffic Engineering: Delivering MPLS-based traffic engineering capabilities to enable service providers to maximize network efficiency and turn more capacity into revenue-generating services.

Beyond MPLS VPNs: Extending beyond MPLS VPNs to support alternative VPN technologies such as IPSec and GRE.

Having pioneered VPN and IP services deployment with companies like Cisco, Bell Canada, Telecom Italia and SBC, Syndesis is the service delivery solution of choice for IP services at leading carriers worldwide.

“There is no question that IP services are fast becoming a primary source of revenue for the communications industry,” said Chris Swan, SVP Sales, Marketing and Alliances for Syndesis. “The question today is which CSPs will effectively clear the hurdles to long-term IP success and, as a result, go on to dominate the IP services markets. Carriers must strive to provide an always-on environment, where customers can access whatever they need, whenever and wherever they need it, by plugging into a network or community of services. Powered by Syndesis, this vision is quickly turning into a reality.”

“Communications service providers’ business over the next five years depends on their cost-effective growth of IP-based services such as VoIP, IPTV, mobile content and IP-VPN,” said Larry Goldman, founder and analyst at OSS Observer. “Automated configuration and service fulfillment is an essential step for CSPs to scale the service deployments to generate significant new revenue.”

Syndesis’ IP capabilities and success will be highlighted in a Light Reading webinar on Wednesday, November 30th at 12pm ET. The webinar, entitled “Managing the Complexity of IPTV deployment,” will address issues of relevance to all types of service providers, be they large nationals or smaller regional providers.

Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), a global leader in providing customer care, human resources, and billing services, today announced that its Employee Care Learning Solutions offering received both gold and silver awards in the 2005 Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards. Convergys was recognized during an awards ceremony and reception held in Long Beach, California, as part of the 2005 Training Fall Conference & Expo.

Both awards recognized Convergys’ learning solutions work in the Custom Content Category, Special Strength: Simulation. The Gold Award honors the development of the Microsoft Go-to-Market Sales Simulation for the Account Manager, and the development of the Mazda Selling Skills Simulation, which won the Silver Award.

“Convergys is delighted to receive this recognition from Brandon Hall, and these awards reflect the hard work and outstanding capabilities of our team to achieve superior business results for our clients,” said Marianne Langlois, vice president of Learning Solutions in Convergys’ Employee Care business. “Savvy organizations that understand their competitive edge comes from their workforce are continually seeking ways to deliver sophisticated employee training and learning solutions. These awards further validate the ability of Convergys to deliver results that meet the growing, complex training needs of organizations across all industries.”

The Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards are presented by Brandon Hall Research, one of the leading research and consulting firms in training and development. Now in its eleventh year, the Awards program showcases exceptional work in innovative learning.

“The winning entries this year show a great combination of creativity and practical results. The winners are excellent both in terms of innovation and impact on the business,” said Brandon Hall, Ph.D., chairman of the Excellence in Learning Awards program. “These winners show us what the future of learning looks like.”

Convergys is one of the first human resources administration and management companies to offer learning business process outsourcing (LBPO) services and has more than 450 learning customers. Convergys provides services ranging from comprehensive outsourcing of the entire learning function, to selective outsourcing of administrative tasks and processes, to out-tasking discrete e-learning initiatives. Learning solutions from Convergys help companies achieve breakthrough improvements in business performance by reinventing their approach to training and improving the cost, quality, and effectiveness of learning. Convergys is Outthinking, Outdoing [tm] on behalf of its clients every day.

About Brandon Hall Research
Brandon Hall, Ph.D. is the CEO of Brandon Hall Research and author of the groundbreaking “Web-Based Training Cookbook.” Since 1992, Brandon Hall Research (www.brandon-hall.com) has been providing independent research reports and expert advice on the tools and practices of innovative learning. Brandon Hall Research conducts the Awards program each year to recognize the best and to identify the new cutting edge of innovative learning. To honor the Award winners Brandon Hall Research hosts the Awards reception and ceremony in partnership with VNU and in conjunction with the Training Fall Conference and Expo.

cVidya Networks, a leading provider of next generation Revenue Assurance solutions, announced today that it had participated in a catalyst project with a team from the TeleManagement Forum (TMF) in which its MoneyMap® software solution successfully helped to reduce the costs of implementing internal procedures essential for measuring compliance with the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). Using the automated software solution, cVidya implemented configuration and usage based controls directly related to financial reporting in a scenario that involved back-to-back billing of mobile operator MTS Russia. The operator was partnering with long distance carriers to provide long distance service to its subscribers. Using a sample set of processes being monitored under SOX, the catalyst team demonstrated that the number of processes could be cut significantly in the project entitled “Sarbanes Oxley Compliance through Next Generation OSS.”

Under section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley, companies must now establish and maintain an internal control structure as well as execute full internal control assessments, evaluations and issue a report each fiscal year. The catalyst team, led by Ernst and Young Moscow, mapped a sample out of approximately 600 existing processes that require monitoring under SOX, into the eTOM model in order to reduce their number.

As part of the catalyst project, cVidya further employed its MoneyMap® software to demonstrate implementation of controls set to automatically monitor these business processes. The use of MoneyMap’s® dashboard, control wizard and configuration features significantly reduced the time needed by the financial audit teams to supervise the accuracy and the completeness of finance related controls.

“cVidya has participated with the TMF on a number of catalyst projects and we are pleased that our role in this one could provide valuable input on how to streamline the auditing and revenue assurance processes as well as reduce the overall cost to telecom operators”, said Dr. Gadi Solotorevsky, cVidya’s Chief Scientist and TMF Revenue Assurance Modeling Team Leader.

“Even before the enactment of SOX, the complexity of the operational processes was of considerable concern to telecom operators,” said Limor Schwartz, cVidya’s V.P. of RA and Risk Management Solutions. “CFOs have long sought solutions to mitigate the risks and manage their exposure on their financial reports. The catalyst project proved that the flexibility and precision of MoneyMap® allows telecom operators to use an automated solution to conform to SOX in a cost effective manner while simultaneously lowering their operational costs.”

Axiom Systems Ltd, a provider of software for the design and delivery of broadband and IP services, today announced a landmark global framework agreement with one of the world’s largest service providers, Cable and Wireless.

Cable & Wireless, which has the UK’s second largest network infrastructure, has adopted the award-winning AXIOSS® technology in order to shift to Next Generation Networks and a single, integrated and versatile IP based platform.”

The multi-million pound deal will see the Axiom Systems AXIOSS(R), used to design and deliver services such as IPVPN, Metro Ethernet and VoIP. Their current IPVPN OSS systems will be replaced by AXIOSS and new systems and processes will be created to launch next generation IP services.

Gareth Senior, Chief Executive Officer at Axiom Systems said, “Given the size of the Cable and Wireless network, they required a solution with a holistic approach, which caters for a number of different services; differing types of technology; and which works across a number of different countries. AXIOSS solves this problem, whilst offering the ability to design new services as and when the market requires it.”

This implementation will offer a number of benefits to Cable and Wireless:

- Enhance their ability to offer market leading IP services, in line with the rapidly developing demand from business and residential customers;

- Offer their customers the opportunity to migrate to new services ahead of the equivalent transformation in leading competitors;

- Reduce Cable & Wireless’ operating and maintenance costs as a result of the simplification of physical and software architecture.

Mr Senior continues, “By joining us as a customer, Cable and Wireless has further cemented AXiOSS as the leading service design and provisioning solution and further boosts the reputation of our company in terms of market innovation and leadership. Axiom System’s business has seen significant growth over the past two years and our customer base demonstrates the Suite’s success at meeting the needs of today’s competitive market.”

LEAD IP Systems Ltd, an innovative developer and supplier of IP-Telephony access solutions for broadband service providers, has introduced a new set of ISDN services for IP-Telephony operators.

One of the unique ISDN services is the Advice-Of-Charge (AOC) which allows the operator to provide billing information and metering services to hotels, hospitals, call centres etc. allowing customers to preserve capital investment in their internal billing systems.

Supporting AOC for both ETSI and Italtel standards, metering as well as currency formats, LEAD’s PowerGate CPE locally generates metering messages to the customer’s billing system.

Additional ISDN services such as DDI (Direct dialling into PBX extensions), MSN (Multiple numbers), Caller-ID, Trunk hunting and Trunk grouping, provides an IP-Telephony solution which fully replaces existing ISDN lines.

“We found out that ISDN installation tends to be more complex than POTS one. LEAD’s PowerGate CPE includes a built in ISDN wizard which indicates potential wiring, PBX or ISDN configuration errors.” said Oded Tubias, LEAD product manager, “This dramatically reduce the installation period and allows customers an easy and transparent switch from existing Telco lines to the alternative IP-Telephony access service.”

The PowerGate can further synchronise itself to existing Telco ISDN lines, offering multi-source service to the PBX - both traditional and IP. PowerGate comes in with 2 BRI (PowerGateD2+) or 4 BRI (PowerGateD4+) supporting 8 simultaneous calls per CPE with additional cascading of more units using the sync channel.

About LEAD IP Systems
LEAD IP Systems Ltd. an innovative developer and supplier of IP-Telephony access solutions for broadband service providers. LEAD provides an advanced multi-service Telephony, telecommunications systems and technologies for service creation, provisioning, management, SIP SoftSwitch and billing mediation. LEAD IP’s strategy is to offer breakthrough solutions that lavarage service providers services. The Company’s premier product, LEADsystem(TM), empowers service providers to create and provision new and differentiated revenue-generating services, rapidly and with the lowest Total Cost of Ownership and upfront investment. LEAD IP Systems Ltd., headquartered in Misgav, Israel, is a wholly owned subsidiary of LEAD Corporation Inc. located in, part of the BATT Corporation group.

Cablenet Ltd. is pleased to announce, that the Bulgarian Communications Regulation Commission was awarded with a WiMax license on Nov. 9, 2005, after the company won the tender organized by the Bulgarian authorities.

The Company will be providing services under the brand name of Max Telecom.

In its first months of activity the Company will focus on fixed network substitution, providing broadband for domestic and business customers. Max Telecom will be a Company with low overhead costs, with a small but highly motivated staff, and with some of the best value for money in equipment available today. This will mean that Max Telecom will be able to substantially undercut present fixed network access fees and line rental charges.

In addition to supporting existing businesses at lower prices, Max Telecom will additionally develop as a telecommunications operator in its own right. The Bulgarian market is ready for consolidation of a lot of the smaller operators into entities that have economies of scale. A WiMax licensed company is in an ideal position to act as a consolidator, and Max Telecom will be looking hard at how to do this.

Max Telecom has already completed the first round of its equipment tender process, with no less than 10 companies providing offers, and is now proceeding with a short list.

Max Telecom plans to roll out a nationwide network based on the mobile 802.16e standard. During 2007 we expect to see data devices – such as laptop computers and PDA’s – that will take advantage of the technology which is seen as a complement to 3G cellular with phones to match.

John Munnery, who will serve as Executive Director of the company stated, “Finally we can introduce to the Bulgarian telecommunications market the sort of competition which is now driving tariffs downwards all over Europe. We will bring to the Bulgarian market a new dimension in fast data access, whether it is in replacing expensive links, or allowing a cheap upgrade for dial-up Internet customers to Broadband.”

Tricell Inc. (Pink Sheets Symbol:TCLL.PK), announced a net profit of $349,900 for the quarter ended September 30, 2005, as compared to a net loss of $877,181 for the same quarter last year. Net profit for the nine months ended September 30, 2005 was $217,862, as compared to a net loss of $2,419,044 for the same period in 2004. Additionally, the Company’s sales revenue increased substantially to $516.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2005 as compared to $3.9 million for the same quarter last year. The increase in revenues and profits during the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2005 as compared to the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2004 is the result of our recommencement of material trading operations in January 2005.

Andre Salt, Tricell’s CEO and Chairman of the Board, stated “We at Tricell are very encouraged with our results through the first nine months of 2005, and are optimistic we will continue our level of operations through 2005 and 2006. Our integration of Ace Telecom, together with the appointment to our board of directors of the Ace principals, has been effected as seamlessly as we could have envisioned.”

Tricell Inc. was established in 1999 as a distributor of mobile phones and related accessories to the wholesale markets in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia. For more information, please visit our website at www.tricellinc.com or the SEC’s Edgar filing system at www.sec.gov.

11/26/05 - SR Telecom Inc. (TSX: SRX, Nasdaq: SRXA), a vendor of licensed OFDM solutions for broadband access networks announced that it has extended its agreement with BlueTree Advisors to continue to retain the services of William Aziz, the Company’s current Interim Chief Executive Officer and President.

Mr. Aziz is BlueTree Advisors’ Managing Partner, and will provide management services to SR Telecom through to December 31, 2006. Mr. Aziz was initially named as Chief Restructuring Officer in April of this year. He has had extensive experience in turnaround situations, holding senior management positions in a number of publicly-traded and privately-held entities.

In addition, Paul Griswold, named to SR Telecom’s Board of Directors in August, becomes Vice Chairman of the Board and Secretary, effective immediately. Mr. Griswold is CEO of SLI Holdings International, LLC of Purchase New York. Mr. Griswold has also held senior positions at Paxar Corporation and Pactiv Corporation, and was Vice President of Packaging Development and Procurement for Pepsi International.

“As recently announced, our third quarter showed tangible results of our restructuring initiatives. We are confident that under Mr. Aziz’s leadership we have the right management team in place to ensure further improvement,” stated Company Chairman Lionel Hurtubise.

SR TELECOM designs, manufactures and deploys versatile, Broadband Fixed Wireless Access solutions. A pioneer in the industry, its solutions include equipment, network planning, project management, installation and maintenance. SR Telecom is a principal member of WiMAX Forum, a cooperative industry initiative which promotes the deployment of broadband wireless access networks by using a global standard and certifying interoperability of products and technologies.

For Joshua Ortiz one click turned out to be worth $50,000. Mr. Ortiz was named the winner of Cingular’s “Raising the Bar” photo contest for his photograph showing the shadows of five children — all siblings — holding hands. Mr. Ortiz, a graduate student in communications at Texas A&M University, took the photograph with his Cingular Wireless Sony-Ericsson S710 camera phone.

In July, Cingular asked photographers to submit images that resembled the Five Bars imagery in Cingular’s “Raising the Bar” advertising campaign. Photographs were submitted, weekly winners were named throughout the summer, and grand prize winners were narrowed down to five finalists. Nationally acclaimed photographer Robert Clark — an avid user of Cingular’s Sony Ericsson’s S710 camera phone — helped choose the grand prize winner. “I loved the picture the first time that I saw it; it is simple, clean and monochromatic,” said Clark. “Three things that make a picture read quickly and easily. But it also took me back to childhood, really a lovely image.”

“We’re thrilled to have received 15,000 photographs showing the Five Bar imagery — that’s quite a testament to the power of the ‘Raising the Bar’ advertising campaign,” said Marc Lefar, Cingular’s chief marketing officer. “Joshua’s photograph demonstrates the type of creative artistry you can explore using one of Cingular’s advanced camera phones.”

To see many of the photographs submitted to the contest, go to http://www.cingular.com/fivebars.

About Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 52.3 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between AT&T Inc., formerly SBC Communications Inc., (NYSE: SBC) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation — the ALLOVER(SM) network — and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/ . Get Cingular Wireless press releases e-mailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://www.cingular.com/newsroom .

Ericsson Australia has today announced the acquisition of the Australian company TUSC, with around 80 employees, specialized in systems integration for telecommunications, utilities and enterprises. The Australian company TUSC, is a subsidiary company of Allied Technologies Group, listed on the Australian stock exchange.

This acquisition illustrates Ericsson’s (NASDAQ: ERICY) ambition to further strengthen and develop its leading position within telecommunications services and the focus areas of systems integration, telecom management and operational support systems (OSS). The TUSC acquisition also allows Ericsson to diversify its customer base into a closely related sector — utilities.

The employees from TUSC will strengthen Ericsson’s global service organization and focus on the Australian market. Hans Vestberg, Executive Vice President and head of business unit Global Services, Ericsson said, “The acquisition quickly expands the capacity and competence in Ericsson’s systems integration business.”

“We’re also very excited to enter into network management solutions for utilities infrastructure,” added Mr. Vestberg. As the industry leader within telecommunications services, Ericsson will also benefit from the strong brand name and customer relationships that TUSC has developed over the last 25 years, mainly within the operator and utility industry sector.

Ericsson has a worldwide experience from systems integration of more than 500 network management solutions, over 100 charging solutions as well as over 450 billing, mediation, activation and settlements solutions.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

Frost & Sullivan, a global leader in growth consulting, announced today that Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) is the recipient of its 2005 Award for Technology Innovation in the field of voice recognition technologies.

Frost & Sullivan presents the Technology Innovation award each year to a company whose research has resulted in innovations that bring significant contributions to the industry. To choose the award recipient, Frost & Sullivan tracked innovation in key technology markets and conducted extensive research and interviews.

Frost & Sullivan chose Convergys because of SpeechPort, the company’s VoiceXML-based, open hosted platform for speech applications. SpeechPort is standards-based, and provides telephony access in addition to speech recognition and text-to-speech resources capable of simultaneously supporting thousands of callers.

“Using the SpeechPort platform, Convergys has developed offerings that are differentiated from those of industry peers by virtue of their patented open hosting, exceptional security features, and secure and geographically redundant facilities with 24×7 monitoring,” said Frost and Sullivan V.R. Yoges.

“SpeechPort OHE (Open Hosting Environment) ensures that our customers and partners are able to maintain a greater level of control over their speech applications when deployed as a hosted solution,” said Bill Andrews, General Manager, Speech Solutions, for Convergys’ Customer Management Group. “Our VoiceXML application components and standards-based platform also afford investment protection for our clients.

At its annual user conference held in Prague, Enterprise OSS software leader Cramer announced the general availability of Cramer5 Release 3. Building on the success of the award-winning Cramer5 product suite, Cramer5 Release 3 includes new adapters, and product related components—such as a new catalogue of network technology models, the introduction of language localization packs and extended support for IBM’s Websphere Application Server 6.0.2. The combination of new functionality will enable telecommunications providers worldwide to improve integration of business processes, accelerate deployment and increase productivity.

“Successful next generation transformation requires telcos to reduce time to market, to increase operational efficiency and to lower cost. Our customers demand that OSS meets these requirements,” said Guy Dubois, President and CEO, Cramer. “With Cramer5 Release 3, we continue to provide products to further reduce deployment time, automate business processes and deliver productivity enhancements.”

Improved Integration for Enhanced Process Efficiency
Faster, lower cost delivery can be achieved if the cost and time inefficiencies created by disintegrated systems, commonly referred to as “the integration tax”, are removed from business processes. Cramer5 Release 3 continues to deliver on its productized adapter approach with the Synchronization Adapter for Micromuse Netcool/Precision, developed jointly with Micromuse. The new Synchronization Adapter makes Cramer the only OSS vendor to deliver productized integration of autodiscovery and inventory. The solution’s ability to integrate inventory and external applications automates the dataload, on-going synchronization and process audits required to ensure inventory accuracy for the automation of processes such as fulfillment and assurance. As a result, companies can reduce risk by gaining a precise view of inventory and achieve a lower cost of ownership.

Enhanced Usability with Cramer SyncEngine
Cramer SyncEngine provides Data Integrity Management that automatically synchronizes and reconciles other network-held or system-held data sources to ensure that inventory accuracy is maintained. Cramer5 Release 3 introduces enhancements to SyncEngine to improve usability and simplify deployment. These enhancements include a new Synchronization Difference WebReport with more extensive filtering, grouping and sorting capabilities, and improved process statistics to show how closely aligned a customer’s inventory is with external systems. In addition, Cramer5 Release 3 provides a new streamlined architecture, attribute-only comparison and simplified configuration for SyncEngine.

New Technology Models for Rapid deployment
Cramer5 Release 3 introduces Technology Models to accelerate deployment and reduce risk. The new Technology Models consist of documentation and optional metadata that describe how technologies, such as SONET or ATM, are modeled in the Cramer solution. As a result, project teams can save time and ensure implementation consistency by re-using well-documented models based on Cramer’s in-depth industry knowledge derived from work with leading telecommunications companies around the globe.

Language Localization Packs
This new release of Cramer5 Release 3 introduces the first in a series of language localization packs. Building on the globalization capabilities available in Cramer5, the first of these productized localization packs is designed for the Japanese market and provides a full Japanese product suite and local configurations such as date and time initiated to support Japanese formats. These language localization packs increase user acceptance, enable rapid deployment and improve productivity.

Wider Choice with Expanded Support for IBM Websphere
Cramer5 Release 3 provides extended support for IBM WebSphere 6.0.2 Application Server. Cramer continues to build solutions that support this proven, scalable technology and enables customers to gain access to a wider choice of platforms. Cramer is involved with a number of IBM’s key telecom initiatives including Network Lifecycle Management.

About Cramer
Cramer is the global leader in enterprise software that changes the economics of telecommunications. With more than 300 staff and more than 70 customers on five continents, Cramer’s inventory-powered process automation solutions empower telecommunications carriers to lower costs, reduce time to market and enhance customer service. Cramer’s customers include Bell Canada, Cablecom, KPN and Vodafone.

OnFiber Communications, Inc., the premier source for purpose-built networks, today announced that it has won the Capacity Magazine Wholesale Telecommunications Award for Best U.S. Metro Operator.

The awards panel judged OnFiber to have the strongest overall metro offering across the U.S. The decision was based on five key criteria — network quality and performance, network reach, speed to market, pricing strategies and infrastructure investments. The panel of judges included industry thought-leaders, including: Camille Mendler, vice president of the Yankee Group; Stephen Young, research director of OVUM; Judy Reed Smith, CEO of Atlantic-ACM; Mark Kemp, CEO of TelCap and publisher of Capacity; and Eira Haywood, editor of Capacity.

The awards ceremony was held on November 21st, at the European Telecommunications Congress in Amsterdam. Accepting the award on behalf of the company was Jeri Wolf, senior vice president of operations and construction for OnFiber.

“It is always an honor to be recognized by influential members of our industry,” said Jeri. “OnFiber is made up of exceptional individuals dedicated to a common goal — customer loyalty. Because our goal is to deliver highly reliable and secure network services on time, every time, every employee does whatever it takes to make sure our customers are happy. That is what makes OnFiber stand out.”

In December, Capacity Magazine will publish an awards supplement to the magazine that features all the winners of the Capacity Magazine Wholesale Telecommunications Awards.

About Capacity Magazine
The only monthly publication that focuses on the latest business techniques and strategies for bringing innovation and efficiency to the wholesale telecommunications industry. We bring together operators, carriers, service providers, metro-fiber providers, system integrators, equipment providers, OSS providers and end users. Capacity magazine is a must-read for all companies striving to maintain competitive advantage and achieve optimal business performance within the telecommunications community. Capacity offers a powerful, focused and unique marketing vehicle to reach the most senior level within the wholesale industry.

About OnFiber Communications, Inc.
OnFiber provides high performance fiber networks for the world’s most respected companies. Fortune 1000 corporations, global telecom giants and the Internet organizations that define the Web, all rely on OnFiber’s infrastructure. The company’s unique process, AdaptiveBuildâ„¢, produces individually designed, built and managed metropolitan and wide-area solutions. Because OnFiber’s networks are created for specific application and service needs, enterprises and telecommunications providers benefit from security, reliability and performance that is purpose-built. OnFiber owns networks in major cities throughout the US and offers a full suite of transport technologies including Wavelength, Ethernet and SONET. For more information please visit www.onfiber.com or call 1-866-ONFIBER.

OnFiber, Coil Design, AdaptiveLink and AdaptiveBuild are trademarks or registered trademarks of OnFiber Communications, Inc. in the US. All other products or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

(Cincinnati; November 21, 2005) - Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), a global leader in customer care, human resources, and billing services, announced today an alliance with ClickFox, Inc., an industry pioneer in providing Customer Behavior Intelligence (CBI) solutions for optimizing the customer experience across multiple channels. The alliance between Convergys and ClickFox combines customer management expertise, analytic capabilities, and technology to deliver a comprehensive solution for assessing, optimizing, and implementing multi-channel customer experience improvements.

The alliance provides for Convergys to integrate ClickFox’s CBI modeling solutions into its Customer Management Professional Services offerings and for ClickFox to use Convergys as a preferred hosting provider of ClickFox applications for ClickFox clients. “ClickFox clients will greatly benefit from the operational expertise and state-of-the-art facilities Convergys delivers as a leading provider of hosted solutions,” said Bill Hawley, Chief Operations Officer for ClickFox.

“Highly-experienced Convergys management and technical personnel will manage the day-to-day operations of our applications for ClickFox clients, deploying a well-documented and proven operating model that delivers redundant data security, high scalability, and operational efficiency.

“Convergys will use the ClickFox software to develop specific, actionable recommendations for improving customer management practices and increasing customer satisfaction for our clients,” said Tom Mangan, Senior Vice President of Professional Services for Convergys’ Customer Management Group. “We found the analytical capabilities of the ClickFox software to be particularly strong as it maps customer interactions across multiple contact channels to reveal bottlenecks in customer transaction flow, problems with navigation, and root causes for customer transfers to live agents for assistance. “With these insights, Convergys can deliver the real customer story to our clients, optimize their agent and self-service channels, help them to enhance their customer interactions, better align their enterprise business processes, and improve their customer satisfaction.” Both companies support large enterprises that have high volumes of customer transactions in multi-channel customer care environments.

By applying more than 20 years of operational experience in customer care, Convergys brings clarity and rigor to defining, implementing, and managing client-specific solutions. Convergys’ solutions help our clients improve operational efficiency and service quality, enrich the customer experience, and strengthen customer relationships to improve their competitive advantage and increase revenue growth. Convergys is outthinking and out doing [tm] on behalf of its clients every day.

ABOUT CLICKFOX
ClickFox is a pioneer in Customer Behavior Intelligence. Its patented software enables companies to transform existing customer data into true, objective insight by showing customers’ step-by-step behavior within and across self-service systems, such as voice and speech-enabled IVRs, web, kiosks and CRM applications. ClickFox translates interactions from multiple service touch points into an intuitive, visual map, revealing quickly and easily what customers actually do and why, so that companies can align customer needs to their business objectives. Find company information at www.clickfox.com.

Fraud and new service rollouts continue to pose challenges to operator profitability

LONDON and WESTMINSTER, CO., Azure Solutions, the global revenue-assurance company, today revealed that global telecoms operators are losing an estimated 11.6 percent of revenue (over $170 billion) through fraud and other types of revenue leakage in 2005, compared to 10.7 percent in 2004. The study also shows that North American operators experience more loss than the global average, with an estimated 15.5 percent of total revenue leakage ($70 billion), compared to 14.3 percent in 2004. These are key findings from the annual research Azure conducted in conjunction with telecoms analyst firm, Analysys, into global telecoms revenue losses.

In particular, the ‘Operator Attitudes to Revenue Assurance 2005’ report attributes increased North American losses to several factors, including:

· Higher revenue leakage from call routing,

· Losses arising from carrier interconnect settlements or payments to other partners (e.g. content).

· Leakages caused by poor systems integration.

One common factor behind each one of these losses is the complexity of North American networks and support systems. The requirement to cost effectively route calls over multiple networks and to settle with a large number of partners is less of a challenge in many regions of the world where they have fewer operators. In addition, the Systems Integration problem may also be caused by the requirement to integrate a larger number of state-of-the-art systems to create new services for the North American market.

On the upside, North American operators scored better in stemming internal fraud and with overall credit management.

“The speed and market necessity of rolling out new products and services continues to add to the complexity of OSS programs around the globe and, in particular, in North America,” said Steven Bruny, president of Azure’s North and Latin American operations. “We see an increase in focus and resources being allocated to stem these losses and expect these percentages to decrease in the coming years as carriers take a more enterprise-centric approach to revenue-assurance and fraud prevention.”

The report surveyed more than 100 operators from different regions of the world to investigate levels of revenue loss. The major sources of revenue loss continue to be fraud, credit management, least-cost-routing errors, interconnect/partner-payment errors, and poor processes and systems. The report reveals that fraudulent activity, in particular, has risen since last year and is now the single largest area of revenue leakage (2.7 percent).

Other findings reveal that fixed-line operators continue to lose less than their mobile counterparts and once again there were strong regional differences. Operators in North America, Central and Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, in particular, suffered more revenue leakage than the global average. However, the report did reveal the importance of revenue assurance is continuing to grow. For instance, more than 60 percent of respondents believed revenue assurance to be more important than in previous years.

Azure is the world’s largest revenue-assurance company. It enables operators to reduce losses and safeguard profits from malicious and unintentional revenue leakage, such as billing errors, poor processes and fraud. Azure has more than 65 customers across the world comprising fixed-line and mobile telecoms operators and cable TV companies amongst others. Its heritage can be traced back to BT (British Telecommunications plc), one of the world’s best telecoms revenue-assurance performers.

Danny Dicks, principal analyst at Analysys, said: “This is the fourth year we have carried out the research and it is clear that operators are becoming more realistic about loss levels. Consequently many operators now have dedicated revenue-assurance teams and are investing in external help, in order to reduce their losses.”

John Cronin, CEO and president of Azure Solutions, said: “While revenue assurance is moving up the agenda for many operators, research figures show that there is still a long way to go. The higher value and added complexity of emerging next-generation services mean that operators need to plan for and implement revenue assurance now, otherwise they risk losing significant due revenue.”

The full ‘Operator Attitudes to Revenue Assurance 2005’ report is free to operators. To receive a copy of the report please go to www.azuresolutions.com/survey05