BSG Clearing Solutions GmbH (BSG), the communications service industry’s clearing and settlement provider, today announced its systems are well prepared to deal with the heavy increase in capacity for roaming clearing that will result from the growth in mobile call volume during the weeks of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

“This will be the biggest sporting event in the world and mobile communications will have an unprecedented role in spectator enjoyment this year,” said Roland J. Bopp, CEO of BSG. “As the exclusive roaming partner for virtually all wireless operators in Germany, BSG will be on hand to ensure there are no ‘own goals’ behind the scenes.”

An estimated 5 million fans from all continents around the globe, supporting the 32 nationalities taking part, are expected to visit Germany during the four-week World Cup competition. Mobile phones will be used to relay messages, download content, send pictures and texts to friends and family, as well as to record goals and highlights. Companies are already promoting World Cup related content, such as player photos, historic video clips, ring tones and games, and operators are expecting intense traffic volumes in largely unpredictable spikes.

All German wireless operators, including T-Mobile and O2, are BSG clients and will be relying on the company to process and clear all roaming transactions.

“Our system ordinarily handles large volumes of traffic and is designed to scale accordingly so that it can easily handle the additional anticipated traffic,” stated Abie Reifer, Chief Technology Officer for BSG. “Nonetheless, we’ve taken the cautionary validation steps to ensure our system will continue to operate smoothly throughout this period of expected transaction spike so our customers are provided with the same high quality level of service to which they’re accustomed.”

“We’re proud to be part of this important, global event and are confident in BSG’s ability to fully support us. Knowing they’ll be handling the increase in mobile call volume allows us to focus on giving our customers the best experience possible,” Dirk Schmelzer, Vice President, Carrier & International Services of O2 Germany, a BSG customer since 2000, said.

About BSG Clearing Solutions
BSG is a leading global provider of clearing, settlement, payment and financial risk management solutions for communications service providers. Listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIM: BILL), the company has to date made two acquisitions – EDS Interoperator Services GmbH (August 2005) and United Clearing Plc (March 2006). Through its operating business units, the Group processes over 20 billion transactions annually for 630 of the world’s largest communications companies throughout Europe, North America and Asia.

Recent developments include:
- renewal of agreement with Cincinnati Bell for GSM international roaming financial clearing and settlement services;
- availability of BSG’s Roaming Information Service in Europe and Asia;
- joint UK marketing and distribution with BT of its Onepayâ„¢ services; and
- corporate debt refinancing with a new $330 million multi-currency credit facility.

With a ubiquitous, scalable platform and an extensive portfolio of clearinghouse services for wireless, fixed-line, WLAN, content and next-generation networks, BSG monetizes network transactions by facilitating financial settlements. Positioned at the center of network commerce, BSG has the ability to process accurately and manage billions of financial transactions with the highest standards of security, reliability and trust, all in real time.