Videotron Selects Highdeal for Quad-Play Pricing and Rating

7:15 pm - September 7th, 2006

Highdeal, the worldâ€™s leading provider of Pricing, Rating and Charging solutions, has announced that leading North American cable MSO, Videotron, has selected Highdeal Transactive for their billing infrastructure. The solution, which facilitated the launch of Videotronâ€™s new MVNO offering, was successfully integrated into their existing BSS/OSS architecture.

â€œWe are thrilled with the benefits that Transactive has already delivered to our business. By combining wireless telephone service with Videotronâ€™s other offerings, consumers can enjoy quality products and advantageous discounts on their bills,â€ said AndrÃ© Gascon, VP of Information Technology, Videotron. â€œAnd they can simplify their lives through one-stop shopping at Videotron: we are the only industry player that offers customers a single customer service point, one visit from the technician, one bill for all their services.â€

Videotron, which provides cable television and telephony, as well as interactive multimedia and Internet services to 3.3 million customers in Canada , implemented Transactive in an aggressive timeframe to meet the launch of their new wireless offering. Videotron successfully launched this service on August 10th becoming the first major North American cable MSO to also become an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator).

The solution, which supports Videotronâ€™s residential and business customers, reflects a â€œlightweight billingâ€ strategy. Rather than a cumbersome billing infrastructure that cuts into profit margins, Transactive provides a cost-effective way to price and package quad-play services while leveraging legacy billing & OSS systems. Service providers increasingly need the ability to move quickly in terms of service pricing and bundling in a converging, multiservice marketplace.

Videotronâ€™s strategy is to develop a full, attractive array of telecommunications and entertainment services. The move into wireless is another step towards consolidating Videotronâ€™s customer experience leadership. By eliminating the constraints of traditional billing solutions, Videotron is now able to achieve these goals.

â€œAs a leader in the telecommunications and entertainment market, Videotron understands the strategic value of pricing & packaging to their overall business success,â€ said Camilla Dahlen, President of Highdeal Inc. â€œWe are happy to have helped them fulfill their vision of unconstrained pricing & packaging flexibility and cost-effective, lightweight billing.â€

Videotron and Highdeal will jointly present at the upcoming MVNO Sustainable Business Models conference in New York where Highdeal will also be conducting multiservice Pricing & Rating demonstrations. Interested parties should call +1 (212) 332-2144 or visit www.informatm.com/mvnony. Highdeal will also exhibit at next weekâ€™s VON conference in Boston.

About Videotron
Videotron Ltd. (www.videotron.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated communications company engaged in cable television, interactive multimedia development, Internet access services and residential telephone service. Videotron is a leader in new technologies with its illico interactive television system and its broadband network, which supports high-speed cable Internet access, analog and digital cable television, and other services. As of June 30, 2006, Videotron was serving 1,521,000 cable television customers in QuÃ©bec; including 545,000 illico subscribers. Videotron is also the QuÃ©bec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 726,000 subscribers to its cable modem and dial-up services. In addition, Videotron provides residential and commercial telephone service to more than 283,000 customers in QuÃ©bec. Since August 2006, Videotron also offers wireless phone service.

About Highdeal
Highdeal is the worldâ€™s leading provider of Pricing, Rating and Charging solutions. By delivering unconstrained pricing and packaging flexibility coupled with real-time transaction management, Highdeal solves the billing problem in the multiservice world. Highdeal enables the rapid implementation of dynamic, convergent services with diverse payment models and multiple partners. With over 160 implementations in more than 50 countries, broadband, mobile and on-demand service providers around the world rely on Highdeal. For more information, visit < a href="http://www.highdeal.com">www.highdeal.com.