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Argent Networks Apoints Leading Global Director to Board

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Argent Networks has announced that it has appointed Cas Skrzypczak, to the Board. He is an experienced director who brings considerable international business and management skills to the company.

Cas brings his extensive experience with some of the world’s largest telecommunications, software and network companies including ECI Telecom (NASDAQ: ECIL), IP Unity Corp, JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ: JDSU), Somera Communications (NASDAQ: SMRA), Sirenza Microdevices (NASDAQ: SMDI) and WebEx Communications, Inc (NASDAQ:WEBX)

Chris Jones, CEO of Argent Networks says that the new appointment to the Board is another significant boost as the company can draw on the added global business perspectives of its leading directors like Cas. [Read more…]

Argent Networks Appoints New CEO

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Leading New Zealand technology and telecommunications solutions company Argent Networks has announced that it has appointed Larry Barker as its new CEO to take the company forward as part of a global strategy formulated by founder and Chief Executive Chris Jones and his Board several months ago.

The appointment of Larry Barker as the new CEO is part of a planned exit strategy designed by Chris Jones and his Board in order to manage Argent’s next growth phase. Chris Jones will remain active on the Argent Board as a non-executive director and will also pursue his other directorships and business interests. [Read more…]

InfoVista Closes Fiscal Year of Sustained Growth on a Record Fourth Quarter

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InfoVista (Euronext: IFV, ISIN: FR0004031649, NASDAQ: IVTA), a leading performance management software company, today announced financial results for the quarter and full year ended June 30, 2006.

Reflecting on InfoVista’s fourth quarter performance, Gad Tobaly, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The fourth quarter was the best quarter ever in our company’s history. Fiscal year 2006 is another year of profitability and double-digit revenue growth. In an environment where IT functionalities are increasingly delivered as services, performance assurance is becoming more and more critical. This transformation is a key success factor for us. We are growing faster than our markets, confirming InfoVista’s leading position in its segment.”

Total revenues for the quarter increased to EUR11.3 million, up 18% over the comparable period last year. InfoVista achieved positive net income in the quarter, totaling EUR0.8 million, an improvement from EUR0.4 million in the comparable quarter last year. For the year ended June 30, 2006, total revenues amounted to EUR40.6 million, an 18% increase over the previous year. Net income improved to EUR0.5 million for fiscal year 2006 from EUR0.1 million in fiscal year 2005. [Read more…]

VoluBill Helps Orange Cameroon Stay Ahead of the Competition

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VoluBill, a leading provider of flexible data charging solutions to telecoms operators, today announced its further expansion into Africa’s mobile market with a strategic new deal in Cameroon. Under the terms of the agreement VoluBill will supply its Charge itâ„¢ suite of solutions to Orange Cameroon, the country’s biggest and fastest growing mobile operator. VoluBill’s combined technologies will offer the flexibility and scalability to enable Orange to quickly implement mobile services and pricing when required. The solutions will also provide revenue generating support for Orange’s new wireless data offerings such as WAP and other General Packet Radio Services (GPRS). [Read more…]

Subex Azure Integration on Track

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Subex Azure Limited, the Bangalore-based Telecom Software Product company announced today that it has registered a first quarter profit after tax of Rs. 40.28 Million (US $0.88 Million). Subex reported the following (Unaudited) results for the first quarter in FY07: Revenue of Rs. 483.8 Million (US $10.5 Million) Net Profit of Rs. 40.28 Million (US $0.88 Million) [Read more…]

Convergys Corporation EPS Up 56 Percent on Strong Operating Performance in Second Quarter

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Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), a global leader in providing customer care, human resources, and billing services, announced today its financial results for the second quarter of 2006.

Highlights
– Convergys total revenue up 10 percent; operating income up 65 percent
– Customer Care operating income jumped 146 percent; revenue up 14 percent
– Strong international growth in Information Management
– Employee Care revenue up 32 percent; operating losses reduced by 34 percent
– 2006 GAAP EPS guidance increased to at least $1.11 per share

Revenues of $691.8 million were up 10 percent compared to the second quarter of 2005 reflecting growth in both Customer Care and Employee Care. Operating income increased 65 percent to $62.8 million compared with $38.0 million in the prior year. Second quarter 2005 results included a restructuring charge of $8.9 million. Revenue growth and cost savings from 2005 initiatives at both Customer Care and Employee Care contributed to the improvement in results. Net income increased 55 percent to $39.8 million versus $25.6 million in the prior year. EPS increased 56 percent to $0.28 per diluted share versus $0.18 per diluted share in the prior year. Non-cash stock-based compensation expense in the second quarter was $7.4 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, compared to $6.5 million in the prior year. [Read more…]

MTS Mer Telemanagement Solutions to Acquire Telecom Expense Management Assets of TelSoft Solutions

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MTS, Mer Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. (NASDAQ Capital Market: MTSL), a provider of business support systems (BSS) for comprehensive telecommunication management and customer care & billing solutions, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the telecom expense management and call accounting software assets of TelSoft Solutions, Inc. of Glendale, California. The acquisition will expand MTS’ TEM (Telecommunications Expense Management) solution.

“This acquisition is in line with our business objectives and delivers on our strategy to improve our market position, accelerate growth and profitability and as a result enhance shareholder value,” said Eytan Bar, President and CEO of MTS.

Under the terms of the agreement, MTS will acquire certain assets of TelSoft and assume certain enumerated liabilities. MTS will pay TelSoft $1.1 million in cash plus earn-out payments based on revenue milestones for the 12 month period following the acquisition. The acquisition is expected to be completed on July 31, 2006. [Read more…]

Clarity Wins Telecom OSS Contract With Indonesia’s PT Telkom

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Clarity International, a global supplier of next-generation Operational Support Systems (OSS), has signed a multi-million-dollar contract with Indonesian tier one telecommunications service provider PT Telkom.

PT Telkom selected Clarity OSS apparently after an extensive international search. PT Telkom was seeking world-best technology to unify and improve its services across all its products while reducing operational costs. [Read more…]

Telstra Selects MetaSolv for OSS Transformation Project to IP and 3G Wireless

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MetaSolv Software, Inc., a global leader in comprehensive operations support system (OSS) solutions for next-generation communications service providers, today announced that Telstra, Australia’s leading media-communications company, has selected MetaSolv for a key role in its Operational Support System transformation. MetaSolv’s Activation 5 will provide multi-service activation for Telstra’s next-generation voice, broadband, IP wireline and 3G wireless networks and services.

“Telstra is transforming its business to deliver a ‘one click, one touch, one button, one screen, one step solutions’ environment for customers and employees. The company’s vision is a simpler IT environment that involves partnering with world-class suppliers using proven off-the-shelf solutions. We are pleased to welcome MetaSolv as one of our partners in the Operations Support Systems (OSS) transformation space,” Mr. John McInerney, Program Director, IT Transformation, Telstra Corporation said.

MetaSolv’s multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement is planned to provide Telstra with a sophisticated, scalable next-generation activation platform that enables multi-service activation across all technology domains, including multi-vendor 3G wireless and IP-based networks. Telstra will use MetaSolv to help consolidate its activation systems, with the aim of reducing operations costs, improving customer service and accelerating time-to-market for new services through rapid service introduction and bundling. [Read more…]

Gibtelecom Selects Comptel’s Reporting and Provisioning Solutions

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Comptel Corporation, a leading Operational Support System (OSS) software vendor for convergent mediation, charging, provisioning and network inventory, announced today that Gibraltar’s Gibtelecom, an affiliate of Verizon, has now deployed Comptel’s mediation solution, and signed a further agreement to use Comptel’s reporting and provisioning solution. Gibtelecom will be using Comptel’s convergent solutions for its fixed, mobile and Internet services.

Mr. George Gaskin, Gibtelecom’s IT Manager says: “Comptel was selected following a competitive tender for both mediation and provisioning. Obviously, by the time we came to choose a solution for reporting and provisioning, we had already worked with Comptel, so we felt confident that Comptel’s solutions would meet our needs. These solutions will enable us to provide even better services to our customers, while helping combat fraud.”

Gibtelecom chose Comptel EventLink® because it needed a convergent mediation solution that would be able to handle, collect and process usage information across all networks and services, allowing a greater flexibility in billing for these services. Comptel’s mediation solution offered an off-the-shelf integration with Gibtelecom’s billing systems. The solution is now deployed and live, managing Gibtelecom’s services, including GSM, GPRS and MMS. [Read more…]

Intec Billing Agrees to Acquire Outsourced Billing Company EUR Systems

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Intec, a provider of software to the global telecoms industry, is has recently announced that it has agreed to acquire the operating assets of outsourced telecoms billing specialist, EUR Systems (“EUR”) of Pennsylvania, USA, from current owners Saratoga Partners.

“Intec has built a successful and profitable business in billing services and software for US carriers,” said Intec CEO Kevin Adams. “Economies of scale are important in this business, so consolidating a key competitor in the US market is a good move for us. We have already identified a number of immediate cost synergies, and we expect to be able to begin enhancing EUR’s financial performance from day one.”

The consideration, which will be paid in cash, is approximately $13.5 million*, subject to a working capital adjustment. The value of the gross assets being acquired is approximately $6.6 million. The transaction is expected to close in approximately 30 days. On closing, Intec will combine the operations of EUR into its existing North American business, and expects to be able to make the acquisition earnings enhancing in the financial year ending 30 September 2007. [Read more…]

Nakina Systems CEO Dave Vicary Named Finalist in Ernst and Young Competition

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Nakina Systems Inc. (“Nakina”), a provider of multi-vendor security and element management solutions to network operators worldwide, today announced that Dave Vicary, president and CEO at Nakina, was recently named an Ontario finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2006 awards. Vicary is one of three finalists in the Information Technology category. Nominees in a total of 12 categories were chosen based on demonstrated leadership, drive and innovation.

“It is truly an honor to be recognized by Canada’s most prestigious business awards program,” said Vicary. “This acknowledgement clearly validates the progress Nakina Systems has made during its few short years of existence in delivering innovative telecom and data network management solutions to service providers worldwide.”

On October 19th, one finalist in each business category will receive a regional category award. One person chosen from among the 12 category winners will then be awarded Entrepreneur of the Year for Ontario. The Ontario award winner will compete against other top entrepreneurs from across Canada for the national award. The Canadian winner will then face off against more than 35 country recipients for the title of World Entrepreneur of the Year. The Ernst & Young achievement follows other recent Nakina accomplishments. [Read more…]

Amdocs Limited Reports 23% Growth in Revenue to a Record $626 Million

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Amdocs Limited (NYSE: DOX) today reported that for the quarter ended June 30, 2006, revenue was $626.4 million, an increase of 23.5% from last year’s third quarter. Excluding acquisition-related costs, which include amortization of purchased intangible assets and the write-off of in-process research and development and excluding equity-based compensation expense, net of related tax effects, of $20.6 million, net income on a non-GAAP basis was $106.2 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income, excluding $1.7 million of acquisition-related costs net of related tax effects, of $78.8 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2005. The Company’s net income was $85.6 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, compared to net income of $77.1 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2005. Free cash flow, defined as cash flow from operations less net capital expenditures and principal payments on capital leases, was $94 million in the quarter. [Read more…]

Convergys to Support New German Satellite PAY-TV Service

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Convergys Corporation (NYSE:CVG), a global leader in customer care, human resources, and billing services, announced today a contract with Arena, a subsidiary of the German cable company Unity Media. Convergys will provide a unique set of product offerings, with consulting and professional services, to support Arena’s new German satellite PAY-TV service.

“Working with Unity and Arena enabled us to apply our operational expertise and proven software products to configure and implement a solution that meets their particular billing and customer care requirements and aggressive implementation timeline,” said Convergys’ Jean Herve Jenn, President, International. “With this solution, subscribers will experience a seamless transition from ordering to receiving, while enjoying the quality of service they have come to expect from Unity Media.”

Scheduled to launch in August, Arena holds the broadcast rights to the live matches of the first and second Bundesliga in Germany from Deutsche FuBball Liga (DFL). Unity Media expects Arena to have 3 million PAY-TV soccer subscribers within 3 years. [Read more…]

Convergys’ Second Quarter 2006 Financial Results

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Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) will hold its Second Quarter 2006 Financial Results conference call at 10:00 A.M., Eastern Daylight Time, Thursday, July 27, 2006. During the call, Jim Orr, Chairman & CEO, and Earl Shanks, CFO, will review Convergys’ second quarter 2006 financial results. [Read more…]

Intec Billing Founder Mike Frayne Joins Logan Orvis International as Director and Deputy Chairman

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Logan Orviss International, one of EMEA’s largest privately held telecoms consulting organisations, has appointed one of the telecom industry’s most influential figures to its board of directors. Mike Frayne, co-founder and former executive chairman of Intec Telecom Systems, joins Logan Orviss as a director.

“Never has the telco industry faced such challenging times in terms of how the large players will shape their businesses in the future. Faced with imminent pressures of converged charging, local loop unbundling, next generation networks and multi-media converged services to name but a few, these companies will rely increasingly on consultants that bring the knowledge and expertise to counsel them on strategic decisions. Mike’s appointment will strengthen our practice greatly,” said co-founder and chief executive officer of Logan Orviss International, Brendan Logan.

Frayne enjoys an enviable reputation in the telco industry, having catapulted Intec Telecom Systems, a leading provider of billing and mediation solutions for carriers worldwide, into one of the UK’s most successful and largest software companies. Through a bold acquisitive strategy, including a takeover of the retail billing software division of ADC Telecommunication, Frayne transformed Intec’s business into a global OSS company that now employs more than 1,600 people. Frayne was subsequently named Ernst & Young ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2001. [Read more…]

Reltelwireless Implements Cerillion Mediation Solution for CDMA Network

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Cerillion Technologies has announced a new contract with Reliance Telecommunications (Reltelwireless) to implement a complete mediation solution for their CDMA network in Nigeria. Cerillion will deliver their Mediator product and provide integration with network switches from Huawei.

Kenneth Aigbinode, Vice Chairman Reliance Telecommunications, said “Mediation has become an important area of focus within Reltelwireless as we continue to develop our revenue assurance programmes. Cerillion have proven they understand our business and we are confident that their Mediator system will help us maximise our billable revenues.”

The system will be used to improve revenue assurance in Reltelwireless, securing revenue generation from a full range of corporate and residential services. Mediator’s intuitive configuration tools and rules-based processing engine will support their time-to-market demands, whilst providing a complete audit trail and CDR traceability. [Read more…]

Amdocs Agrees to Acquire Cramer OSS Solutions

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Amdocs (NYSE: DOX), a leading provider of software and services to enable integrated customer management and the intentional customer experience, has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Cramer Systems Group Ltd. (“Cramer”), a leading provider of operations support systems (OSS) solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Amdocs will acquire all of Cramer’s shares of capital stock for approximately $375 million in cash, net of cash on hand, subject to post-closing adjustments. Cramer is a growing company with more than 80 customers worldwide.

“With a quality company like Cramer, Amdocs expects to be well positioned to capitalize on the growth opportunity that OSS represents,” said Dov Baharav, chief executive officer of Amdocs Management Limited. “Together, we intend to deliver a complete automated service fulfillment solution across all lines of business — for any service, on any network — linking order management at the customer layer with activation at the network layer.”

With the acquisition, Amdocs plans to expand its service management and OSS offerings and expects to become a leader in OSS, uniquely able to support large-scale OSS transformation projects. The OSS domain is typically defined as network-facing applications supporting key service fulfillment and service assurance business processes. Cramer has a proven and tested OSS product portfolio, which includes leading products in network resource management (NRM), activation and auto discovery. [Read more…]

LecStar Telecom Signs Customer Service Management Agreement with Lightyear Network Solutions

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LecStar Telecom Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fonix(R) Corp. (OTCBB: FNIX) offering a full array of fixed wire-line voice, data, Internet and operator services to business and residential customers in the Southeast, has entered into a management agreement with Lightyear Network Solutions, LLC (“Lightyear”) in order to decrease LecStar operating and related costs.

“Outsourcing LecStar Telecom’s telecommunications and customer service functions to Lightyear significantly reduces the company’s operating costs in the wake of recent regulatory actions that have negatively impacted small CLECs,” explained Thomas A. Murdock, chairman and CEO, Fonix Corp. “This change further enhances the company’s financial and competitive positions, while better enabling us to focus on developing and deploying integrated communication technologies.”

Under the terms of the agreement, effective July 1, 2006, Lightyear will manage all operating support services for LecStar including billing, provisioning, customer relationship management systems and telecommunications services under the terms of LecStar’s commercial agreements with wholesale telecom providers. Lightyear will receive specified fees from LecStar for these services. [Read more…]

Coastal Technologies Group Appoints Former US Representative Tauzin and Dr Peter Diamandis as New Board Members

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Coastal Technologies Group Inc. (CTGi), a leader in call detail processing, back-office accounting process and OSS support for the telecommunications industry, today announced the appointments of W.J. “Billy” Tauzin, former U.S. Representative from Louisiana and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman and Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation and Zero Gravity Corp., to its board of directors.

“Coastal Technologies Group is at an exciting point in its development, and we are thrilled to add both Congressman Tauzin and Dr. Diamandis to our board of directors at this time,” said Richard Kane, president and CEO for Coastal Technologies Group. “Representative Tauzin has been a staunch supporter of the telecommunications sector and led the way to develop key legislation during his tenure as the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Likewise, Dr. Diamandis is a brilliant entrepreneur who has successfully founded and grown multiple space technology and communications companies over the last 20 years. Both of these men will provide critical guidance and influence as we look to expand our operations and customer set worldwide.”

Former Congressman W.J. “Billy” Tauzin was one of the most powerful Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and served 12 terms in the U.S Congress representing Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District before retiring in 2004. Tauzin was Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection in 1997 and was involved in much of the legislation affecting telecommunications and the Internet. Tauzin holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Nicholls State University and a Law Degree from Louisiana State University. [Read more…]