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mBlox Selects Valista Payment Platform for Mobile Internet Billing and WAP Billing

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Valista (www.valista.com), the leading provider of payments and merchandizing solutions enabling the purchase of premium digital services, today announced that mBlox, the world’s largest mobile transaction network, is deploying Valista’s end-to-end transaction engine — PaymentsPlus. mBlox selected the payment platform after a close comparison of the world’s leading vendors and will use it to support its next generation mobile billing services, including WAP billing.

Andrew Bud, Executive Chairman of mBlox, said, “The evolution of premium SMS, an industry we lead, into the next generation of mobile content billing is a huge opportunity for us. We will be able to offer a wider range of innovative and effective payment services for our customers. The mobile content industry will be able to deliver and bill content including mobile TV, video clips, gaming and music downloads. We chose Valista’s technology because it is proven to be the best in the industry, and are pleased to be working with a company with a similar customer-focused ethos to ourselves.”

Valista’s PaymentsPlus solution enables mobile transaction network providers and telecommunications operators to adapt to the ever-changing dynamics of the global payments market by offering more flexible payment choices such as direct to mobile bill charging and WAP billing. [Read more…]

Alcatel Selects LHS Billing and Customer Care System for Pre-Postpaid Convergent Billing

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LHS, a provider of telecommunications billing and customer care systems and Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) announced today that they have extended their strategic partnership to offer a combined pre-post-paid convergent billing solution for simplified and cost-optimized billing operations.

Stéphane Terranova, President of Alcatel’s integration and services activities, commented: “Today, mobile operators need to compensate for the steady decline in revenue from voice services and reduce the cost of operations. Having a single billing system for both prepaid and postpaid customers will enable operators to increase operational efficiency. At the same time, the convergent solution will help operators to launch new pre- and postpaid services to fight fierce competition with faster time-to-market, and increase revenues. Alcatel has selected LHS’s BSCS for its proven superior functionality and excellent performance in the IT field, which perfectly fits with Alcatel’s real time billing leadership and over 10 years of expertise in the network field.”

The new solution combines LHS’s billing and customer care system, BSCS iX and Alcatel’s Payment Suite 4.4 with Alcatel’s project management and integration skills to provide an end-to-end convergent billing solution from customer management to network interaction. The convergent solution includes features such as real-time call control, full real-time convergent rating engine, and unified provisioning and customer care for prepaid and postpaid customers. [Read more…]

Elitecore Launches Convergent Billing Solution in Europe at Billing Systems 2006

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Elitecore Technologies has launched Crestel, its Convergent Billing Solution, in the European region through its participation in Billing Systems 2006. Formerly known as JISP Billing, Crestel is the carrier-grade billing, customer care, mediation and provisioning platform that enables next generation data, voice and video services over wireless and wireline networks.

“In the current highly evolutionary phase, operator success depends on a customer oriented approach rather than a technology-oriented one,” says Nikhil Jain, President and COO, Elitecore Technologies. “Crestel’s strength lies in its ability to build scale with margins, enhancing operator profitability and long-term stability.”

Crestel delivers scale with margins by facilitating convergence at the customer, OSS and BSS level, while enabling fine segmentation at the customer, service and geographic levels. The Western European Billing and OSS market is set to grow to nearly EUR1.4 billion by 2010, according to Analysys. Crestel aims to penetrate this market through a modular approach in addition to full systemic revamps. Crestel’s modular architecture delivers billing, customer care, mediation and provisioning, offering great flexibility and scalability to service providers. [Read more…]

Allround and Energoinvest Win Roaming Tender for Introduction of TAP3 Standard in BH Telecom’s GSM Billing System

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Allround, a supplier in the global roaming market and Energoinvest, a key player in the telecommunications market in Bosnia Herzegovina announced that their joint bid has been successful in winning roaming tender for the introduction of the TAP3 standard in BH Telecom’s GSM Billing System. The strong partnership between Allround and Energoinvest will guarantee that BH Telecom will benefit both from Allround’s global roaming expertise and Energoinvest’s extensive local support.

“The contract was awarded and selected from a high level of competition that tested suppliers ability for local support competitiveness and ability to grow with our company” said Ms. Tanja Trivanovic, Project Manager at BH Telecom.

Bosnia Herzegovina represents a new addition to the expanding list of countries, where Allround’s highly reliable TAP Solution is deployed. It is a very thoroughly tested, robust application that proved its worth in several similar reference projects. [Read more…]

Argent Networks Appoints Senior US Telco Exec Fred Lax to Board

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Argent Networks has appointed Frederick (Fred) M. Lax to its Board as a Non-Executive Director. Prior to joining Argent Networks, Fred served as President and CEO of Tekelec, formerly a California based telecommunications company that recently moved its corporate headquarters to North Carolina, and which is a leading developer of next-generation switching and signaling telecommunications solutions, network performance management technology, and value-added applications.

Chris Jones, CEO of Argent Networks says he is delighted that someone of Fred’s calibre and international experience has joined the Board. “Fred is a driven, natural thinker who is not afraid to challenge the status quo and actively seek growth and change. He has considerable knowledge of the telecommunications industry, which is ideal for Argent, and he will also bring the company his wider experience and extensive contacts with the global telecommunications industry. Fred’s skills will boost Argent Networks as it continues to expand and develop its business to the next level internationally,” says Jones.

As CEO, Frederick M. Lax provided leadership and guidance to Tekelec and oversaw the company as it broadened and diversified its telecommunications product portfolio, strengthened its competitive position and expanded its global presence in key markets world-wide, substantially increasing revenue and operational results. Under his leadership Tekelec also acquired several private companies, providing customers in the telecommunications industry with the company’s leading next generation technology solutions. [Read more…]

Avea Selects Schema’s GSM Network Optimization Solution

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Schema, a global provider of network optimization software solutions, announced today that it has signed a license agreement with Avea, one of Turkey’s leading wireless operators. Under the agreement, Avea will deploy Schema’s GSM Forté, a highly advanced automatic RF optimization solution, to optimize the planning of network frequencies in major cities in order to increase network capacity and improve quality of service. This deal, which marks the first phase in Schema’s relationship with Avea, demonstrates the company’s further expansion into Europe and continued deployment of GSM Forté by major wireless operators worldwide. [Read more…]

Skype To Debut New Klonies Avatar Product From Comverse

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Comverse, a subsidiary of Comverse Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CMVT), the world’s leading supplier of software and systems enabling network-based multimedia enhanced communication and billing services, and Skypeâ„¢, the global Internet communications company, today announced Skype Kloniesâ„¢, an innovative avatar service that lets users personalize Skype with special characters that reflect their personalities, moods and interests.

“Recent surveys we conducted show that personalization capabilities are important to the Skype community,” said Saul Klein, VP Marketing, Skype. “Avatars are a key component of the Skype personalization strategy. Klonies are debuting on the Skype site and launching with a ¡§Football Mania¡¨ section offering fun and topical content to everyone on Skype.”

Using the Klonies Studio in the Skype website, users can create and frequently update their unique Klonie image-changing hairstyles, clothing and accessories, expressions, locations, animated activities and more. Klonies appear as the Skype Caller ID on the screen of the called party, representing how the user would like to be seen, and reflecting the user’s appearance, interests, and feelings. As part of the launch, a special “Football Mania” content catalogue has been created, which will allow users to dress their Klonies in fans’ clothing and accessories, perform the well-known ola wave in the football stadium, and much more. [Read more…]

Manx Telecom Secures British Approvals Board of Telecommunications BABT Approval Using Cerillion Billing Solution

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Cerillion Technologies has announced that Manx Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of O2 and part of the Telefonica group, had become the first combined fixed and mobile telecommunications company in the world to gain BABT approval for its billing. BABT – British Approvals Board of Telecommunications – is the standard recognised worldwide which gives customers an assurance of accuracy in billing and pricing for telecommunications products and services.

“Gaining approval was a condition of our new Telecom license,” commented Mike Dee, Director of Finance, Manx Telecom. “Cerillion’s billing software supports all our fixed and mobile services and has played a vital role in us achieving this compliance.”

Manx Telecom worked in close co-operation with Cerillion staff to evaluate the existing billing operation, and identify and correct any areas that failed to meet the rigorous conditions laid down by the BABT Standard. By demonstrating that the bill production process achieved the high levels of accuracy and consistency required, approval was achieved in a comparatively short timeframe. [Read more…]

Azure Solutions Wins Fraud Detection Contract with Ukrainian Mobile Operator Astelit

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Azure Solutions, a revenue assurance company, today announced that Ukrainian mobile operator Astelit is deploying Azure Fraud Control System version 3.5 (AFCS v3.5) to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its anti-fraud system.

Oguz Memiguven, chief technical officer at Astelit said: “Astelit is always moving forward, aiming to deliver the best technology and service. It was really important for us to find a solution that could both integrate with existing legacy systems, and new data or capabilities as they are introduced. Azure offered this in a package that could be easily configured to suit our needs, meaning that we can now run a stronger and more efficient fraud-detection team.”

As a rapidly growing digital communications technology and service provider, Astelit needed a cost-effective and forward-looking way of detecting and preventing fraud. Azure’s flexible and scalable solution will help Astelit easily configure, control and define fraud detection rules, and leverages comprehensive case management workflow and report generation to make its fraud-detection teams even more efficient. AFCS v3.5 will fully integrate with new data that is added to the system, and help to detect fraud as new products are introduced. [Read more…]

Telenor Pakistan Selects Interconnect System from Azure Solutions

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Azure Solutions, a revenue assurance company, announced that Telenor Pakistan is to implement Azure Interconnect version 9.0 for its GSM services. In addition, Telenor Pakistan will be upgrading its existing Azure Interconnect system for its long distance international (LDI) services.

Telenor acquired a license for providing GSM services in Pakistan in April 2004 and commercially launched services in Islamabad, Rawlpindi and Karachi in March 2005. Its GSM mobile network is now available in 286 destinations and is the fastest growing network in Pakistan. Such has been the rapid growth of the network that Telenor required an effective interconnect billing solution. [Read more…]

NuVox Communications Selects Syndesis for Convergent Service Delivery Management

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NuVox Communications, a provider of voice, data, and security services to business customers throughout the Southeast and Midwest United States, has selected Syndesis from a competitive field for a multi-phase convergent service delivery management project. NuVox has successfully deployed Syndesis® TrueSource™, the world’s most widely deployed data integrity management solution, for auto-discovery and reconciliation across its communications network. The implementation is already providing business benefits, including a more accurate view of OSS/BSS data. NuVox looks forward to realizing additional benefits in service delivery and management. A future phase of the ongoing partnership will include the implementation of Syndesis® NetProvision™ to power VoIP service delivery and other next-generation offerings at NuVox.

“Syndesis will play a critical role in streamlining our operations and ensuring the integrity of our OSS data, thereby enhancing service delivery for our customers,” said Jeff Sivori, Vice President of Technology Development for NuVox Communications.

Currently in production at NuVox, Syndesis TrueSource is powering the auto-discovery of numerous network elements and reconciling the data against inventory and provisioning databases of record. Discrepancies between the network and these databases are being corrected, resulting in improved service delivery. This, in turn, is helping NuVox to offer faster time-to-service and ensure exceptional customer service. [Read more…]

Sudatel Chooses CDMA Mediation and Provisioning Solution from Comptel Corporation

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Comptel Corporation, a convergent mediation, charging and provisioning software vendor, and Sudanese Telecom Company LTD (Sudatel), the Sudanese incumbent operator, announced today that they have signed an agreement for the delivery of Comptel EventLink® mediation solution and Comptel InstantLink® provisioning solution for Sudatel’s new CDMA network.

Mr. Osman Muktar, IT Manager for Sudatel says: “Comptel has proven to be a highly professional company and we have enjoyed working with them. We have a very aggressive roll-out schedule for our new network in which we will need Comptel’s expertise and assistance to be successful. Our mediation and provisioning layer will now be truly standardised, convergent and open – thanks to Comptel platform.”

Sudatel is currently deploying a new CDMA technology in Sudan in order to offer new services to their customers. Sudatel needed a solution to provision this new network to enable customers to enjoy those new services. Sudatel also needed to be able to collect and process usage information in order to charge customers for services used. Having previously deployed Comptel’s convergent mediation solutions for PSTN services, Sudatel decided to extend the agreement with Comptel to use not only mediation but also for provisioning for all their networks including CDMA. [Read more…]

BEA Systems and Partners to Showcase Telecom Technology and Next-Generation IMS Services at GLOBALCOMM 2006

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BEA Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAS – News), a world leader in enterprise and communications infrastructure software, together with Ericpol Telecom, HP, IMS Stream, Intel, and MobileAware invites you to see several demonstrations of their IMS solutions at GLOBALCOMM 2006, Booth #51048, scheduled to be held at the McCormick Convention Center Chicago, June 5-7, 2006. [Read more…]

Syndesis Launches Converged Fulfillment Workflow and Order Management Solution with ConceptWave Software

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Syndesis has unveiled enhancements to its industry-leading Convergent Service Delivery Management (CSDM) solution suite with the launch of Syndesis® Controller™, a modular fulfillment workflow and order management solution. Syndesis Controller accelerates order-to-cash lifecycles, improves measurable operational efficiencies and enables an interactive and flexible environment critical for the delivery of converged services. It is built on technology from ConceptWave, a widely deployed global leader in order management solutions.

“In emerging telecom markets, a good OSS basically delivers two things: 1) accurate and rapid provisioning of next-generation services, and 2) efficient back office automation to keep the operation lean,” said Dan Baker, OSS/BSS Research Director for Dittberner Associates Inc. “This solution addresses both sides of the OSS value chain: Syndesis brings a talent for managing complex Triple Play services and ConceptWave supplies expert workflow efficiencies.”

Syndesis Controller is a fully integrated and highly configurable application that incorporates technical workflow around service delivery, order decomposition and a service catalog to enable the rapid introduction of new service types. Syndesis Controller’s workflow templates and processes are built on ConceptWave’s industry-leading technology leveraging Syndesis’ 20-year domain expertise in the best practices for service delivery. [Read more…]

Redline Communications Introduces RedMAX Management Suite for WiMAX Networks

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Redline Communications, a provider of standards-based wireless broadband equipment, today introduced the RedMAXâ„¢ Management Suite, enabling seamless integration and management of WiMAX technologies within operators’ core networks. By integrating the RedMAX Management Suite with their RedMAX network, operators can establish and manage a true carrier-class WiMAX network.

“The RedMAX Management Suite is a key differentiator for Redline and an important component of our RedPATH architecture roadmap,” said Edgar Masri, Chief Operating Officer, Redline Communications Inc. “Network management is a top priority for carriers that want to integrate WiMAX with their core networks and have the ability to expand and manage their networks as they grow and introduce new technologies based on the evolving WiMAX standards.”

The RedMAX Management Suite (RMS) is an element management system that enables broadband network operators to easily deploy, control, monitor and upgrade the Redline products in their network, acting as a gateway to the operators’ NMS and OSS and enabling full automation of operations The RMS is standards-based and platform independent to easily integrate with any IT infrastructure. [Read more…]

HickoryTech Corporation Appoints John W Finke President and CEO

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HickoryTech Corporation (Nasdaq: HTCO) today announced that its Board of Directors has selected John W. Finke, 44, to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Finke succeeds John E. Duffy, who resigned to pursue charitable interests and will remain with the company until June 30, 2006 to assist with the transition.

“We are extremely fortunate to draw from within for this pivotal leadership position,” said Starr Kirklin, HickoryTech’s Chairman of the Board of Directors. “John Finke brings two decades of telecom industry experience and knows first-hand the competitive challenges, key issues and opportunities we face. He has demonstrated strong leadership skills, energy and drive. The Board believes in his ability to lead HickoryTech successfully into the future. We welcome John to his new role.”

Finke joined HickoryTech in 1996, most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President responsible for Telecom and Enterprise Solutions operations, and for the successful integration of Enventis Telecom acquired by HickoryTech at year-end 2005. [Read more…]

Intec and Huawei Team Up for Convergent Mediation Solution at Taiwan 3G Operator Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communication APBW

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Intec Billing, a BSS/OSS software vendor for fixed, mobile and next-generation networks, and Huawei Technologies Company Limited China, have successfully implemented Intec’s carrier class multi-service Intec Mediation solution for Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless (“APBW”), a leading CDMA 2000 operator in Taiwan, within three months.

Mr. L.T. Wang, Chairman of APBW stated: “With its business logic-based configuration, the Intec mediation solution has demonstrated its capability to help a service provider to differentiate itself by accurately delivering new and innovative communication services, and by leveraging a single converged mediation platform to scale and support the needs of rapid penetration into a high-volume market. We are also very impressed by the quality of the product and delivery team and also the speed of delivery.”

Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communication Inc., (APBW) is Taiwan`s first third generation (3G) broadband wireless service provider. Established in November 2001, APBW won its 3G mobile operating license and successfully introduced Taiwan`s first CDMA cellular service in 2003. [Read more…]

Argent Networks Launches New Content Mediation Platform

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Argent Networks, a technology and telecommunications billing solutions company today announced that it was launching a new content mediation platform, ACMP, which will transform the way in which the world’s telecommunications carriers manage and generate revenues from a rapidly growing convergence of data on mobile and fixed networks.

Chris Jones, CEO of Argent Networks, says that ACMP was developed specifically to help the world’s major telecommunications carriers, many of whom are already the Company’s customers, better serve their customers by providing the additional services the market is demanding. “The beauty of Argent’s ACMP is that it is web-based using standard browsers so there are no additional deployment issues or costs. ACMP allows all subscriber services and activities, using however many different content providers and forms of data, to be instantly synthesised and made available to view in real- time through a single interface,” says Jones.

ACMP is a significant evolution in Argent’s product set. It provides a robust platform for delivery of content in real-time from content providers to subscribers. It can also integrate with Argent’s existing billing system ArgentEclipse for the billing of the provided content. This provides carriers with a single interface allowing a telecommunications carrier to deliver, rate and bill for provided content to their subscribers in real-time. [Read more…]

Argent Networks Enhances Revol Wireless Network with Advanced Billing Solution

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Argent Networks, a technology and telecommunications billing solutions company, announced today that it has signed a deal with Revol to supply its in>Bill™ solution. Revol, the main brand of Cleveland Unlimited, is an Ohio-based communications provider with a rapidly growing customer base using a high-quality, all-digital wireless CDMA network. Revol’s network has spread throughout Cleveland as well as Youngstown and Columbus Ohio as well as Indianapolis, Indiana.

Chris Jones, CEO of Argent Networks, says that in>Bill™ is an advanced, web-enabled solution that provides rich and detailed information about network usage for telecommunication carriers like Revol. “Argent’s in>Bill™ will enable Revol to carry out trend and traffic analysis across every part of its network for all content from any record source. In addition, in>Bill™ monitors traffic volume, types of activity and usage right down to individual events. Being able to quickly process and re-process event data records means Revol will be better placed to ensure accuracy of billing processes issues,” says Jones.

Tony McDowell, VP Engineering & Operations for Revol says that Argent’s in>Billâ„¢ solution was selected as the ideal platform as it provides several key advantages and features for the company’s network. [Read more…]

FROX Communication Joins the OSS through JavaT Initiative OSS/J

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FROX communication has joined the OSS through Java Initiative (OSS/J) to support the implementation of key OSS/J profiles. FROX communication is an independent software house focusing on the fields of service management, voice management, and system integration.

“With our longtime experience in system integration, we recognized the trend to standardization in the whole software industry very early,” says Andres Roethlisberger, Head of Engineering, FROX communication. “And it became clear to us that this will be extremely important especially for telecom companies, which is why FROX decided to be the first company in Switzerland to establish an OSS/J competence center.”

To reverse the growing complexity of OSS systems, service providers are pressing for options to proprietary, vendor-specific software solutions with pseudo de facto “standards” that limit technology choices. For this reason, increasing numbers of service providers have joined forces to support the TeleManagement Forum (TMF) New Generation OSS standard (NGOSS) of which OSS/J APIs and Design Guidelines are the first real-world implementation. OSS/J itself is an open and publicly available standard providing a proven approach which delivers significant benefits for all stakeholders along the value chain. [Read more…]