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HickoryTech Approved to Provide Digital TV to Faribault

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HickoryTech Corporation (Nasdaq: HTCO – News) received approval from the City of Faribault, Minn. for a cable franchise to provide competitive cable programming to the residents of Faribault. The company will immediately launch its Digital TV service to Faribault residents. The roll out across the city will occur in phases, with the last phase scheduled for completion in mid-July 2006.

The company also announced the scheduled June 1 opening of HickoryTech’s new Faribault retail office at 25 N.W. Fourth Street. This office will provide local customer service, demonstrate HickoryTech products, and serve as a base of operations for the company’s local employees. A “Grand Opening” event will be scheduled later in June to highlight the company’s presence and commitment to the community. [Read more…]

Exstream Software Awarded Most Promising Company Award At Telestrategies Billing & OSS World 2006

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Exstream Software, Inc. announced that it received the ‘Most Promising Company’ award at the sixth annual Billing and OSS World Excellence Awards ceremony held during the Billing & OSS World 2006 conference in Miami, May 3-5. Telecommunications professionals from all over the globe attend this conference to discuss the latest trends and future challenges of the industry.

“There is a clear need in our industry for enterprise solutions that streamline the document management process as well as deliver the capability to more proactively market to customers with personalized statements and invoices,” said Jill Morgan, publisher and editorial director for Billing World and OSS Today. “We continue to be impressed with the way Exstream is taking the telecom industry by storm. In the last few months alone, Exstream has gained huge traction with the largest of the wireless service providers, signing many significant deals. They certainly deserve the award in this category.”

Billing World and OSS Today magazine issues the ‘Most Promising Company’ award to recognize a company that is extremely well positioned for success in the telecom marketplace in the coming year. Receiving over 100 applications from OSS/BSS vendor companies vying for the six Excellence Awards, winners in each category had to demonstrate clear signs of success and growth. The finalists stood out due to their ability to measure, quantify and articulate the specific improvements they had delivered to their customers. [Read more…]

Comptel Launches Integrated Comptel Fulfilment Solution

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Comptel Corporation, an OSS software vendor for convergent mediation, charging, provisioning and network inventory, announced today the launch of the strengthened Comptel® Fulfilment – a suite of pre-integrated inventory and provisioning modules to cover end-to-end service fulfilment functionality from order capture to activation and reconciliation. The Comptel Fulfilment solution will help broadband and cable service providers meet the challenges of the growing demand and increasing competition for the delivery of services such as triple-play (voice, data, and video), by improving the cost, speed and quality of provisioning, to the obvious benefit of their customers. [Read more…]

Syndesis Revolutionizes Service Delivery Management – Launches Syndesis Express

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Syndesis, a worldwide leader in Convergent Service Delivery Management (CSDM) solutions, today unveiled Syndesis® Express™, a new group of fulfillment products to power rapid service definition, integrated service design and activation across connectivity, applications and device, and real-time subscriber self-management. The Syndesis Express fulfillment suite provides an integrated view of the subscriber, making it possible for carriers around the world to rapidly launch and automate fulfillment of new services without the costly upgrade or replacement of existing systems such as inventory.

“As CSPs introduce new mobile and residential broadband services their customers demand easy, rapid service activation. As a result, CSPs are looking for fulfillment solutions that span the application, connectivity and device domains,” said Larry Goldman co-founder and senior analyst at OSS Observer. “More than ever before, they need to link their subscribers with the associated network and services.”

Syndesis Express launches service delivery to new heights so that communications service providers (CSPs) can rapidly define, deploy and fulfill the industry’s most advanced service offerings, including IPTV, Triple/Quad Play, Unified Messaging, video conferencing, and others. In addition, with the ability to support thousands of round-trip subscriber requests per second, CSPs can meet peak demands well into the future and, at the same time, bring true self-service and integrated media impulse buying to the masses. [Read more…]

Ecosystem of OSS Through JavaT OSS/J Referenced Components Growing Rapidly

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An ecosystem of OSS through JavaT Initiative (OSS/J) Referenced Components has grown rapidly, it was announced today. The speed at which OSS/J Referenced Components are proliferating attests to the widespread adoption of OSS/J solutions by leading suppliers of telecommunications software solutions. Referenced Components are software components or products that use or implement parts or entire OSS/J APIs. They make it faster and easier to implement end-to-end solutions supporting the delivery of new products. Many OSS/J Referenced Components are expected to evolve to OSS/J Certified Products.

An advanced implementation of the TeleManagement Forum (TMF) New Generation OSS (NGOSS) architectural standard, OSS/J APIs map closely to the TMF’s Enhanced Telecommunications Operations Map (eTOM). The APIs are based on the Core Business Entity (CBE) model, which is aligned with the TMF’s Shared Information Definition (SID), a widely recognized telco data sharing model. OSS/J’s close alignment with TMF – the dominant standards body in the telecommunications OSS area – and OSS/J’s pragmatic approach to implementation – add up to a powerful, implementable OSS standard. [Read more…]

Broadbus and Axiom Systems Partner to Simplify Deployment and Management of IPTV

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Broadbus Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of technology solutions for Television on Demand (TOD®), and Axiom Systems, a market leader in service fulfillment software, today announced a partnership to address service providers’ need for a next-generation video platform with an operational support system (OSS) that gives subscribers highly reliable, premium on-demand experiences. The alliance creates a solution that enables operators to simplify the deployment of IPTV video offerings, including networked digital video recording (nDVR), time-shifted television and TOD.

While the growing market for IPTV services presents new opportunities for service providers, it also introduces a number of significant challenges. For example, the advanced video services enabled by IPTV demand a more reliable, powerful and scalable video platform. Furthermore, the advent of these new IPTV services will have a marked impact on operational support systems. Designing, creating, delivering and analyzing performance of such services with existing systems is proving to be very complex as the next-generation networks over which they are delivered grow and evolve. [Read more…]

Berg Insight Says Wireless M2M Connections in Europe to Reach 25 Million by 2009

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A new research report from the analysis firm Berg Insight forecasts that at least 25 million machines will be connected to mobile networks in Europe by 2009. Currently Berg Insight estimates the number of wireless M2M connections on the continent to 5 million.

“We know that growth in the number of mobile phones is coming to an end in the developed world. There is however now clear evidence that other devices will assume the leading role in market developments. As people migrate to the new 3G networks in growing numbers, the old reliable GSM-networks will increasingly become the domains of our machines”, comments Tobias Ryberg, senior analyst at Berg Insight.

Utility meters and vehicles are identified as the segments with the far greatest potential. “Right now we have several projects where up to 500,000 electricity meters will be connected to mobile networks for automated meter reading and that is just the beginning”, says Tobias. “It is the same in the vehicle sector. Half a million trucks are now monitored with GSM/GPS as part of Germany’s Toll Collect system and over one hundred thousand motorists in Italy have signed up for pay-as-you-drive insurance schemes.” [Read more…]

TELMEX Mexican Directory Publisher ADSA Selects Amdocs for Sales Force Automation

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Amdocs (NYSE: DOX), the leading provider of software and services to enable integrated customer management and the intentional customer experience(TM), and Anuncios en Directorios S.A. de C.V. (ADSA), the directory publishing subsidiary of Telefonos de Mexico S.A. de C.V. (TELMEX), today announced that ADSA selected Amdocs for sales force automation (SFA). The Amdocs SFA solution for directory publishers will help ADSA plan and execute sales campaigns cost-effectively and to the highest degree of quality, allowing the publisher to have quicker time to market for its digital and traditional directories. With the selection of the Amdocs SFA solution, which will be integrated into ADSA’s existing Amdocs directory platform, ADSA is moving closer to implementing a cross-organizational integrated customer management (ICM) strategy.

ADSA’s existing Amdocs platform addresses all aspects of the directory publishing process with a central, online infrastructure and provides a unified view of the customer. Integrating Amdocs’ directory SFA with it will enable ADSA to consolidate sales support information across all organizational customer touch-points, addressing the entire customer lifecycle. As a result, ADSA will be able to shorten the sales cycle, improve service and increase customer satisfaction and value.

“Amdocs has been a true partner in our success for the past 14 years, and we are confident in its ability to support our growth and maintain delivery excellence via its local support center in Mexico City,” said Benjamin Podoswa Schwaycer, chief executive officer at ADSA. “As we continue to simplify processes and align them around the customer, integrating the Amdocs SFA solution into our central Amdocs platform marks an additional step towards true ICM, bringing us closer to our commitment to deliver a differentiated and intentional customer experience.”

A scalable, user-friendly sales tool that can also be implemented as a stand-alone system, the Amdocs SFA solution for directory publishers will help ASDA increase revenues by maximizing sales force productivity. Amdocs’ SFA supports a wide range of directory products, including emerging multimedia digital advertising products, and will allow ADSA to quickly introduce traditional and non-traditional yellow pages, white pages and online directory publishing offerings. Through automation, Amdocs’ SFA will also enable ASDA to minimize errors and improve first-call resolution associated with the sales process, driving better customer service. In addition to the SFA solution, ADSA will deploy Amdocs’ dynamic sales presentations generator, a state-of-the-art time-saving tool that helps target customers more effectively. [Read more…]

BT Selects Syndesis for Discovery and Reconciliation Across IP-Based Network

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Syndesis, the leader in Convergent Service Delivery Management (CSDM) solutions, is pleased to announce that BT is implementing Syndesis® TrueSource™, the most widely deployed data integrity management solution, for discovery and reconciliation across its entire 21st Century (21CN) IP-based network. Under the license agreement, Syndesis will enable auto-discovery, live discrepancy management and reconciliation to accurately track services and network assets, recover resources and enhance processes, including provisioning.

BT’s 21st century network is the transformation project designed to move from a Public Switched Telephone Network to an IP system. A critical step in this initiative is the installation of Syndesis TrueSource to ensure scaleable, flow-through automated service delivery based on clean data foundations, thereby reducing the need for manual audits, cutting non-productive re-work time in provisioning cycles and reducing lengthy repair cycles. The Syndesis solution will be integrated across multiple Operational Support and Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS).

“BT chose Syndesis because of its proven ability to assure data consistency across BT’s multi-vendor 21st Century Network,” said Simon Curtis, BT Project Lead. “Network Assurance and data consistency are of the utmost importance with a project as ambitious as BT’s 21CN and, as such, it is imperative that only the most reliable solutions be implemented before our network roll-out. Syndesis will help BT transform the communications and entertainment experiences of its customers across the UK and provide an unrivalled service experience.”

Syndesis TrueSource’s service and asset discovery, network mediation, live discrepancy management and reconciliation enables communications service providers (CSPs) to accurately track their network assets and correct network, inventory and billing errors. This helps to eliminate production-stranded resources and ensures that customers are billed for the services, and levels of service, that they receive. [Read more…]

cVidya Networks’ Named Winner of the 2006 Red Herring 100 Europe Award

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Red Herring today announced that cVidya Networks is a recipient of Red Herring 100 Europe, a selection of the 100 private companies based in the EMEA region that play a leading role in innovation and technology. “Market obstacles remain but our list shows that great companies are being created in Europe,” said Red Herring editor-in-chief Joel Dreyfuss. [Read more…]

Intec Billing Wins Interconnect Billing Deal with Dutch Incumbent KPN

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Intec Billing, a supplier of BSS/OSS solutions to the global telecoms industry, has announced a win for core components from its market leading billing family, Intec Interconnect V7 and Intec Interconnect PREP, with the international wholesale voice division within KPN, the Dutch national operator. The deal is worth in excess of two and a half million dollars. KPN Global Carrier Services B.V. (KGCS) is an integrated part of the fixed division of KPN. It provides termination of international voice traffic originating outside and inside the Netherlands to any place in the world. [Read more…]

NetCracker Technology’s VP of Strategy Sanjay Mewada Named to TM Forum Advisory Board

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NetCracker Technology, a provider of OSS software solutions for global telecom service providers, today announced that Sanjay Mewada, vice president of strategy, has been appointed to the Advisory Board of Directors of the TeleManagement Forum. The TM Forum is a global consortium of communications professionals dedicated to improving the management and operation of information and communications networks and services.

Mewada, who oversees the strategic direction of NetCracker, brings a wealth of knowledge and industry experience to the TM Forum Advisory Board. Prior to joining NetCracker, he served as vice president of the Telecom Software Strategies Decision Service at the Yankee Group, where he helped clients make decisions regarding the use of business and operations support systems (OSS) software and services.

“Sanjay is a well-known and respected figure in the telecom OSS industry, and we are certain that he will be a valuable addition to our Board,” said Keith Willetts, Chairman of the Board of the TM Forum. “His expertise and experience will bring further value to our members.”

At NetCracker, Mewada has spearheaded the company’s “Service Layer Transformation (TM)” campaign, bringing his expertise and message to NetCracker customers around the globe. His career has also included working at MCI, Intelsat, and the World Bank in product management and technology evaluation functions. Mewada is a graduate of Bombay University, where he earned an M.B.A. and a B.S. degree in Physics, and of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, where he earned an M.B.A. in International Business. [Read more…]

cVidya Networks Leads the TeleManagement Forum’s Revenue Assurance Catalyst Project

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cVidya Networks, a leader of Telecom Data Integrity and Revenue Assurance Systems, has announced its leadership role in The Telemanagement Forum’s (TMF) Revenue Assurance (RA) Catalyst Project for the second year in a row. This is one of several such projects in which TMF member organizations collaborate to advance the framework of next generation OSS (NGOSS). cVidya’s repeated selection as team leader in this project came as a result of its position as a developer of the most advanced and effective revenue assurance solutions in the telecommunications industry. This year’s RA Catalyst is sponsored by China Unicom and led by cVidya Networks with collaboration with other companies;. cVidya Networks will also be participating in the TMF’s Catalyst Project titled “IPTV Impact on Fulfillment, Assurance, and Billing (FAB)”. The IPTV project is sponsored and led by Swisscom. [Read more…]

Convergys Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Customer Inter@ction Solutions Magazine

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“Bringing great respect and legitimacy to the customer care industry through true leadership and outstanding performance, quality of service, professionalism, and integrity over the past 25 years.” That’s how Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine described Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) as it awarded the Cincinnati-based company a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Customer Inter@ction Solutions presented this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award to Convergys at the 21st Annual Top 50 Teleservices Agencies & MVP Quality Awards Dinner in New York. From 2000 to 2005, the magazine recognized Convergys annually with six consecutive Gold MVP Quality Awards. [Read more…]

Rapid Link Signs Agreement to Acquire Telenational Communications

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Rapid Link, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: RPID.OB), one of the leading providers of Internet Phone services to niche markets like the military, today announced signing of the definitive Stock Purchase Agreement for the acquisition of Telenational Communications, Inc. The closing of the Telenational transaction is contingent upon Rapid Link’s receipt of necessary financing to complete the acquisition. The Company is working with a well-known investment banking firm to assist it in the fundraising process and has been in ongoing discussions with a number of potential investors. Rapid Link remains confident that it will secure the necessary financing on terms that are acceptable to it within the time period required to consummate the Telenational transaction.

“We are very excited to have cleared all of the major hurdles in finalizing this acquisition,” stated John Jenkins, CEO of Rapid Link. “We can now focus on closing the financing and combining the two entities. Telenational has consistently been net income positive over the past few years which will significantly improve our bottom line going forward.”

“Operationally, this is an ideal fit bringing together two competitors who both have expertise serving military personnel. We are able to further support that strengthened position with the availability of better products through Rapid Link’s new Sysmaster VOIP system,” commented Chris Canfield, President of Telenational. “I am very excited about the future of our new combined Company, and I believe that we will be recognized as one of the premier VOIP companies specializing in niche market opportunities.” [Read more…]

ACE*COMM Reports Improvements for Q3 2006

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ACE*COMM Corporation (NASDAQ:ACEC), a provider of advanced OSS, value-added services, and network business intelligence solutions, today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2006, the third quarter of its 2006 fiscal year. The Company reported revenues of $6.7 million for the quarter, which compares to $3.8 million for the comparable quarter of fiscal year 2005. Net profit for the quarter was $365 thousand, or $0.02 per share, compared to a net loss of $6.6 million, or $0.47 per share, for the same quarter in the prior year. [Read more…]

First Hop Appoints Keith Gibson as Chairman

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First Hop announced today that it has appointed industry veteran Keith Gibson as the company’s new Chairman. Keith’s appointment marks a period of rapid development for First Hop, as mobile operator interest in its business solutions continues to grow.

Keith Gibson, Chairman of First Hop said: “This is a very exciting time to join the Board of First Hop, as it moves into a new phase in its international growth and development. First Hop is proving to be really popular in fast growth markets, such as Asia. We are getting in at the ground level and becoming the focal point of operator business decisions. I look forward to being able to make a significant contribution to the growth of the company around the world.”

Keith Gibson has nearly three decades of experience in the telecommunications industry. He has been instrumental in developing profitable international strategies and leading management teams in Europe and the USA. He began his career at GPT/Marconi Ltd and went on to hold senior management posts at WSI, Fujitsu and Comverse Technology. As EMEA MD at Coherent Communications, Keith grew the business at a rate of 40% per annum. He currently serves on two boards and chairs a public service council. [Read more…]

TelstraClear Uses Intec Interconnect V7 to Enhance Growth and Profitability

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Intec Telecom Systems, a provider of business and operations support systems (BSS/OSS), announced today that TelstraClear a competitive service provider in New Zealand is deploying Intec InterconnecT v7, the latest generation of the world’s most powerful, flexible and reliable system for domestic, international and ITU-based billing and settlements.

TelstraClear, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telstra, the largest operator in Australia, is New Zealand’s second largest full service telecommunications provider, and provides services to the New Zealand market, serving the business, government, wholesale and residential sectors.

TelstraClear Strategic Sourcing Manager Justin Brochocki said: “We selected Intec’s Interconnect v7 because of its experience in the international market. Intec has a proven track record in delivering turnkey solutions of a similar nature to ours. This was an important factor for us.”

InterconnecT v7 meets the functionality and performance requirements of a dynamic telecommunications market by dealing with both traditional and next-generation products and services in a single system, and with proven ability to handle national carrier traffic levels. InterconnecT v7 takes settlement to the next level by also supporting inter partner settlement for IP-based services offered over next generation networks. This includes multi-party settlement with a variety of enterprises such as content providers, for services such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), content downloads and multimedia messaging. [Read more…]

Convergys Wins Best Overall Company Award at Telestrategies’ Billing World 2006

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Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), a leader in providing customer care, human resources, and billing services, announced today it has received the “Best Overall Company” award as part of the sixth annual Billing and OSS World “Excellence Awards” at Telestrategies’ Billing World 2006.

Billing World and OSS Today magazine established the Best Overall Company Excellence Award to recognize a company that has proven leadership in its respective market and has demonstrated market achievement and innovative product development. The award application required companies to list key clients, recent contract wins, and partnerships. Additionally, the application required companies to address specific implementations and how they met client requirements, challenges, third-party involvement, benchmarks, and implementation times, and how the solution improved the clients’ operations. [Read more…]

Telarix Extends Flexibility of iXTools with Support for Oracle

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Telarix, Inc., the leading provider of Interconnect Business Optimization (IBO) and settlement solutions for content providers, IP service providers and global fixed and mobile operators, today announced that iXTools will also be supported on Oracle Real Application Clusters 10g. Telarix now offers interconnect solutions designed to support a variety of hardware architectures and database systems.

Telarix’s iXTools(TM) is a powerful suite of software modules that enables carriers to reduce costs and increase profitability across their interconnect networks. By analyzing both revenue and cost information associated with telecom traffic in near real-time, carriers can optimize network routing and identify financial risks and opportunities while ensuring that every call is captured, rated and billed accurately. Three of the world’s five largest telecom providers depend on iXTools to optimize their interconnect business.

“Telarix is committed to addressing the interconnect challenges facing today’s carriers, regardless of their operating environment and database platform,” said Don Lynch, CEO of Telarix. “We are pleased to support Oracle and further extend the benefits of iXTools.”

Telarix recently introduced its next generation interconnect billing solution, iXBill. The innovative system ensures the entire interconnect billing process is fully tracked and captured, providing service providers an unprecedented view of their revenue streams while identifying critical financial trends. [Read more…]