Verizon Business, a premier provider of global communications and information technology (IT) solutions, today announced that Invoice Insight ranks it tops among major telecom vendors for electronic billing excellence.

Invoice Insight, a leading provider of expense management software for large enterprises and federal agencies, recently reported the results of its annual evaluation of vendors that support telecom electronic data interchange (EDI) invoicing. EDI allows for the automated exchange of data between trading partners. [Read more…]

HickoryTech Corporation (Nasdaq: HTCO) announced today that its board of directors has declared a regular quarterly dividend of 12 cents per share, payable June 5, 2006 to shareholders of record May 15, 2006. The company has a long history of paying quarterly cash dividends. HickoryTech Corporation has total assets of $223.3 million and operates a telecommunications business with operations in Minnesota and Iowa. [Read more…]

Sage Telecom today announced that it has entered into its first agreement with Verizon, a commercial agreement to obtain wholesale local phone services. This new multi-year agreement with Verizon will help Sage serve communities in Texas that are outside the reach of Sage’s existing service area — and elsewhere throughout the Verizon footprint nationally.

Sage is one of the largest competitive local exchange carriers focused on residential and small business customers in suburban and rural communities. The company currently serves a half-million customers across twelve states. The commercial agreement with Verizon represents another step towards extending Sage services to benefit consumers in underserved markets.

“We are committed to offering a quality choice for local, long distance, and Internet access services,” said Terry Lewis, president and CEO of Sage. “This new agreement is a significant move in expanding our service territory to include households and businesses within the Verizon footprint.” The company expects to begin offering services to additional Texas communities by June. Texas was Sage’s first state of operation and is the home to over 130,000 of the company’s customers.

About Sage Telecom
Sage Telecom, Inc. provides local, long distance and Internet access services to residential and small business customers primarily in underserved rural areas and suburban markets. Founded in 1997, the company is known for providing unparalleled customer service and innovative, competitively-priced offerings. Sage Telecom’s serving areas include Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. For more information about Sage Telecom services, call 1-888-972-7243 or visit Sage Telecom at www.sagetelecom.net.

HGTelekom, a leading provider of results-oriented training programs for telecommunications and high technology companies worldwide, today announced that it has joined the OSS through Javaâ„¢ (OSS/J) Initiative, a working group of telecommunications industry leaders that provides standards-based Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and design guidelines for the development of component-based OSS systems. As a member of the OSS/J Initiative, HGTelekom will create a portfolio of OSS/J training courses targeting the knowledge requirements of telecommunication management, system architects, and developers. [Read more…]

According to a new study by Dittberner, three categories of Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services will be the most popular in the near future, potentially competing with “all mobile” solutions (Fixed mobile substitution). Services based on dual-mode terminals (3G and WLAN); Set or programmable automatic call forwarding (“follow-me”); Home-zone pricing schemes. [Read more…]

NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. (OTC BB: NEOM) an innovator in market-driven technologies, said today that it has completed the acquisition of BSD Software Inc. (OTC BB: BSDS) and its operating entity, Triton Global Services, accelerating the launch of its NeoMedia Telecom Services business unit. The acquisition, the fifth closed by NeoMedia since February and its first in the telecom industry, was an all-stock transaction, with BSD shareholders receiving approximately $2.5 million in NeoMedia shares. NeoMedia and BSD/Triton had filed a joint registration/information statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission prior to the closing. [Read more…]

The Information & Communications Technology Group at Frost & Sullivan is pleased to announce its Exclusive 2006 Quarterly Webinar on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. EST. The WAN services market in Asia Pacific is increasingly competitive. Basic transport/carriage services have become commoditized and enterprise end-users are no longer willing to pay a premium for such services. This has pushed many service providers to seek alternative means of boosting revenues. [Read more…]

At TelecomNEXT 2006, DataLinx, a leader in providing Billing and Operation Support Systems focused on Customer Relationship Management, Service Assurance, Provisioning and Mobile WorkForce Management software, announced that is has entered into a marketing agreement with Itronix, A General Dynamics Company and leading provider of rugged, wireless computing devices for mobile work forces. The two companies together will bring innovative Mobile Service Delivery solutions which address the competitive challenges faced by Telecom, Cable and Utility providers. DataLinx will give demonstrations of their Push2Test Service Assurance and MAST WorkForce Management software tools on Itronix rugged computing solutions at TelecomNEXT, March 21-22, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center in Las Vegas. [Read more…]

Spending by businesses on wireless telecommunications services accounted for nearly one-third the corporate bill for telecommunication services in 2005, says a new market research report from Insight Research. By the close of 2005, total US business spending on telecommunications services reached just over $132 billion, and by 2010 business spending is forecasted to grow to nearly $150 billion, according to the new research study. [Read more…]

BEA Systems (Nasdaq: BEAS – News), a world leader in enterprise and communications infrastructure software, today announced it has expanded its partnership with IP Unity, a leader in carrier-grade media servers, application servers and real-time multimedia applications. The two companies have integrated IP Unity’s Mereon(TM) 6000 Media Server and media rich applications with BEA WebLogic SIP Server(TM), the industry’s first converged Java EE-SIP-IMS application server. The resulting joint solution will be designed to be a SIP- centric service delivery platform for media rich services such as Dynamic Group Communications. [Read more…]

VocalTec Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:VOCL),a leading global provider of carrier-class multimedia and voice-over-IP solutions for communication service providers, announced today that its expanded suite of interoperable solutions will be highlighted at the Spring 2006 VON Conference & Expo in San Jose. Comprised of trunking, peering, access gateway, and service delivery solutions, the suite of best-of-breed network connectivity solutions enables the flexible deployment of next-generation networks (NGNs). [Read more…]

The TeleManagement Forum, the 500 member-company industry association dedicated to Operational Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS), will be holding ongoing educational sessions and hosting five exhibitors at their pavilion in Booth 1727 on the TelecomNEXT exhibit floor. The TM Forum will highlight how operational innovation can be used as a key competitive differentiator in the converging market environment of today. [Read more…]

InfoVista (NASDAQ: IVTA; Euronext IFV – FR0004031649), the leading service-centric performance management software company, announced today the availability of VistaInsight(TM) for Networks for Service Providers, version 2.0 (VIN for Service Providers 2.0), a next-generation performance management solution that enables service providers to effectively meet and exceed performance and service requirements for today’s advanced communications technologies including Metro Ethernet. The key enhancements to VIN for Service Providers 2.0 include out-of-box functionality to quickly and cost-effectively deliver new IP VPN and Metro Ethernet services and enhanced customer-reporting functionalities to enable tiered service offerings. [Read more…]

TTI Telecom International Ltd. (NASDAQ: TTIL) (‘TTI Telecom’), a global supplier of Operations Support Systems (OSS) to communications service providers, today announced that MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (‘MetroPCS’), a rapidly growing provider of wireless communications services, will standardize its 3G network on TTI Telecom’s Service Assurance solution. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. [Read more…]

Nakina Systems, a provider of multi-vendor network and security management solutions to network operators worldwide, has been recognized by international market research firm Dittberner Associates as “one of the most innovative software developers in the OSS business today.” [Read more…]

LEAD IP Systems, an innovative developer and supplier of full turn-key IP-Telephony & data security access systems, has introduced LEAD TelcoSuite1500(TM) — a high-capacity SIP SoftSwitch which is the latest member of the LEAD Access System for Telephony carriers, ISPs and telecom operators. [Read more…]

Steve Bannerman, vice president of marketing for Narus, a carrier-class IP platform provider for the largest, most profitable networks in the world, will discuss his experience using The Phelon Group’s Voice to MarketSM methodology in a Webinar to take place on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. [Read more…]

Infogix(TM), Inc., a leading provider of Automated Information Control solutions, today announced that Ramon Nayar, Vice President and Unit Leader of Professional Services for Infogix, will lead a workshop session at the Telestrategies Revenue Assurance & Analytics Conference taking place March 8-10, at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida. [Read more…]

ACE*COMM Corporation (NASDAQ:ACEC), a global provider of network business intelligence and advanced operations support systems (OSS) solutions, today introduced the ACE*COMM Network Business Intelligence(TM) (NBI) suite for enterprise telecommunications environments at the VoiceCon Spring 2006, March 6-9, a leading industry forum for business IP telephony. [Read more…]

Veramark Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: VERA) today announced the general availability of Release 4.0 of eCAS(R), its industry-leading, totally web-based call accounting system. Since its debut in 2002, the eCAS Call Accounting system has enabled thousands of small to medium-sized businesses to gain control of their telecom spend, optimize their communication networks, increase user accountability, improve employee productivity, and–since the recent introduction of Online Directory for eCAS–provide corporate contact information/white pages on every desktop in the user’s network.  [Read more…]