appliedlogx, a leading provider of communication infrastructure engineering, procurement and installation services to the telecommunications industry, has launched Virtual Operations Services (VOS), a web-based operations support platform designed to help telecommunications, cable and VoIP service providers deliver comprehensive services to the residential and business marketplace.

“Installation services have primarily been delivered by the internal staff of service providers due to operational and logistical challenges,” says Rob Cash, CEO, appliedlogx (www.appliedlogx.com). “VOS overcomes those challenges through a robust, web-enabled application that manages the entire process, from initial order processing to equipment ordering and tracking through installation and turn-up to ongoing customer service.”

Because traditional last-mile support typically required a physical presence to handle installation, trouble-shooting and ongoing customer service, outsourced installation providers were limited by their geographic scope. However, today’s advanced telecommunication technologies mean installation and repairs can often be handled remotely. VOS manages that process and, when on-site work is required, provides immediate access to a nationwide network of highly qualified technicians.

The VOS core engine is comprised of four key components:

• Order Management, a web-based ticketing program that creates service orders, provides auto-cost calculations and instant dispatch visibility, as well as manages in-process orders. The Order Management tool tracks items serviced and parts/labor used on an order, tracks exchanges for customer inventory and manages quality control.
• Equipment Fulfillment, which provides online ordering capabilities, order tracking, multiple location tracking and purchase order status, and manages existing vendor relationships. The Equipment tool records automatic transfer per location, tracks serial numbers and MAC addresses, tracks login and passwords and delivery assemblies and kits.
• Installation/Deployment, which captures all user information, manages parent-child relationships, provides quick information for deployment and manages a delivery flow based on FOC dates and CPE delivery. Through the Installation tool, users can quickly dispatch experienced technicians who possess all the current certifications and who have committed to following the appliedlogx Scorecard System, which measures and monitors each process and provides the feedback that is essential to successes.
• Customer Service, which provides Tier One and Tier Two customer support, including the ability to conduct remote configurations and remotely capture call information on demand for analysis and repair. The Customer Service module also manages billing and finance, inside sales and quality control.

VOS installation service offers flat rate pricing to its customers – a telecommunication industry first. It also provides a knowledge base to improve troubleshooting and decrease truck rolls. VOS service components can be purchased individually or as a complete operations platform.

“VOS users benefit from increased efficiency in responding to customer issues as well as the quality of service derived from our nationwide coverage ability,” says Cash. “It’s a turnkey solution for any traditional and non-traditional telecommunication service provider wishing to reduce operating costs, increase geographic reach and enhance the quality of their customer service.”

Verso Technologies, Inc. VRSO(Nasdaq: VRSO), a leading provider of packet based solutions, announced today that Splendor Telecom, an international carrier, has selected the Verso I-Master(R) solution to expand its suite of local and wholesale services in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa (EMEA) regions.

Splendor will utilize the Verso solution to strengthen its position in the EMEA wholesale pre-paid market in addition offering to VoIP services. Splendor chose the I-Master system after considering several incumbent products, as Verso’s robust solution offered the highest level of stability and reliability, while streamlining revenue and billing issues.

Verso’s I-Master solution provides a superior feature and services platform for service providers seeking to deliver voice and data services that increase revenues and promote customer loyalty, without sacrificing the revenue assurance of the pre-paid model. With a unique and intuitive interface, the Verso solution allows service providers such as Splendor to easily manage complex rating schemes required in a dynamic market like the EMEA Region. The I-Master solution uses an Oracle database running on the Solaris operating system to deliver maximum performance and reliability to service provider networks.

“The I-Master platform’s unique features and services, as well as its ability to preserve the revenue assurance model, were key in Splendor’s selection,” said Monty Bannerman, chief executive officer, Verso Technologies. “Splendor recognized a unique opportunity to deploy in-demand services that will facilitate greater market share,” added Bannerman. “The Middle East is a key emerging market for Verso that will increasingly require complete and bundled solutions.”

“The I-Master solution will streamline our sales process by providing a single price solution, which is particularly important as we work across many countries and currencies,” said Omar Onsi chairman and chief executive officer, Splendor Telecom. “In addition, the solution offers a vast variety of services within the same architecture.”

Telcordia Technologies, Inc. continues to lead the transformation of the telecommunications industry by delivering software innovations that meet carrier demands in a dynamic business environment. The company today announced that Hydro One Telecom Inc., a provider of broadband telecommunications services to carriers, large enterprises and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), has selected Discovery, a new module of Telcordia(R) Granite Inventory, to perform network asset discovery and reconciliation to their existing Granite Inventory database.

“Our goal is to have a synchronized database that matches the equipment as it is actually deployed in our network. Deploying the new Discovery Module in our Telcordia Granite Inventory system will provide an immediate payback by enabling us to fulfill new services faster and with greater accuracy,” said Aaron Cheng, Director of IT Systems, Hydro One Telecom. “We looked at several options and Granite was a clear solution that offered truly integrated Discovery and reconciliation. With this new functionality plus Granite Inventory’s open and flexible architecture, complex IP services are even easier to design and implement.”

Hydro One Telecom is an innovative carrier that currently offers Transparent LAN, Private Line, and Internet Transit Services to its customers. Discovery will “talk” to the IP, and SONET networks that provide the foundation for these services by supporting 12 different types of equipment provided by five different vendors. In addition, Granite Inventory with Discovery will help Hydro One Telecom easily scale to accommodate over 1,000 network devices.

“The complexity of today’s sophisticated telecom networks makes it increasingly difficult for carriers to manage and reconcile network assets and drive revenue through the quick and accurate turn-up of new services,” said Don Wadas, Corporate Vice President of Sales, Telcordia. “The addition of Discovery in Granite Inventory was inspired by the need for absolute and real-time accuracy of the inventory in order for carriers such as Hydro One Telecom to successfully provision advanced IP services and ensure a superior customer experience, exceptional flow through, and expeditious order to cash process.”

Telcordia Granite Inventory is an award-winning, fully J2EE compliant solution that provides an open and flexible data model that stores the entire multi-vendor, multi-technology network image of sites, equipment, configurations & services, and automates service & network provisioning. The Discovery module (Discovery), now available as an integral component of the Telcordia(R) Granite Inventory system, provides discovery with reconciliation to the Granite Inventory database for next generation technologies and services, including optical, SONET/SDH, ATM, Frame Relay, DSL, Ethernet, IP, 3G, GPRS, MPLS, GSM, UMTS, CDMA, and WCDMA.

Discovery sits on the Granite application framework (GAF), providing a tight integration of the discovery software with the entire Granite Inventory product suite. This allows customers to deploy the discovery capability without paying an up-front “integration tax”. In contrast, other vendor solutions require costly and time-consuming development work before launch, thus indefinitely extending ROI and payback periods. Telcordia Granite Inventory has proven performance and production ready credentials in Tier 1 operators around the world. More information on Telcordia Granite Inventory and other Telcordia solutions can be found on the web at www.telcordia.com.

Comverse Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CMVT) today announced that Comverse Inc. completed its acquisition of the GSS division and certain related assets of CSG Systems International, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGS), for approximately $249 million in cash, subject to certain post closing adjustments. The combination of GSS, a leader in software-based billing solutions, with Comverse’s Real-Time Billing group is expected to expand significantly Comverse’s addressable market, and enhance its leadership position in the emerging converged billing market, serving wireless, wireline, cable, satellite, and Internet-based service providers.

GSS brings to Comverse a broad suite of software-based billing solutions, supporting the voice, data, video, and e-commerce offerings of approximately 150 service providers, including wireless, wireline, cable, satellite, and Internet-based companies. GSS customers include, among others, Bharti, British Sky Broadcasting, BSNL, BT, China Telecom, eBay, France Telecom, O2, Telecom Italia and certain Vodafone entities.

Kobi Alexander, Chairman and CEO of Comverse Technology, said, “We believe the emerging converged billing market is approaching an inflection point, and that a significant growth opportunity is at hand. Converged billing is expected to be among the fast growing, and ultimately one of the largest, segments of the overall billing market. This combination is projected to enhance our leadership position as a supplier of converged billing solutions, and to open up cross-selling growth opportunities for data, messaging, content, and billing solutions into our respective customer bases.”

Zeev Bregman, CEO of Comverse, the company’s network systems unit, said, “GSS complements our product portfolio, technology, customer footprint, and strategic direction. Most service providers today rely on disparate solutions for billing, including highly customized, inflexible systems serving specific customer and application segments, including prepaid, post-paid, fixed, and wireless. As services and networks converge, so too will billing solutions, addressing the different types of convergence, such as prepaid/post-paid, fixed/mobile, and data/voice. We believe that flexible, software-centric product modules, such as those provided by GSS and Comverse, are best suited to meet the needs of service providers going forward. In addition, we believe service providers will appreciate the advantages of having both value-added services and billing solutions provided by the same supplier. The advantages include faster time-to-market for new services, greater flexibility in service segmentation, modification, and targeted marketing campaigns, and lower total cost of ownership. This growth-driven initiative is expected to position Comverse for long-term leadership in the emerging and expanding converged billing market, expand our customer base and scale, enhance the leadership position of both GSS and Comverse in their respective domains, and introduce new cross-selling growth opportunities into both customer bases.”

The combination of GSS and Comverse’s Real-Time Billing group is expected to result in the creation of a leading supplier of converged billing solutions, and one of the leading overall suppliers of billing solutions for wireless and fixed service providers.

Emblaze Ltd (“Emblaze or “the Group”) (LSE:BLZ) announces that its Group company, Adamind Ltd (“Adamind” or “the Company”) (LSE:ADA), a leading global supplier of media adaptation software in the Mobile Messaging (MMS), Content and Convergence Services markets, together with LogicaCMG and Optus, a multi-million dollar contract for the deployment of a world-first end-to-end content management solution.

Optus, a leading telecommunications operator in Australia, has deployed a state-of-the-art content management solution that includes search, digital rights management (DRM) and transcoding.

LogicaCMG has been appointed the prime contractor of this new solution, delivering solution design, project management, software implementation, systems integration, migration, and ongoing support for a consortium of global partners.

Adamind’s MediaSpire software which sits at the heart of LogicaCMG’s MMSC will be adapting all content to be delivered to any handset within Australia.

Allen Lew, Managing Director Optus Consumer said, “With the launch of 3G this year, we see content as strategically important to our mobile business. The solution LogicaCMG has designed will allow us to launch some very exciting services.”

LogicaCMG’s extensive industry expertise made it an ideal supplier for Optus. Its systems deliver two out of every three text messages and its messaging and billing solutions are deployed by 300 of the world’s top operators in over 130 countries.

LogicaCMG’s end-to-end service works with clients to design robust business models and service infrastructures, harnessing global experience as a leading systems integrator. LogicaCMG’s innovations have been helping to make and shape the global telecoms market for more than 30 years. Having deployed the world’s first and only fully integrated 3G IP-based messaging solution and migrated more than 50 operators to an IP-based messaging environment, LogicaCMG’s expertise enables operators to assure innovation in Next Generation telecoms.

Tango Telecom, the leading provider of convergent charging and intelligent messaging solutions, today announced the successful deployment of the Tango CCN as part of two compact cellular networks Alvarion installed for telecommunications provider, Outremer Telecom. The deployment will provide real-time data services to the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe and French Guiana.

The Tango CCN was deployed to enable real-time GPRS charging for prepaid and postpaid subscribers. The Tango CCN provides real-time metering and control of GPRS traffic and content for Outremer’s prepaid subscribers, with a seamless integration to the Alvarion IN prepaid system. The CCN also provides billable CDRs for postpaid subscriber activities.

“We’re delighted to work with Alvarion to deliver our charging solution to Outremer Telecom”, said Colm Ward, CEO of Tango. “We expect that this first installation will lead to further joint opportunities on a global basis”, he added.

MobilePro Corporpation (OTC Bulletin Board: MOBL), a wireless technology and broadband telecommunications company, announced today that CEO Jay Wright will be a featured speaker at the Telecom IQ MVNO Summit conference in Miami today, Dec. 7, at 11 a.m. Eastern.

The MVNO Summit will be held at the Radisson Hotel in Miami. For more details, visit http://www.iqpc.com/telecomiq .

About MobilePro Corp.
MobilePro Corp. is one of North America’s leading wireless broadband companies, serving over 20,000 wireless broadband customers through its subsidiaries NeoReach Wireless and Kite Broadband. The company, based in Bethesda, Md., is focused on creating shareholder value by acquiring and growing profitable telecommunications companies, developing innovative wireless technologies and forging strategic alliances with well-positioned companies in complementary product lines and industries. MobilePro serves over 200,000 total customers throughout the United States, primarily through its CloseCall America, American Fiber Network, Kite Broadband and Nationwide Internet subsidiaries.

Narus, Inc. today announced that it has signed an agreement with VeriSign, Inc. that allows VeriSign to offer the entire suite of Narus products to its global customer base as managed services or licensed software. This includes capabilities for security, traffic analysis and lawful interception.

The first Narus product being offered by VeriSign is Narus LI for IP lawful intercept, one of the industry’s most comprehensive IP lawful intercept products for carrier-grade networks. The product has been integrated into the VeriSign NetDiscovery(TM) service — which is a cost-effective alternative to building an in-house proprietary lawful interception solution — that meets the legal, technical and operational requirements needed to support end-to-end compliance for circuit-switched or IP-based technologies. The service helps providers that are responding to requests for collection of subscriber information, historical billing, call detail records and real-time lawful interception.

“VeriSign is the leader in delivering intelligent infrastructure services that enable and protect interactions across voice and data networks,” said Raj Puri, vice president, Communications Business Development, VeriSign. “This agreement with Narus allows us to leverage the Narus highly scalable carrier-grade platform to extend our leadership in IP security and compliance management.”

NarusSecure, Narus LI, NarusAnalyze and NarusMediate are part of the industry’s only complete, high-performance IP security and monitoring system that can be implemented at the network core to analyze and correlate traffic in real-time. The Narus system gives customers the power to dynamically secure their entire network, while managing critical next-generation IP services such as VoIP, IMS and IPTV. Narus enables the flexibility for carriers to quickly adjust to market trends and changing regulatory mandates while providing the infrastructure to manage, protect, and create new services — all on a single common platform.

“Narus has built a global reputation for providing the industry’s highest performance IP security and monitoring system, protecting many of the world’s largest and most critical networks,” said Greg Oslan, CEO, Narus. “This agreement will marry VeriSign’s unparalleled brand with the scalability and flexibility of the Narus system to create the industry’s most complete suite of managed services for IP networks.”

appliedlogx, a leading provider of communication infrastructure engineering, procurement and installation services to the telecommunications industry, has launched Virtual Operations Services (VOS), a web-based operations support platform designed to help telecommunications, cable and VoIP service providers deliver comprehensive services to the residential and business marketplace.

“Installation services have primarily been delivered by the internal staff of service providers due to operational and logistical challenges,” says Rob Cash, CEO, appliedlogx – http://www.appliedlogx.com – . “VOS overcomes those challenges through a robust, web-enabled application that manages the entire process, from initial order processing to equipment ordering and tracking through installation and turn-up to ongoing customer service.”

Because traditional last-mile support typically required a physical presence to handle installation, trouble-shooting and ongoing customer service, outsourced installation providers were limited by their geographic scope. However, today’s advanced telecommunication technologies mean installation and repairs can often be handled remotely. VOS manages that process and, when on-site work is required, provides immediate access to a nationwide network of highly qualified technicians.

The VOS core engine is comprised of four key components:

— Order Management, a web-based ticketing program that creates service orders, provides auto-cost calculations and instant dispatch visibility, as well as manages in-process orders. The Order Management tool tracks items serviced and parts/labor used on an order, tracks exchanges for customer inventory and manages quality control.

— Equipment Fulfillment, which provides online ordering capabilities, order tracking, multiple location tracking and purchase order status, and manages existing vendor relationships. The Equipment tool records automatic transfer per location, tracks serial numbers and MAC addresses, tracks login and passwords and delivery assemblies and kits.

— Installation/Deployment, which captures all user information, manages parent-child relationships, provides quick information for deployment and manages a delivery flow based on FOC dates and CPE delivery. Through the Installation tool, users can quickly dispatch experienced technicians who possess all the current certifications and who have committed to following the appliedlogx Scorecard System, which measures and monitors each process and provides the feedback that is essential to successes.

— Customer Service, which provides Tier One and Tier Two customer support, including the ability to conduct remote configurations and remotely capture call information on demand for analysis and repair. The Customer Service module also manages billing and finance, inside sales and quality control.

VOS installation service offers flat rate pricing to its customers – a telecommunication industry first. It also provides a knowledge base to improve troubleshooting and decrease truck rolls. VOS service components can be purchased individually or as a complete operations platform.

“VOS users benefit from increased efficiency in responding to customer issues as well as the quality of service derived from our nationwide coverage ability,” says Cash. “It’s a turnkey solution for any traditional and non-traditional telecommunication service provider wishing to reduce operating costs, increase geographic reach and enhance the quality of their customer service.”

About appliedlogx
Based in Tampa, appliedlogx – http://www.appliedlogx.com – provides communication infrastructure engineering, procurement and installation services. The Company’s technical capacity extends from the telecom central office to the final communications infrastructures of end users. Customers include Verizon, Covad and Sprint, as well as end users installation for Starbucks, Dominos Pizza and Target.

The Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) Group and Connectiva Systems, a leading provider of revenue assurance solutions to the telecom industry worldwide has won the prestigious World Billing Award – “Best Revenue Assurance / Management Project” — awarded by the Institute for International Research (IIR). Connectiva Systems was awarded this recognition for implementing its ONEREViEW(TM) revenue assurance solution at the MTC Group, and demonstrating a compelling Return on Investment (ROI) for the project while delivering the desired functionality on time and under budget.

Launched in 1997, the World Billing Awards are widely regarded as the highest recognition of billing excellence within the telecom industry. The winners were selected in April 2005 and the award ceremony took place on December 6, 2005 in Madrid. Connectiva Systems was named joint-winner with the MTC Group for the “Best Revenue Assurance Project” for 2005.

Hugh Roberts, presenting the award as chairman of the World Billing Awards judging panel, said, “We introduced the ‘Best Revenue Assurance / Revenue Management Project’ award this year not only as a reflection of the increasing role that revenue assurance is playing in delivering operational effectiveness but also to increase awareness of this amongst the global service provider community. We were delighted that the competition in this new category was so fierce, and the winners are indeed worthy of industry acknowledgement. In the case of the MTC Group deployment, the Judging Panel were particularly impressed by the fact that Connectiva were able to demonstrate some arduous proof of concept requirements and Total Cost of Ownership benefits prior to being awarded the contract, and that the solution was selected and implemented successfully on the basis of scalability, adaptability and with continuous functional change in mind.”

“We are honored to receive this award,” said Mark Trudeau, CEO of Connectiva Systems. “Progressive telecom operators like the MTC Group, who want to maximize the lifetime value of their customers, understand the value of getting visibility over their revenue chain. ONEREViEW(TM)’s unique process-based approach to revenue assurance helps them achieve this objective.”

Venkatesh Jandhyala, Group Revenue Assurance Manager, MTC Group said, “We are delighted to share this winner’s award with Connectiva Systems. Our achievement is a product of the RA philosophy gaining company-wide acceptance and working with a vendor who shares a commitment to our corporate values and objectives. We hope that our success will prompt other operators to take up the challenges of revenue assurance seriously and partner with a good vendor to ensure successful outcomes. This is indicative of our goal to control our revenue cycle and minimize revenue loss, thereby enhancing value for all shareholders in the MTC Group.”

Tekmark Global Solutions LLC, one of the largest privately held providers of information technology, communications and consulting services to companies worldwide, today announced that Bill Wanke has been named to the dual roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer.

Mr. Wanke fills these responsibilities after a remarkable 25-year career at Telcordia Technologies where he most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Telcordia’s Software Systems Organization. At Telcordia, Mr. Wanke managed a team of 2,000 software professionals, leading the organization to impressive results in productivity, quality and service delivery excellence.

“Bill will help expand our current market share by leveraging his industry experience in technology and operations,” said Guy DelGrande, president of Tekmark Global Solutions. “Bill’s proven leadership ability and his vast experience will help Tekmark to continue to grow as a global provider of information technology and telecom services.”

Previously, Mr. Wanke was the Vice President of several of Telcordia’s OSS business units with responsibility for business and software operations. Under his leadership, Mr. Wanke’s business units realized significant earnings increases. Mr. Wanke began his career as a software engineer and held several engineering and management positions where he directed OSS and network systems platform development.

“Tekmark is a market leader with unmatched capability, outstanding leadership, and a long track record of success and customer delight,” said Wanke, “The chance to leverage these assets in a robust services marketplace is a tremendous opportunity – I’m very excited by the prospects and look forward to helping the company to realize it’s potential.”

Wanke holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor’s Degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

NMS Communications (NASDAQ: NMSS), a leading provider of technologies and solutions for mobile applications and infrastructure, today announced it is enabling application developers to build cost-effective, IP video over broadband applications with the introduction of its Video Access 2.0 mobile and IP video applications toolkit (http://www.nmscommunications.com/videoaccess).

Video Access 2.0 works with NMS’s carrier-class CG series of high performance media processing boards, including the recently introduced CG 6565. In conjunction with the Video Access 2.0 toolkit, the company is also announcing its Video Transcoder 2.0 networked transcoding software (http://www.nmscommunications.com/VideoTranscoder), which can be used with the Video Access 2.0 toolkit or separately. Video Transcoder 2.0 enables enhanced streaming video capabilities that support CIF (common interchange format) screen resolution.

Solution developers such as Italy-based Reitek are seeing high demand for solutions that enable IP video over broadband. “The rate of change from audio to video VoIP services is indicative of a real explosion in that market. Within just one year of going mainstream with audio capabilities, VoIP providers are already offering support for SIP-based video phones,” said Daniele Barki, CEO of Reitek. “Video Access 2.0 will enable developers like ourselves to participate in that explosion.”

The early market for video communications has been mobile video services using the 3G-324M mobile format. By extending video capabilities to broadband, Video Access 2.0 is dramatically extending the size of the available video communications market to include both wireless and wireline VoIP consumers. Analysts predict that by 2006, revenue for VoIP equipment alone will already be worth $5.7 billion, with a 60 percent growth rate expected by 2008. The advent of new SIP-based video phones allows developers using the Video Access 2.0 toolkit to attach themselves to that six billion dollar a year and growing market.

“This is about the evolution of entertainment and communications,” said Mike Katz, director of product marketing for NMS Communications. “Technology such as Video Access 2.0 is bringing visual communications to a much larger target market by making it available through the oldest communication technology known to our culture – the telephone.”

With Video Access 2.0, developers can now deploy high performance video applications on either a 3G-324M or an IP network. When used in conjunction with NMS’s high performance CG 6565 platform, Video Access 2.0 is able to double the number of video ports provided. Video Access 2.0 includes support for CIF video streams from multiple vendors’ SIP phones, transcoding and transrating of CIF, video tromboning and streaming gateway support for SIP-based IP video terminals.

Visual Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: VNWK) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Fluke Electronics Corporation, a subsidiary of Danaher Corporation, for $1.83 per share. Visual Networks will be included in the Fluke Networks business. The closing of the transaction is subject to Visual Networks shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary conditions and is expected to occur during the first quarter 2006.

Visual Networks, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, United States, is a leading provider of network and application performance management solutions. The company’s technologies enable enterprises to reliably and securely manage the delivery and performance of key applications such as Voice over IP (VoIP) across their infrastructures. The company had revenues of $52 million in 2004.

“We are looking forward to becoming an important part of an already successful organization that is clearly focused on our enterprise management market,” said Lawrence S. Barker, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Visual Networks. “We see tremendous opportunity to meld our managed services capabilities with Fluke Networks’ successful Enterprise Division.”

FairPoint Communications, Inc. (NYSE: FRP) today announced that it will transition from its current telecom billing provider to a new telecom billing provider. As a result of FairPoint’s settlement with its current telecom billing provider, the conversion process is expected to be completed at very little additional cost to the Company.

FairPoint’s current billing provider has contracted to sell the software underlying the Company’s current telecom billing system and has agreed not to add any new customers to its service bureau platform. FairPoint has selected Mid America Computer Corporation (MACC) as its new provider of billing services. The MACC-Customer Master platform is currently running in 223 independent telecommunications companies.

FairPoint estimates that the cost to convert all of its companies to the new telecom billing service provider will be approximately $5.5 million. FairPoint is due to receive $4.0 million from its current billing provider, and will not be required to pay $1.2 million in accrued but unpaid conversion fees. FairPoint expects to complete the conversion process for most of its companies by the middle of 2006, with all companies being converted by early 2007.

“We expect a much smoother conversion because we now have an experienced telecom billing partner in MACC and a seasoned project team who know what to anticipate as we move through this process,” said Gene Johnson, CEO for FairPoint. “Our experiences have taught us to choose vendors who have an intimate knowledge of our industry. MACC has been in operation in telecommunications billing for over 30 years. They know our business and we know them well. Our Midwest companies have been operating on the legacy MACC platform for years, so our confidence in MACC is high. In addition, MACC has dramatically increased the functionality of its platform since we initially looked at it several years ago, making it a leader in the telecommunications billing industry.”

The MACC-Customer Master platform includes features that will allow increased opportunities for FairPoint. These include enhanced target marketing capabilities, customized bills, and clear organization of customer data to assist customer service, sales and technical personnel. MACC’s systems and processes are known for good quality assurance and effective change management.

About FairPoint
FairPoint is a leading provider of communications services to rural communities across the country. Incorporated in 1991, FairPoint’s mission is to acquire and operate telecommunications companies that set the standard of excellence for the delivery of service to rural communities. Today, FairPoint owns and operates 28 rural local exchange companies (RLECs) located in 17 states, offering an array of services, including local and long distance voice, data, Internet and broadband offerings.

Air Broadband Communications, Inc., an innovative wireless IP switch-router company, today announced that it joined the WiMAX Forum(TM), the industry organization that promotes the interoperability and certification of broadband wireless products based on the IEEE 802.16 standard.

Air Broadband’s wireless switch-router solutions, based on IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN and IEEE 802.16 WiMAX, are field-proven to provide fast layer 2/3 roaming and scalability in multi-cell networks, enabling real-time applications and management capabilities. Air Broadband’s wireless switch-router implementations for WiMAX ACR (Access Control Router) provide IP Mobility, multi-vendor base stations Compatibility, wide Scalability and per flow QoS (MCSQ(TM)) improvements needed for WiMAX deployment. In addition to participating in the WiMAX Forum, Air Broadband is promoting interoperability among different base stations as well as ACRs. Air Broadband’s antenna profiling technique allows operators to mix and match different base stations in the same region for any particular preference in performance and/or price.

The WiMAX Forum is striving to create economies of scale made possible by standards-based, interoperable products that drive price and performance levels not achievable by proprietary approaches. WiMAX technology is designed to help service providers across global markets deliver economical broadband data, voice, and video services to both residential and business customers.

“We are pleased to be a member of the WiMAX Forum,” said Kenneth Kang, Air Broadband’s President. “The Forum is essential to the development of the WiMAX market, as ACR is essential to real WiMAX deployment case. Air Broadband’s real-world experience in broadband wireless switch-router will connect many base stations from many different vendors and provide IP mobility and QoS needed for all the exciting applications of WiMAX.”

Nokia today announced its plans to expand its mobile device production in Dongguan, China. This expansion will provide more capacity and flexibility to meet the growing market demand worldwide, especially China and Asia. Dongguan is a strategic location for Nokia’s global supply network for mobile devices. Increasing capacity in Dongguan will help Nokia to improve its competitive position in the fast-growing Chinese and Asian markets.

Nokia anticipates the factory expansion will begin production in the third quarter of 2006, and expects to ramp up gradually, with the work force reaching approximately 1900 employees when production is at full scale. The expanded production facilities will be located adjacent to Nokia’s existing facility.

“Our already well-established presence in Dongguan made the decision to expand the manufacturing facility easy. Dongguan is an elementary part of our global manufacturing network as a cost-efficient and well-functioning facility, and we believe that the expansion will further benefit our customers in the highly competitive and rapidly growing Chinese and Asian markets,” said Raimo Puntala, Senior Vice President, Operations and Logistics, Nokia.

Nokia currently has nine mobile device factories globally. In addition, the Nokia Chennai plant in India is planned to be operational in the first half of 2006. Nokia has six R&D units, four manufacturing sites and widespread operations in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The total number of Nokia employees in China area is nearly 6,000.

SunCom Wireless has selected Ericsson’s (NASDAQ:ERICY) Mobile Softswitch solution for its next generation core throughout the operator’s footprint in the southeastern United States. Additionally, the two companies will conduct IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) trials to prepare the operator’s network for next generation capabilities.

Under the agreement, SunCom has begun to deploy Ericsson’s Mobile Softswitch solution to carry voice and data traffic in 3GPP Release 4- compliant network architecture. After just two months of installation and smooth implementation, the softswitch started full commercial operation in September; full deployment is scheduled for completion in 2006. Ericsson is also providing network design services, training and on-site support.

The IMS trial will help SunCom prepare to deploy rich communication services – such as video telephony, conference calling, document-sharing web pages (collaboration) and presence management – in its IP network. Ericsson’s UMA solution, [email protected], allows the delivery of services from the mobile network – such as voice, voicemail, SMS, MMS and GPRS – using broadband and unlicensed radio spectrum such as WiFi or Bluetooth.

Angel Ruiz, head of Ericsson North America, says: “SunCom is already seeing the benefits of reduced transmission costs. Ericsson’s Mobile Softswitch design, with its distributed architecture, has made the SunCom transport network more efficient.”

“The network enhancements this architecture supports will help SunCom achieve convergence between the circuit-switched and packet-switched components of its networks, which is necessary for an efficient evolution to all-IP,” Ruiz adds.

SunCom Wireless Vice President of Engineering Scott Basham says: “Ericsson’s reputation for providing high-quality switching equipment and its commitment to meet a demanding deployment schedule won them the business. They exceeded our expectations by providing the first phase of softswitch deployment, from purchase order to commercial service, in fewer than 120 days. Twenty percent of SunCom’s network is now on Ericsson’s softswitch, and it has performed flawlessly. Partnering with Ericsson and their MSS solution has proven to be a sound business decision.”

Ericsson was the first vendor to deploy softswitch solutions for telephony networks and leads the industry with 55 fully commercial networks. Today, Ericsson has 30 live, commercially deployed mobile softswitch networks on all continents.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

About SunCom Wireless
SunCom Wireless, based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, is licensed to provide digital wireless communications services in an area covering 14.3 million people in the Southeastern United States and 4.0 million people in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

BEA Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAS), a world leader in enterprise infrastructure software, today announced results for its fiscal third quarter. For the third quarter ended Oct. 31, 2005, BEA reported record total revenues of $291.5 million, up 10% from $264.4 million in last year’s third quarter. For the third quarter, BEA reported license revenues of $121.3 million, up 6% from $114.9 million a year ago, and services revenue of $170.2 million, up 14% from $149.5 million a year ago. For the third quarter, on a generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) basis, BEA reported operating income of $49.7 million, compared to $49.7 million a year ago. BEA reported GAAP third quarter net income of$37.1 million, up 11% from $33.5 million a year ago, and GAAP diluted net income per share of $0.09, up from $0.08 a year ago. BEA generated third quarter cash flow from operations of $65.4 million, up 19% from $55.1 million a year ago.

BEA reported third quarter non-GAAP net income of $42.7 million, up 17% from $36.5 million a year ago, and non-GAAP diluted net income per share of $0.11, compared to $0.09 a year ago. Non-GAAP results exclude certain acquisition-related expenses, net gains or losses on investments in equity securities, facilities consolidation and other non-recurring charges. A reconciliation of non-GAAP adjustments is summarized on pages six and seven of this release. For full details on BEA’s reported results, see the financial tables accompanying this release.

“For the second quarter in a row, we achieved year-over-year and sequential license revenue growth in Q3. Our license revenue growth rate accelerated in Q3, and we forecast accelerated license revenue growth again in the fourth quarter,” said Alfred Chuang, chairman and chief executive officer, BEA Systems, Inc. “Congratulations to the entire BEA team, and especially the Americas team, on a great quarter. The Americas team delivered our highest revenue performance ever in the Americas, and grew revenue 17% over last year, their third consecutive quarter of double digit growth. Our WebLogic Server business continued to grow faster than industry analyst projections for the app server market. In addition, contribution accelerated from our new product lines, particularly our new AquaLogic product family. We had our first multi-million dollar stand-alone order for our new AquaLogic Service Bus, and our AquaLogic product family contributed to seven out of our 19 $1 million license deals.”

“BEA is on the move. We are making strides in executing our focused strategy to deliver innovative and robust infrastructure software to our customers. Our product strategy includes enhancing our entire product portfolio while delivering a new product family that builds on our performance lead in the core application server market and opens opportunities for BEA in new growth markets,” said Chuang. “In the core product set, we are delivering innovative new features that make it easier for customers to build, deploy and manage large-scale mission-critical systems. We are expanding the core application infrastructure into new growth areas, such as SIP support for VOIP and the triple-play opportunity in the telco market, as well as edge server technology for the RFID market. And we have built a new service infrastructure layer, the AquaLogic product family, to support SOA. To supplement our internal development, we have expanded our technology portfolio and development teams with acquisitions such as Plumtree, Compoze, ConnecTerra, M7 and SolarMetric. In addition to the talent these acquisitions have added to our technology and development teams, they have also added important new customer and partner relationships.”

Estimates for the year 2005 from Teleseeq, InfoCom’s market intelligence solution, show BT with the lowest market share among the 5 countries studied, dropping to about 66.6% from 67.3% in 2004. France Telecom will still hold a significant share of the market at 85.2% while Telecom Italia will have 83.9% of the market followed by Spain’s Telefonica with 80.5% and Deutsche Telekom with 79.9% (all figures are based on a net revenue evaluation incl. wholesale activities).

About Teleseeq
Teleseeq is a decision-making tool developed over a long history of data collection and analysis. Teleseeq provides comparable and reliable data at your fingertips to help you with strategic research and planning. Teleseeq ensures that you maintain a competitive edge in the telecommunications industry.

Teleseeq provides key information for:

Competitor tracking
Commercial forecasting
Consumption analysis
Pricing & cost analysis
Trends identification
Market potential evaluation

About InfoCom
InfoCom is a market research and consultancy company with almos 20 years experience providing strategic planning assistance to stakeholders in the telecommunications and multimedia industry. InfoCom’s independent and fact-based perspective on the telecommunications and multimedia environment contributes to decision makers understanding of market dynamics, trends and opportunities in the key markets.

3G Americas today announced that Telefonica Moviles, the second-largest multinational wireless operator in the world, is appointed to its Board of Governors effective January 1, 2006. Telefonica Moviles joins a distinguished Board that is comprised of seventeen leading operators and manufacturers who support 3G Americas’ mission to promote and facilitate the seamless deployment throughout the Americas of GSM and its evolution to 3G and beyond.

Chris Pearson, president of 3G Americas, commended the election saying, “Telefonica Moviles is a strong addition to our Board of Governors, and we welcome its added strategic insight as a leading global wireless carrier with operations in thirteen Latin American and Caribbean countries. We value the contribution that Telefonica Moviles will bring to our Board’s initiatives to continue the GSM momentum and its evolution to 3G in the region.”

“Telefonica Moviles was the first operator to launch EDGE services in Latin America in October 2003, and we look toward continuing to improve the advancement and future development of the GSM evolution throughout the region,” said Daniel Arias, Director, Regulations Division, Institutional Relations and Social Responsibility for Telefonica Moviles. “The opportunity to work strategically with an organization such as 3G Americas will help Telefonica Moviles to provide a cohesive and harmonious delivery of advanced wireless services across the continent in the many countries in which we operate.”

3G Americas’ Board of Governors members include: Andrew Corporation, Cingular Wireless (USA), Cable & Wireless (West Indies), Ericsson, Gemplus, HP, Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Openwave Systems, Research In Motion, Rogers Wireless (Canada), Siemens, T-Mobile USA, Telcel (Mexico), Texas Instruments and, now, Telefonica Moviles.