RateIntegration, the leading provider of Revenue Lifecycle Management Solutions, today announced that Sicap AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Swisscom Mobile, has selected RateIntegration’s PriceMaker Enterprise Pricing Server as the core pricing server for its prepaid wireless, assurance, and loyalty platforms.
The PriceMaker software architecture offers extremely flexible real-time pricing and rating. These capabilities enable companies to rapidly deploy innovative 3G and other service bundles. Further, PriceMaker-enabled solutions have been designed to be IMS-ready so that operators can take advantage of the emerging 3GPP standards framework for monetizing IP services.
Sicap’s unique configuration-driven pricing and charging platform will enable fast service rollouts for operators, in addition to very low total cost of ownership. The service upgrade will also ensure operator charging and billing software is effectively ‘future-proofed’ and provides pre-determined expansion routes to next-generation platforms such as IMS.
Sicap has partnered with RateIntegration, provider of revenue lifecycle management solutions, to provide the new Price Broker Suite and complement Sicap’s overall strategy and vision. Crucially, the new platform will see a reduction in the overall time to market for Sicap products, including Pre-paid Billing, Revenue Manager and Loyalty Manager.
Kam Mehta, channel and business development manager for Sicap, commented, “The charging and billing environment in the mobile space is continually developing to meet consumer needs, and operators are under pressure to act fast to prepare themselves for the challenges that lie ahead. Both Sicap and RateIntegration are working to fulfill the needs of our customers, and prepare their technology for future mobile applications, such as IMS, and next generation networks.â€
Juniper Research has forecast that the annual growth rate for expenditure on new convergent mobile prepaid/postpaid solutions will average 30% per annum to 2011. Expenditure is forecast to grow from $299m in 2006 to just over $1.1bn by 2011 as operators strive for competitive advantage and improved operational efficiency. The largest expenditure over the 2006 to 2011 period is forecast to be in Europe due to the complex legacy charging environments installed in most established operators.
Thomas Thekkethala, RateIntegration’s CEO, said, “We are excited about working with Sicap to upgrade their existing pre-paid, assurance, and loyalty platforms. With PriceMaker, Sicap’s Tier 1 carrier customers will be able to launch new services without the need for costly software upgrades or on-going technical projects.
About Sicap
Sicap is a software company based in Bern, Switzerland that develops and provides mobile applications and network products for GSM operators. Sicap’s goal is to continuously improve and innovate by adding value through ingenuity. Since 1995 Sicap has focused on cost-effective products and solutions that minimize infrastructure upgrades, thereby ensuring a quick return on investment for our customers. Sicap provides solutions in the areas of Charging & Rating and (U)SIM & Device Management.
About RateIntegration
RateIntegration provides enterprise wide pricing and rating solutions to software, service, and system integration companies developing high performance enterprise applications for use in the telecommunications, media, retail, insurance, and financial services industries. The Company’s flagship PriceMaker™ Enterprise Pricing Server product was designed specifically to leverage existing infrastructure software investments by easily integrating with other enterprise applications and data sources. RateIntegration’s customer base includes software and service companies worldwide including BT Group, TeliaSoneraSergel, Subex-Azure Ltd, MTC-Vodafone, Telefonica, and Starhub. RateIntegration has offices in the United States and Europe. More information can be found on the Company’s Web Site at www.rateintegration.com or by contacting us at +1-720-320-1161.
About Swisscom Mobile
With a market share of approximately 65 percent, Swisscom Mobile is the market leader in the Swiss mobile communications sector. In Fiscal Year 2004, Swisscom Mobile generated a net revenue of CHF 4.4 billion and has a subscriber base of more than 4.3 million. Swisscom Mobile is a public limited company with shareholders Swisscom Ltd holding a 75 percent equity stake and the Vodafone Group Plc holding the remaining 25 percent. The company operates several state-of-the-art wireless networks: a nationwide GSM network (900/1800 MHz) which is enhanced with EDGE since Spring 2005, a UMTS network already covering approximately 90 percent of the populated area of Switzerland and WLAN-Internet access at more than 1,000 hotspots. This unique technology mix is the basis for a comprehensive mobile broadband network enabling high-quality mobile communication services. Swisscom Mobile launched UMTS-based services in November 2004, including live TV and video telephony. Its Mobile Unlimited PC card also offers an automatic, seamless and fast way to make mobile connections to the Internet. Swisscom Mobile’s services are not only available anywhere in Switzerland but also throughout the world via over 400 roaming partner networks.