A Big Thank You to our sponsors Cerillion, Agilent Technologies, MACH, LHS and Mobile World Congress for their help in bringing you VanillaPlus Bites.
Established in 1999, Cerillion Technologies provides carrier-grade CRM & billing, interconnect, mediation and provisioning solutions to fixed, mobile, IP and convergent telecom operators worldwide.
The Cerillion bundled component solution suite supports any deployment model: as an end-to-end pre-integrated business support system, managing the complete lifecycle of customers, products, services and revenues; in a mixed deployment, where selected modules may be replaced by 3rd party applications; or in a pure best-of-breed solution.
Cerillion solutions deliver the business agility needed to respond quickly and effectively in a highly competitive environment. Meet Cerillion at Mobile World Congress 2010, Hall 2, Stand 2D65. www.cerillion.com
Agilent Technologies is featuring in the first ever video Talking Heads where Jeremy Cowan Editor and Founder of VanillaPlus will be interviewing David Churchill, VP/General Manager at Agilent, who will be sharing his views about LTE and its impact on CEM, live from MWC 2010… Coming soon on the re-launched site of VanillaPlus at www.vanillaplus.com! www.agilent.com
MACH operates the world’s leading hub-based mobile communications exchange, uniting the global telecommunications marketplace.
MACH HUB-XC® provides the platform for the efficient exchange of mobile traffic, of service validation, delivery and billing information, and of settlement transactions. MACH is the largest provider of data and financial clearing solutions for wireless roaming and operates the world’s largest open connectivity roaming hub, Link2One.
Headquartered in Luxembourg, MACH has offices in 12 countries and employs more than 1,000 people worldwide. MACH serves more than 650 customers, including Orange, Vodafone, Verizon and Microsoft. www.mach.com
LHS, part of the Ericsson Group, is a leading independent software vendor (ISV) of billing and customer care systems in the telecom industry. LHS’ award-winning solution (BSCS) is used by the world’s leading network and virtual operators. BSCS offers convergence on various levels, supporting the complete range of business models including fixed and mobile services plus prepaid and postpaid services.
LHS’ systems enable customers to introduce new services fast, helping to increase revenues whilst keeping operational costs to a minimum.
LHS is based in Frankfurt with main offices in Brazil, France, Malaysia and the UAE. www.lhsgroup.com
The GSMA Mobile World Congress is the place for mobile leaders to gather, collaborate and conduct business and experience Vision In Action. In 2009, GSMA Mobile World Congress hosted approximately 47,000 mobile professionals from 182 countries. More than 50% of these were C-Level executives, and 9,000 of them represented mobile network operators from around the world. In addition, more than 2,400 members of the press reported from the event, representing more than 1,500 media groups from 76 countries. If your company wants to be a serious player in the mobile eco-system you can’t afford to miss the 2010 GSMA Mobile World Congress. The GSMA Mobile World Congress is the place for mobile leaders to gather, collaborate and conduct business and experience Vision In Action. www.mobileworldcongress.com
Free LIVE Webinar
Veronika Olsson Director Strategic Marketing & Research, LHS.
LHS to host on Wednesday 3 March, 2010 14:00 London, 15:00 Paris, 10:00 New York, 18:00 Dubai
Moderated by VanillaPlus, LHS will be hosting the next in our series of live, ‘Thought Leadership’ Webinars on Wednesday 3 March at 14:00 GMT (15.00 CET).
TOPIC: Integrated Billing and BI – Enabling the Next Generation Communications Experience
SPEAKERS: Veronika Olsson, Director Strategic Marketing & Research supported by Chris Yeadon, Director Product Marketing, LHS.
MODERATOR: Jeremy Cowan, Editorial Director, VanillaPlus.
Company News: Ericsson strengthens services capabilities with 1,000 system experts
Jan Frykhammer, CFO Ericsson
Ericsson acquires Italian Pride Spa, a consulting and systems integration company Ericsson, a leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators, has agreed to buy 100% of the shares in Pride Spa. Pride has about 1,000 experts in consulting and systems integration, operating in Italy.
Jan Frykhammar, CFO and head of Global Services business unit, says: “We are taking another important step to increase our capabilities in the growing services business. Consulting and systems integration are key areas in a more complex telecom environment when end-user services become more advanced and fixed and mobile networks converge. The acquisition brings 1,000 highly skilled employees to further strengthening our offering in the systems integration and consultancy field.” www.ericsson.com
Company News: Oracle acquires product data quality systems provider Silver Creek Systems
Product data quality to be enhanced Oracle has acquired Silver Creek Systems, Inc, a provider of product data quality solutions. Silver Creek’s DataLens® product data quality system is designed to simplify complex product descriptions found in many industries, enabling enterprises to more accurately manage product data. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Accurate product data improves time-to-market for new products, enhances supply chain execution, increases operational efficiencies, and facilitates better business decisions across the enterprise.
The combination of Silver Creek and Oracle is expected to enhance product data quality across enterprise applications including Oracle’s Product Information Management Data Hub, Agile Product Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain Management and Enterprise Resource Planning offerings.
The addition of Silver Creek products is designed to complement Oracle’s Information Management offerings, including Oracle Data Integration, Oracle Data Quality, Oracle Master Data Management, and Oracle Business Intelligence. www.oracle.com
Company News: Messaging sotware and services firm Critical Path buys ShoZu
Drive to grow delivery of consumer-focused mobile and social networking services Privately-held Critical Path, Inc, a provider of messaging software and services, has purchased the business and assets of ShoZu Ltd. The acquisition of ShoZu’s mobile social media services is said to significantly advance Critical Path’s delivery of consumer-focused mobile and social networking solutions across the entire range of mobile platforms.
Critical Path’s CEO, Mark Palomba said: “Now, we can offer an unparalleled experience for people to connect and stay current on the most popular social networks using virtually any device, as well as extend their use of personal media and messaging activities.” www.criticalpath.net
Company News: Kumaran Systems forges global partnership with Accanto
Partners aim to help service providers improve customer experiences Kumaran Systems has announced a global partnership with Accanto Systems (formerly Sunrise Telecom Protocol Products Group), a leader in Customer Service Assurance systems for converged networks.
Kumaran now offers a full spectrum of service assurance solutions for video, voice, data and wireless applications. This suite of products, including advanced multi-protocol analysers and network monitoring systems, will be marketed globally by Kumaran.
“Although we evaluated multiple tools, it was clear that the Accanto suite provided the broadest offering as well as a business focus that aligns with our vision to help communication service in their network, service and customer transformation drive,” said Mohan Kumar Subramanyam, President and CEO at Kumaran Systems.
“We are excited about our partnership … and are certain this will further enhance the value to (Kumaran’s) clients through comprehensive monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities,” said Klaus Bauer, VP Sales at Accanto Systems. www.kumaran.com.
Company News: CustomCall Data Systems and Concretio.com agree to merge
Broader range of billing and OSS capabilities envisaged CustomCall Data Systems, Inc. a billing, OSS and BPM provider and Concretio.com, Inc a provisioning, gateway and OSS solutions provider have agreed to merge their businesses. The two companies offer complementary software and services to communications service providers (CSPs) in all segments of the telephone, cable, and wireless industries. The combined company will aim to offer a broader range of billing and OSS capabilities, and to do so seamlessly, giving CSPs a complete solution without the need to integrate among multiple vendors.
Terms of the merger were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2010, and the merged entity will retain the trademarked CustomCall name, with operations in both Madison, WI and Naperville, Ill, USA. www.customcall.com and www.concretio.com
French Provider of fixed, mobile, internet and TV Services to implement Impact 360 across 2,000 agent seats Verint® Systems Inc, a global provider of Actionable Intelligence® solutions and value-added services has announced that Bouygues Telecom – the French telecoms operator – is implementing the next-generation Impact 360® Quality Monitoring solution from Verint® Witness Actionable Solutions®. Bouygues Telecom is deploying the software across some 2,000 agent seats in its six customer relations centres located across France.
Implementing Impact 360 Quality Monitoring is part of Bouygues’ ongoing programme to deliver the highest standard of service, regardless of the customer’s point of contact. The company operates its own customer contact centres, supports the European Foundation for Quality Management, and is committed to ensuring consistent quality across its contact centres, Bouygues Telecom Club Stores and online operations. Bouygues believes that Verint’s workforce optimisation software will help deliver critical quality improvements through active performance assessments, and more focused agent training and development. www.bouyguestelecom.fr
Contract News: Bulgaria’s Mobiltel deploys Amdocs CES for CRM
Deployment allows more than 1,000 customer service agents and shops to offer the right product to the right customer, and handle service calls more efficiently Mobiltel (M-Tel), the largest mobile provider in Bulgaria, and Amdocs, a provider of customer experience systems (CES), have announced the deployment of Amdocs CES Customer Management products. More than 1,000 users across M-Tel’s contact centres and retail shops reportedly can now handle customer interactions more efficiently, better execute marketing initiatives, and offer improved customer service. The deployment is part of a larger project with Amdocs encompassing integrated billing, ordering and customer management.
Amdocs also worked with its global strategic partner, SAS, a leader in business analytics software and services to deliver SAS’ Campaign Management software and integrate it with the Amdocs Customer Management products. Amdocs acted as the prime systems integrator for implementing SAS and Amdocs products, and now provides ongoing product support and maintenance. www.amdocs.com
Contract News: i-conX completes system implementation for Sudan’s Canar
New interconnect billing solution supports continued wholesale business growth Specialist interconnect billing systems vendor, i-conX Solutions has completed the on-site deployment of its interconnect billing solution to the Sudanese fixed-line operator Canar Telecommunication Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Etisalat. Canar will use it to rate and bill its interconnect traffic for domestic and international scenarios. The operator selected i-conX as part of a strategic review to replace its previous interconnect billing system.
Canar provides voice, data, internet and satellite services to consumers, organisations and telecom providers in Sudan and the region.
In total i-conX supports 26 customers in 17 countries worldwide, and deploys its solution either on-site or via outsourced ASP/managed services. www.i-conxsolutions.com
Contract News: Redknee wins new West African operator
Growth drives Migration of existing services to Redknee’s real-time Converged billing and Customer Care Solution Redknee Solutions Inc, a provider of mission-critical software and solutions for CSPs, has announced that it has secured a contract with a West African wireless operator to deploy its Turnkey Converged Billing (TCB) and Customer Care system with Airtime Reseller.
The TCB solution will replace the unnamed service provider’s legacy billing system, enabling the operator to differentiate its service offerings and provide an enhanced subscriber experience. With this solution, the network service provider will be able to support advanced personalised services and payment methods, including voucherless top-ups for its predominantly prepaid mobile subscriber base. www.redknee.com
People News: Ramez Younan appointed as new Orga Systems CEO
Ramez Younan joins Orga Systems from Oracle
Rainer Neumann, CEO of Orga Systems GmbH, has decided to leave the company in order to pursue other interests. Orga Systems has appointed Ramez Younan as its new Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. Formerly a senior executive with Oracle, Ramez comes with a wealth of telecoms experience, having established and run global organisations advancing BSS and OSS systems and solutions at telcos in over 45 countries globally.
Ramez’ main focus will be on further internationalisation and growth of the Orga Systems Group to strengthen the relationships Orga Systems enjoys with its customers and extend Orga Systems’ portfolio of products and services to future worldwide customers. www.orga-systems.com
Product News: Arantech unveils its openplatform™ CEM system
Providing telecom operators with the customer experience data they need to resist churn and explore new revenue streams Arantech, a leader in the field of Customer Experience Management (CEM) software, has released touchpoint openplatform™. This initiative comprises an initial suite of applications and interfaces to augment existing Arantech touchpoint™ CEM installations by delivering open, standards-based access to core customer experience metrics.
CEM systems enable CSPs to gain an enhanced level of service visibility and a deeper insight into subscriber experience – safeguarding themselves against churn and ARPU decline. Arantech’s award-winning touchpoint CEM system builds and stores real time experience customer metrics for every customer in the network; these are visualised through a set of rich user interfaces and business intelligence tools. openplatform will facilitate the reach and access of this valuable customer centric data by external third party applications and other existing OSS and BSS systems. www.arantech.com
Product News: Betfair launches world’s first betting application for Internet-connected TVs
Betfair invests in technology and development team to build gambling TV widget Betfair, said to be the world’s biggest betting community, has launched the first betting application for TVs running the Yahoo!® TV Widget Engine. Betfair has created a specialist interactive TV team to lead innovation of this TV technology. By the end of 2010, industry analysts Futuresource Consulting forecast that there will be 15 million connected TVs in Europe.*
“TVs are the centre of home entertainment and live sport on TV drives our business. The way people interact with their televisions is changing. Our investment in this exciting new platform ensures that Betfair is an integral part of the future of internet-connected TV,” says Simon Miller, CEO, Betfair TV Ltd. www.corporate.betfair.com
Product News: Kabira enhances product by integrating Aktavara’s technology
Integration simplifies network resource management for wireless and broadband service providers Kabira Technology, a supplier of customer lifecycle systems for CSPs globally has set up a technology partnership with OSS software vendor, Aktavara. The partners will integrate Aktavara’s x.akta dynamic network inventory management technology into the Kabira Provisioning and Service Activation (KPSA) solution. By pre-integrating x:akta into KPSA, Kabira is providing a comprehensive service fulfilment solution, enabling wireless and broadband service providers to reduce implementation costs while accelerating time-to-market for new services.
Stephane Beauvais, head of Kabira’s service fulfilment product line said, “Network resource management is extremely synergistic with provisioning, and our clients are increasingly seeking single integrated solutions that take advantage of how these processes can be efficiently brought together.” www.kabira.com or www.aktavara.com
Product News: Comfone launches roaming system with ‘minimal’ intervention
Operators data roaming footprint significantly increased Comfone, a provider of roaming services to more than 300 operators in over 130 countries, has announced its new Data Roaming system, currently in its trial phase. By integrating data layers into its Key2roam hub, Comfone has simplified the implementation and maintenance of data roaming relations for mobile network operators.
In response to operators’ requirements for an increased data roaming footprint and based on growing user demand for data roaming service anytime and anywhere, Comfone has expanded beyond voice on its Key2roam hub and developed a reportedly simple, robust, secure and cost-effective data roaming system. By accelerating the implementation of data roaming, Comfone can significantly increase operators’ data roaming footprint.
Testing of Comfone’s new Data Roaming solution is currently underway with three major mobile network operators in Europe and Africa and is scheduled for completion in Q1 2010. The commercial launch is scheduled for Q2. www.comfone.com
Event Diary – What’s on in Telecoms
GSMA Mobile World Congress 2010 15-18 February 2010 Fira de Barcelona, Montjuic, Spain Media Partner: VanillaPlus www.mobileworldcongress.com
Integrated Billing and BI – Enabling the Next Generation Communications Experience 3 March, 2010 – 14:00 London, 15:00 Paris, 10:00 New York, 18:00 Dubai Hosted by LHS, moderated by VanillaPlus Free to attend online To register click here www.vanillaplus.com
IPTV World Forum 2010 23-25 March, 2010 London, UK Official Media Partner: VanillaPlus www.iptv-forum.com
VanillaPlus Magazine Next Issue: Out today!
The largest annual edition of VanillaPlus is out today for MWC 2010! The February edition will be distributed in its thousands at the show, and alongside the usual magazine will be a Special Show Supplement specifically published for MWC!
Editorial Features in February include:
Mobile World Congress supplement
How to handle the apps explosion!
Build loyalty among fickle prepaid users
Telcos get it sussed on SaaS
LTE: Challenge of policy & charging
Operators need a service planning revolution, says Survey
Publication: Wednesday 3 February, 2010 To secure your copy of VanillaPlus Magazine subscribe (Free in Europe, Middle East and Africa*) at www.vanillaplus.com *Terms & Conditions apply
April / May 2010 Magazine Advertising Deadline: Friday 23 April, 2010. Email:cherisse@vanillaplus.com Tel: 44 (0)1634 243869
Get your message across in this Ezine! Put your company’s message in front of tens of thousands of VanillaPlus Bites readers (with links to your website). For sponsorship details call Cherisse Draper on 44 (0)1634 243869 or email:cherisse@vanillaplus.com
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Samsung Electronics and O2 Telefónica announced on Thursday that the companies launched their first virtualised RAN (vRAN) and Open RAN commercial site in Germany. It is the first time that
Global connectivity provider Telxius is opening its latest submarine cable route with the extension of SAm-1 between Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico. The route is in
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