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Multi-party Charging and Billing Multi-party billing is designed to enable the support of multiple separate business units within the same system. Multi-party billing is relevant for operators seeking new ways to drive revenue and optimise OpEx by supporting new mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) or wholesale business models. It is also capable of delivering IT consolidation through the support of corporate accounts or even multi-country billing. Operators are able to make these gains by keeping all business units maintained in one environment with separate secure access, therefore reducing hardware as well as operational efforts normally required to manage multiple systems.?
See how two operators have deployed used multi company charging and billing to support their strategies: O2 Ireland, to host MVNOs and Thuraya, a global satellite communications company, to create an award winning solution that helped them consolidate and simplify their billing operations:
MACH, the leading provider of hub-based mobile communications exchange solutions, will be holding its annual Insights conference in Rome next month. The 3-day event, running from 7-9 June, promises to explore future directions and strategies in the mobile communications market and to ‘sharpen the mobile visions’ of delegates.
More than 100 representatives of the telecommunication industry’s leading mobile network operators, service providers, handset manufacturers and content providers are expected to converge on Rome to discuss some of the hottest topics in the mobile industry, such as mobile broadband, LTE, embedded mobile & M2M, VoIP, WiMAX, roaming trends and optimisation and many more. Through presentations, interactive workshops, ‘meet the expert’ sessions and social events, participants will learn, network and talk to industry experts.
*Special rate for VanillaPlus readers to attend 2010 Billing & OSS World Conference & Expo – save US$425!
B/OSS World is the premier conference and exposition focusing on the business and operations support systems (B/OSS) requirements for all communications service providers. This networking and education event attracts top-level executives and decision makers from domestic and international service providers of all makes and tiers, from rural and independent local exchange carriers to Tier 1 wireline and wireless operators. Through this event, service providers, vendors and other industry experts come together to help move the industry forward. The B/OSS Expo is the place where software for your business and operations comes alive! VanillaPlus has negotiated a special rate for its readers.
Simply go to www.billingworldexpo.com/register and use promo code VAN0609. This will give you a US$425 discount off the Conference & Expo package, no discount is applied to the Expo Only package. This discount must be used by June 4 and may not be applied to previous registrations.
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Moderated by VanillaPlus, MetraTech will be hosting the next in our series of live, ‘Thought Leadership’ Webinars on Tuesday 22 June at 14:00 GMT (15.00 CET).
Company News: Tekelec pays US$165m to buy Camiant and Blueslice
Frank Plastina, CEO Tekelec
The policy and eSDM partnership trumpeted by Camiant and Blueslice Networks in Barcelona turns into an acquisition by Tekelec Tekelec, the session and mobile data management systems provider, has agreed to acquire two companies working to enhance the broadband internet experience: policy control system specialist, Camiant and subscriber data management (SDM) company, Blueslice Networks.
Under the terms of the deal, Camiant has been acquired by Tekelec for a cash consideration of approximately US$130 million. The purchase price is subject to adjustment based on the amount of working capital assumed by Tekelec.
Tekelec also acquired Blueslice Networks for $35 million in cash on May 5. Tekelec agreed to pay up to an additional $1.5 million in cash to some Blueslice employees upon the achievement of certain integration milestones, and to grant to certain Blueslice employees restricted stock units for shares with an aggregate value of approximately $2 million, subject to meeting integration milestones.
Tekelec says that it will be the only company combining session, policy, and subscriber data management as well as network and business intelligence, and mobile messaging. With these acquisitions Tekelec will help to define next-generation core networks as global service providers evolve to all-internet protocol (IP) architectures such as long-term evolution (LTE) and IP multimedia subsystem (IMS). www.tekelec.comBack to top
Company News: Clarity and Omnix Software merged by their Powerlan parent
Continuing the current spate of mergers and acquisitions, the business and assets of Omnix Software are to be brought under the brand of Clarity, a provider of unified telecoms operational management solutions. The merger with Omnix will enable Clarity to offer network planning, as well as infrastructure and estates management, as part of its unified OSS. Geographically, the merger with UK-based Omnix also provides Clarity with a stronger foothold in the European market, while promoting the Omnix product to Clarity’s existing international customer base.
Clarity and Omnix are both part of Powerlan, a publicly listed Australian company that provides specialist IT products and services. Omnix Software is a provider of systems that help telcos to plan, launch and manage their networks. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Bristol, Omnix customers include Vodafone, Orange and Telefonica O2. www.clarity.comBack to top
Company News: SAP buys Sybase for US$5.8bn, extends SAP® systems across mobile platforms
SAP’s subsidiary, SAP America, Inc., has agreed to acquire Sybase, Inc., to enable companies to better run “unwired enterprises”. SAP America, Inc., will make an all cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Sybase common stock at $65.00 per share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $5.8 billion. The transaction will be funded from SAP’s cash on hand and a €2.75 billion loan facility arranged and underwritten by Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank. SAP says its customers will now be able to harness today’s explosion of data, and deliver information and insight in real time to business consumers wherever they work, so that they can make faster, more informed decisions.
SAP will accelerate the reach of its systems across mobile platforms, and drive forward its in-memory computing vision. This will drive higher user adoption of SAP software and unlock significant business value out of existing customer investments.
In addition, Sybase’s innovative mobile platform can connect all applications and data (SAP and non-SAP) and enable them on mobile devices. SAP, Sybase and their customers will be able to tap into Sybase’s messaging network to reach 4 billion mobile subscribers through 850+ operator relationships worldwide, and engage their consumers via alerts, transactions and promotions on their mobile devices. www.sap.comBack to top
Company News: Amdocs, BT, Huawei and STC lift TMF Excellence Awards
Operational Excellence award winners, STC
Amdocs, BT, Huawei and STC (Saudi Telecom Co.) have scooped the TM Forum’s Excellence Awards 2010. Having attracted a record number of entries from leading communications service providers, suppliers and systems integrators across four award categories, the winners were chosen by a judging panel of impartial industry experts and an open member vote.
The results were announced at the Forum’s flagship Management World 2010 conference in Nice, with Amdocs winning the Leadership Award, Huawei taking the Solution Excellence Award, STC the Operational Excellence Award and BT securing the Innovation Award.
At the same time the TM Forum also announced that Phil Dance, CIO of BT, Johanne Mayer, Director of Communications for Alcatel-Lucent’s System and Application Integration (SAI) practice, and John Wilmes, Chief Technical Architect – Communications Sector, Progress Software, have been made Distinguished Fellows of the TM Forum. www.tmforum.orgBack to top
Contract News: Telefónica O2 Germany selects Cellebrite’s synchronisation and content management for mobile phones
Cellebrite’s Universal Memory Exchanger gives Germany’s O2 subscribers higher levels of customer service and content protection Cellebrite, a provider of cell phone synchronisation and management systems, has announced the sale of UME-36 devices to Telefónica O2 Germany. In O2 shops throughout Germany, customers can now transfer their phone content automatically from one mobile to another in a few minutes with Cellebrite’s UME-36. From April, this new service was available free of charge to all O2 subscribers in around 1,000 retail outlets.
Cellebrite’s UME-36 is a stand-alone phone memory transfer and back-up solution that transfers all forms of content, including pictures, videos, ringtones and SMS, as well as phonebook contact data between a wide range of mobile phones, smart phones and PDAs. With the UME-36, O2 can ensure that their subscriber’s content is protected, as well as simplifying phone upgrades or exchanges with the instantaneous transfer of content. www.cellebrite.comBack to top
Contract News: Nakina Systems announces global partnership with Nokia Siemens Networks
Nakina Systems, a leading provider of carrier grade management and network integrity solutions, has signed a global partnership agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks. The two companies are to provide joint network integrity systems for communication service providers (CSPs). The Nakina Network Integrity product suite has been added to the NSN’s Identity and Access Management) to provide additional functionality, including secure access, single sign-on and security configuration audits.
Jay Borden, Nakina CEO, said: “This global agreement provides validation that our network integrity solutions solve a major problem in preventing outages tied to security credential issues and misconfigured networks. The jointly developed solutions provide Nokia Siemens Networks with key differentiation due to Nakina’s focus on security as a key component of an integrated network integrity strategy.” www.nakinasystems.comwww.nokiasiemensnetworks.com Back to top
Contract News: Batelco asks Intec to boost revenue potential
Contract enhances Intec’s presence in the Middle East Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco), a leading integrated communications provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has selected Intec’s market-leading Wholesale Management Business Solution (WBMS) to help drive revenue generation through improved interconnect billing. Intec is a global provider of business support systems (BSS) solutions. With over one million fixed, mobile and broadband customers, Batelco is currently undergoing a communications enhancement programme, to meet the demand for more sophisticated services for both business and general / residential customers.
The deployment of Intec’s WBMS solution, including its InterconnecT software, will enable Batelco to meet ever-growing and complex international and wholesale business demands. In addition to InterconnecT, Batelco has selected Intec’s Optimised Routing, Financial Manager and ITU Recurring charges, giving them a fully integrated solution. www.intecbilling.comBack to top
Contract News: Orange France selects Openet’s FusionWorks Policy Manager
Policy Manager and solutions suite enable network control, ensure revenue Openet, a leading provider of transactional intelligence for the world’s largest and most innovative network service providers, has announced that Orange France has selected FusionWorks™ Policy Manager to enable a wide range of solutions to deliver better network resource control and new business models.
In development phase one, Openet is helping Orange identify out-of-contract use and prevent subscribers from violating the terms of their wireless service contracts by connecting laptops to the mobile network using their mobile phones as modems. This “tethering prevention” ability will enable Orange to limit bandwidth congestion and reduce revenue loss.
Orange France will also be rolling out Openet’s Parental and Content Controls. These will allow Orange to offer parents and guardians to set limits on children’s wireless usage based on time of day and type of service. Built on Openet’s Policy Manager product, the Parental and Content Controls Solution also provides controls to prevent access to inappropriate content and services. www.openet.comBack to top
Contract News: African mobile network operator MATTEL uses Telepin Software
Mauritanian-based MATTEL deploys mobile money offering locally Telepin Software, a provider of mobile money transaction platforms, has been selected by Mauritanian-based mobile network operator Mauritano-Tunisienne de Telecommunications (MATTEL) to provide mobile money services for its local market. MATTEL has now commercially deployed Telepin’s Cayman Transaction platform for mobile recharge, P2P airtime transfer and P2P money transfer, with cash-in / cash out capabilities.
Africa is one of the fastest growing markets for Mobile Money. The GSM Association estimates that worldwide there will be 1.7 billion unbanked customers with mobile phones by 2012, and that mobile money has the potential to deliver up to US$5 billion in direct revenues for mobile network operators in the same period. www.telepin.comBack to top
Contract News: Volubill’s charging and policy management systems sharpen Movistar’s revenue edge
Venezuelan operator will open new profit streams through personalised service and pricing strategies Volubill, a supplier of real-time charging and policy control applications for fixed and mobile service providers, has been chosen by Venezuela’s Movistar to deploy a real-time charging and policy solution. This will enable the operator to create new commercial services and market segmentation for the overall 3G market, including more granular pricing models and targeted service offerings.
By extending Volubill’s Real Time Charging system, CHARGE-IT™ with its Policy Management solution, CONTROL-IT™, Movistar can apply subscriber- and service-sensitive policy controls to manage rapidly growing network traffic. The solution will provide rapid, end-to-end support for launching new Mobile Broadband services such as the application of usage and access rules associated with deeper market segmentation.
With more than 4 million mobile data subscribers, Movistar is the largest mobile provider in Venezuela, offering customers a full range of voice, data and mobile broadband services. The provider is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telefonica Moviles, operating in Spain and several European countries (under the O2 brand), and in most Latin American countries. www.volubill.comBack to top
Product News: Aspiro signs micropayment agreement with marketplace Finn.no
Aspiro Mobile Solutions, claimed to be the world’s only provider of both streaming music and TV services delivered as a complete white label service to partners, has signed an agreement regarding micro payments through marketplace Finn.no. Under the agreement, all telephone payments for ads that are posted by Finn-market users will be managed through Aspiro’s solution.
Finn.no is Norway’s largest buying and selling market on the internet. The service has over 4 million users per month and on average there are about 300,000 ads available on the site.
The agreement is among the largest Aspiro has signed in the mobile business area and could generate significant revenue growth for the group. Aspiro will handle all available telephone numbers, which customers are calling when paying for their ads on the site. The micropayment is then charged to the user’s cell phone bill. The solution will also enable new and flexible price ranges for different types of ads. www.aspiro.comBack to top
People News: Clarity makes two top appointments
Tony Garcia joins Clarity as VP Global New Business & Alliances
Clarity, a provider of unified NGOSS telecommunications operational management systems, has appointed Andrew Wrigglesworth as Chief Financial Officer and Tony Garcia as Vice President Global New Business & Alliances.
Wrigglesworth has more than 15 years experience in senior finance and general management roles, working for global telcos including Energis, Cable & Wireless, Vanco and Reliance Globalcom. In his role at Clarity, Wrigglesworth will manage finance, human resources, IT, legal & administration.
Garcia joins Clarity from HP and EDS where he was Head of Business Transformation, EMEA. His previous roles include Telcordia where he was Vice President International Services & Strategic Accounts and Easynet / BSkyB where he was Group IT & Transformation Director. www.clarity.comBack to top
Product News: Tektronix Communications offers roaming and interconnect assurance for mobile and fixed operators
Roaming and international traffic growth drives new GSMA GRQ-compliant QoS product offering Tektronix Communications, a global provider of network intelligence and communications test solutions, has unveiled the evolution of its Roaming and Interconnect Assurance product designed to improve roaming and interconnect performance monitoring for operators. The new enhancements provide real-time traffic visibility, actionable analysis and historical reporting for roaming and interconnect voice, SMS, data and mobility traffic, while being compliant with the GSM Association’s Global Roaming Quality (GRQ) standard.
Addressing the needs of both roaming and interconnect service providers, Tektronix Communications’ advances in monitoring aim to assist operators in reducing the total cost of ownership at the same time as improving functionality and efficiency. www.tek.comBack to top
Product News: Comverse’s ultra-high capacity mobile internet HUB helps operators avoid mobile broadband traffic jams
Capacity of 40 Gbps postpones costly network infrastructure investment Comverse has announced a new, ultra-high capacity configuration for its Mobile Internet HUB platform to manage today’s booming mobile data traffic growth without the immediate need to build out network infrastructure. With a throughput of up to 40 gigabits per second, the Comverse Mobile Internet HUB handles tens of thousands of web transactions per second, or hundreds of thousands of multiple data streams, yet requires only a single cabinet of front-end servers.
“With such applications as video streaming and file sharing driving up data consumption, operators today are challenged to meet sky-rocketing traffic demands,” said Gabriel Matsliach, President of Products and Operations at Comverse, a leading supplier of software and systems enabling value-added messaging and content services, converged billing and active customer management and IP communications.
The Mobile Internet HUB, which meets all Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) criteria, is part of Comverse HUB Value-Added Services, spanning voice, messaging, mobile internet and mobile advertising. www.comverse.comBack to top
Product News: Excentis announces release of VoIPexaminer
Excentis, a partner in specialised testing, consultancy for access network technologies and related services, has released VoIPexaminer, a software system for monitoring Voice over IP (VoIP) services in cable networks. VoIPexaminer’s network topology awareness, real-time analysis, and automatic alarming and reporting features give insight into how customers experience their actual calls, and allow faster problem detection and resolution than ever before.
In this first release, VoIPexaminer is targeted for use in cable networks with (Euro)PacketCable deployments based on NCS/MGCP. It uses distributed monitoring and processing of actual customer telephony calls to allow network-wide coverage. At the same time this approach ensures scalability from thousands to millions of subscribers. www.excentis.comBack to top
Event Diary: What’s on in Comms?
NGMN Industry Conference & Exhibition 2010 2-4 June 2010 Shanghai, China www.ngmn-ic2010.com
Metratech Webinar 22 June, 2010 – 14:00 London, 15:00 Paris, 09:00 New York, 17:00 Dubai Customer Case Study: An award winning service provider shares how to exceed customer expectations while minimising operational cost Free to attend online To register click here www.vanillaplus.com
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Publication: July 2, 2010 To secure your copy of VanillaPlus Magazine subscribe (Free in Europe, Middle East and Africa*) at www.vanillaplus.com *Terms & Conditions apply
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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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