ACE*COMM Corporation (NASDAQ:ACEC), a global provider of network business intelligence and advanced operations support systems (OSS) solutions, today announced that it will be speaking at the ISS World 2005 conference, December 7-9, in Washington DC. The Intelligence Support Systems for Lawful Interception and Network Forensics Conference and Expo is the world’s largest gathering of telecommunications service providers, government policy makers, law enforcement agents, prosecutors, and vendors addressing lawful interception issues and solutions. Now that most nations of the world require lawful interception support for VoIP and other IP-based services, ISS World 2005 has become a key venue and source of industry insight on the topic.
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Optus Selects LogicaCMG and Consortium Partner Adamind for Breakthrough Content Management Solution
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 CCN Deployed in GSM Network for Outremer Telecom
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 Telecomâ€, said Colm Ward, CEO of Tango. “We expect that this first installation will lead to further joint opportunities on a global basisâ€, he added.
MobilePro CEO Jay Wright to Speak at Telecom IQ MVNO Summit in Miami
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.
Intec Telecom Systems PLC Announces Audited results for the year ended 30 September 2005
Intec Telecom Systems PLC (“Intec†or “the Companyâ€), a leading supplier of billing software solutions to the global telecoms industry, today announced its audited results for the year ended 30 September 2005 (“FY 2005â€). Revenue and earnings have grown almost 70% over the same period last year as a result of the turnaround of the Singl.eView acquisition, with Intec making a clear transition to being one of the world’s leading BSS/OSS suppliers in terms of both business performance and product capability.
Financial Highlights
– Revenue up 69% to £116.2m (Year ended 30 September 2004 (“FY 2004â€): £68.8m)
– EBITDA before exceptionals up 58% to £16.9m (FY 2004: £10.7m)
– License sales up 33% to £25.4m (FY2004:£19.1m)
– Adjusted PBT up 63% to £13.5m (FY 2004: £8.3m)
– Loss before tax of £4.0m (FY 2004: loss of £1.2m) after £16.4m amortisation charge (FY 2004: £8.8m)
– Adjusted EPS up 7% to 3.82p (FY 2004: 3.57p); Basic loss per share (2.00p) (FY 2004: (0.80p))
– Operating cash inflow of £0.6m (FY 2004: inflow of £4.6m)
– Net cash and current asset investments of £23.8m (FY 2004: £32.2m)
Operational Highlights
– Successfully turned around the Singl.eView business; made profitable from first quarter of ownership.
– Original Intec business continues to win market share.
– Increase in frequency of multi-product, multi-million pound deals.
– Transformation of Intec into tier 1 vendor of business critical solutions.
– Contract wins across all products and all regions including two RBOCs in the USA, MTN, The Carphone Warehouse, Saudi Telecom and VimpelCom.
– New solutions launched, including Singl.eView v6, Intec IPTV and Intec Trading & Routing.
– New Centre of Excellence opened in Bangalore.
“2005 has been a year of transition in which Intec has increased its market share in its established business, created excellent momentum and good profitability in Singl.eView, and built a strong foundation for continued, profitable growth,†said Intec’s non-executive chairman, John Hughes. “It has also been a year of investment, in particular in new offshore facilities, new software solutions, and improved operational infrastructure, that are vital to our future competitive performance.â€
“The impact of Singl.eView on Intec has been dramatic. We are delivering on its promise, particularly in terms of our market presence, and in establishing relationships with the most senior management at tier 1 telcos,†added Intec CEO Kevin Adams. “As well as beating expectations for both revenue and earnings, we have transformed the Singl.eView business from substantial losses to profitability. Despite strong marketplace competition, we have won our largest ever deals, which bring long-term revenue streams.â€
Portal Introduces Software Certification Program
Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier global provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for telecommunications and media markets, today introduced the Portal Certification Program. Available to Portal’s customers, system integrators and technology partners, the Portal Certification Program offers training and testing for professionals whose job function includes the installation, implementation and configuration of Portal’s billing and Revenue Management platform. Five-day preparation training courses for the Certification exams are now available through Portal Educational Services. Certification testing will commence in January 2006.
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Narus Signs Agreement with VeriSign to Allow IP Compliance and Security Products to Be Offered as Managed Services
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 Launches VOS Platform Giving Telecommunications Service Providers Access to Web-Based Ordering, Installation, Customer Service Tools
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.
Connectiva and the MTC Group Win Best Revenue Assurance Award
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.”
Intec Billing Reinforces Russian Telecom OSS Market Presence With New Moscow Office
Intec Telecom Systems, a leading OSS/BSS software vendor for fixed, mobile and next-generation networks, has opened a Moscow office to serve both Russia and the wider CIS. This local presence is a response to Intec’s high-profile customer base in the region, and to the considerable growth potential of the area.
“Intec has performed well in Russia and the CIS, with a series of major wins over the last couple of years,†said Intec CEO, Kevin Adams. “The growth of both fixed and mobile services across the regions is driving operators to review their support systems and, in many cases, initiate new OSS/BSS projects to deal with escalating subscriber volumes and advanced services.â€
The Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation has recently approved rules, called the ‘interconnection rules’, with substantial impact on many areas of the telecommunications industry in Russia. Key areas relate to capacity, licenses for international long distance traffic, voice over IP traffic and interconnect pricing. Intec InterconnecT is compatible with these requirements and is helping its customers to fully meet their regulatory obligations.
VimpelCom, an established Intec InterconnecT billing technology customer, added Intec DCP (Dynamic Charging Platform), Inter-mediatE multi-service mediation and InterconnecT Optimised Routing in 2005, to support delivery of advanced mobile services to one of the world’s largest subscriber bases of more than 32 million customers.
Golden Telecom, Inc. chose Intec’s market leading carrier-to-carrier billing application, InterconnecT, in May 2004, to enable multiple, complex, dynamic and ever-increasing partnership agreements.
“Our customer footprint is spreading across both Russia and the CIS, as leading carriers recognise the need for next-generation solutions capable of handling large customer volumes,†added Intec EMEA MD, Peter Deane. “Our new Moscow office is based on the Intec policy of locating expertise and resources close to the customer, and will enable us to serve both new and existing clients from a central location, at a time when the region is undergoing deregulation of the international & long distance market, new legislation and developments such as CPP (calling party pays).â€
Tekmark Appoints Mr. William Wanke in Dual Roles as Chief Operating and Chief Technology Officer
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.
ACE-COMM And Yankee Group to Present on Revenue Assurance Trends & Techniques at Informa’s Telecom Revenue Assurance 2005 Conference
ACE*COMM Corporation (NASDAQ:ACEC) today announced that it will be presenting with Yankee Group at the Informa Telecoms Revenue Assurance conference in Vienna, Austria, on December 6th. “Pro-Active End-to-End Telecoms Revenue Assurance 2005” features a comprehensive agenda that tackles all the key issues faced by today’s revenue assurance professionals.
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NMS Communications Extends Video Communications Capabilities to IP Video over Broadband Market
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.
WorldSpace Selects Portal Software to Support Global Satellite Radio Service
Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier global provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for telecommunications and media markets, announced today that WorldSpace, one of the world leaders in satellite-based digital radio services, selected Portal to provide billing and Revenue Management solutions for its global operations. Through its subscription-based service, WorldSpace broadcasts news, sports, music, and educational programming to satellite radios in over 130 countries including India, China, South Africa, the Middle East, and countries in Western Europe.
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Fluke Agrees to Acquire Network Management Software Vendor Visual Networks
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.â€
FairPoint Selects New Telecom Billing Platform
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 Joins WiMAX Forum
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 expands mobile device production in China
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 Selects Ericsson’s Mobile Softswitch
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, Mobile@Home, 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 Reports Fiscal Third Quarter Financial Results; Achieves Record Total Revenue
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.”