Actix Demonstrates a New Approach to Wireless OSS with its E-AMS Software.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

TeleManagement World

RESTON, Va. & LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2002

Company's Network and Service Performance Software Enables

Wireless Carriers to Analyze a Richer Set of Customer Usage Data to

Better Interpret Network Problems And ROI On Applications

Let's face it: There is no single killer app for wireless data. To successfully deliver a range of 2.5G and 3G next-generation wireless services such as email, SMS, MMS, Internet access and games, service providers must stop looking for one wildly popular wireless application to deliver success. Instead, they must rely on extracting value and determining the return on investment (ROI) across all the services they can provide. This can be achieved with enhanced operations support systems (OSS) software that accurately characterizes and understands service performance.

That's the message being delivered at TeleManagement World by Actix, a provider of leading software that currently helps more than 100 operators across the globe optimize the performance of their wireless networks. At the show, Actix is showcasing its new Enterprise Advanced Metrics Solution (E-AMS) OSS software, which enables wireless providers to access the "essential intelligence" that is today buried in the masses of raw data produced by their network systems.

Using Actix E-AMS software, wireless carriers can analyze network data to understand how individuals or groups are using specific services, devices and applications and to determine which business offerings are delivering the best ROI - instead of focusing on finding just one killer application. Carriers can determine how a service is performing for an individual user or account and how many network resources that service is using, enabling them to optimize network performance and reduce capex and opex.

Current wireless OSS systems were designed for a voice-based world, where network performance information could be linked directly to service quality. When the connection failed, the call was lost. In today's more complex packet-based world, operators must move beyond simple performance measures such as failed connections and start to collect more detailed information that monitors many network operations and segments them by service type, device and customer for a full understanding of how network glitches actually affect service quality. That's where Actix's E-AMS software can help, enabling carriers to sift through network data to identify service-specific performance and usage issues.

"Everyone agrees that succeeding in wireless data is all about delivering the right services to customers, but today's OSS systems don't give wireless carriers enough information to determine which services are profitably boosting their average revenue per user (ARPU)," said Des Owens, president of Actix. "Actix's E-AMS software gives carriers access to a richer set of data, enhancing the capabilities of their existing OSS systems to help them improve the quality of both their services and their networks."

For instance, using Actix software, a wireless carrier's panicked engineers saved hours of time by determining that network alarms - which indicated that a high number of users were denied access to the network - did not mean that the network was rejecting paying customers. By using the Actix software to link the alarms to specific customers, the engineers quickly determined that the network was only rejecting unregistered roamers, as it was supposed to do.

Actix's E-AMS software is built using Actix's unique ActixVision technology. This technology enables wireless carriers to consolidate and analyze data across the entire network at a high level - which allows them to see what the problems are - and also to drill down to a micro level to see how to solve these problems. The result: wireless operators can save as much as 40 percent in capex by extending the lifecycle of certain key equipment and as much as 50 percent for certain operational expenses. Using E-AMS software, service providers can also distribute information to the entire enterprise via a Web server - enabling all departments to see the impact of service and network performance on their bottom lines.

About Actix

A privately held company founded in 1991, Actix has established an international reputation for developing market-leading OSS tools that enable wireless carriers to optimize network performance and to better interpret customer behavior, regardless of technology or vendor, using "essential intelligence" from the network. Actix has offices and end users in the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, Asia Pacific and the United States. More than 2,000 engineers from more than 100 leading global operators in 20 countries - including Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone, and Telecom Italia Mobile - depend upon Actix everyday to improve their wireless operations. For more information, see www.actix.com.