Gartner Says Multi-Service Mediation Will Provide an `Unfair Competitive Advantage' for Next Generation Service Providers.

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2001

Mediation Enables 2.5/3G Wireless Players to Improve Operations,

Customer Satisfaction While Handling 100 Fold Increase in Data Volumes

Fact: The amount of customer and usage data telecom service providers must process in future years will grow exponentially - particularly for wireless players, where the implementation of 2.5G and 3G networks is expected to increase data volumes by as much as 100 fold.

As data volumes grow, mediation will play a key role in enabling next-generation carriers to better manage their operational support systems (OSS) and thus deliver high-quality communications to customers. That's just one conclusion in an industry white paper released by the leading consulting firm, Gartner, entitled "Multi-Service Mediation."

"As the number of record streams and volumes of records increase...the most strategic decision a Service Provider can make for their business and the OSS is the selection of their mediation system vender," the report states. "The carriers that quickly implement mediation environments that enable Multi-Service Mediation create `an unfair competitive advantage' versus the Service Providers that move slowly."

Intec describes mediation as the process of extracting network usage and content usage measurement information out of networks (IP, wireless and traditional telephony), applying various forms of processing and finally distributing it to various OSS networks (retail billing, wholesale billing, data intelligence, fraud etc.). Today, mediation is becoming more critical as it is used as a "traffic cop" that processes and delivers increasingly complex usage records for use within many OSS systems, including fraud control and customer relationship management networks.

According to Gartner, implementing a multi-service mediation system can provide many benefits, including reduced data errors, reduced churn, increased revenues and simplified network migration. A good mediation system can also lead to improved accuracy within the billing settlement process, which will grow dramatically as the number of trading partners increases. As telecom networks continue to evolve, mediation systems that offer service providers the flexibility to adapt to new forms of billing and the speed to handle large data volumes will play a critical role in a provider's future survival.

"Clearly, the traditional billing measurement model of time and distance on a network is rapidly becoming as obsolete as the rotary dial," writes Intec Telecom Systems, developer of the Inter-mediatE mediation system, in a separate white paper. "Carriers today find themselves in danger of being caught off-guard by applications - some not even imagined currently - that will be embraced by the public, and have serious impact on the processing capabilities of the existing OSS. The protection against this danger is flexibility, or the ability to adjust to change."

Gartner lists several key selection criteria for service providers selecting a mediation vendor, adding that "Selection of the correct vendor can be the difference between booming success and mediocre performance or even failure of the business." These criteria include a proven team of experts, reference customers, a product roadmap, a value statement for the product, an experienced support team and financial stability.

Intec's Inter-mediatE mediation system is installed in more than 100 companies around the world, including BellSouth, Hutchinson 3G, Orange, US Cellular, Verizon, ITXC and Cable & Wireless. Intec Telecom Systems supports its service provider customers with a proven team of 500 people in more than 22 countries worldwide. With 18 years of mediation experience and industry-leading work in developing products and roadmaps for next-generation networks, Intec is focused on giving its Inter-mediatE service provider customers a scalable, flexible, responsive "unfair competitive advantage."

Intec's position paper on convergent mediation systems can be found on the company's Web site at www.intec-telecom-systems.com.

Intec Telecom Systems

Intec Telecom Systems is a leading worldwide operational support systems (OSS) vendor for fixed, mobile and IP/next-generation networks, with a product portfolio that includes convergent mediation, intercarrier billing, activation, and fraud management software. With more than 230 customers worldwide, many of the world's largest telecom operators - including BellSouth, MCI WorldCom, Verizon, Cable & Wireless, France Telecom, Orange, Telstra and Vodafone - rely on Intec solutions for critical components of their revenue generation chain. For more information on Intec (London Stock Exchange Code: ITL.L), visit www.intec-telecom-systems.com.