Sofialys, a French mobile advertising company, has reinforced its technological expertise with the launch of ads for the iPhone through its ad-server, the Mobile Adbox. Several leading providers of applications and widget solutions have already selected SOFIALYS to insert 'innovative and appealing' ad formats into their iPhone inventory.
 
Mobile Adbox, the Sofialys ad-server, now supports the insertion of multiple iPhone advertising formats such as banners and text ads into mobile Internet, SMS, video and other applications such as Widgets. From now on, publishers and advertisers will be able to leverage the opportunity that the iPhone represents and forecast, create, target and report in real-time on mobile advertising campaigns through the Sofialys Mobile Adbox ad-server. Sofialys has signed agreements with a number of publishers and application developers in order to grow the inventory available and offer advertisers the reach they require.
 
According to Florent Pitoun, CEO of Webwag: "We screened the best ad-servers in the market and selected Sofialys that offers the most advanced tools to help advertisers and publishers like us achieve our advertising ROI targets.  The arrival of Webwag's widgets technologies on iPhone for our B2B customers was definitely facilitated by the maturity of the advertising integration provided by Sofialys."
 
Sofialys has also initiated discussions with a number of communications agencies and operators across several European markets and clearly positions itself as the leading ad-server to monetise any future and existing iPhone inventories.
 
The launch of this new version also comes with an automated market place that will ease the process for publishers to sell their inventory and advertisers to buy advertising space online.
 
Mobile Adbox has gained the trust of operators, publishers, advertisers and various other key players in the mobile advertising value chain across France and Europe. Sofialys believes that the launch of iPhone advertising combined with a mobile ad market place will accelerate the development of the mobile advertising ecosystem.

Mokhtar Bouchelaghem, CEO of Sofialys concludes: "Our ad-server is the most complete on the market and for us to be able to offer iPhone ads across all inventory types is essential. We continue to create the tools that will help both publishers and advertisers fully engage with the mobile as a mass media."

MACH, a provider of solutions to simplify and accelerate the creation and operation of the mobility supply chain, has announced its EU Compliance Power Pack, a range of solutions which are said to offset the impact on operator roaming revenues of the recent EU pricing regulations.

The solutions will immediately counter the forecast reduction in revenues by implementing smart rating and price optimisation. This allows the mobile operators to reprice certain services such as voice and SMS in order to create new revenue streams offsetting the anticipated effects of the EU regulation. Moreover, MACH also includes in the pack its powerful solution to the ‘bill shock' problem, by triggering timely customer notification whenever a usage threshold is reached.  The solution gives mobile operators the ability to provide customers with timely data usage information while roaming. It is also said to provide operators with a complete set of compliance solutions that eliminate any administrative and compliance burden. 
 
The measures introduced by European regulators impose wide-ranging pricing restrictions and administrative obligations on mobile operators. Voice, SMS and data service prices will be capped with effect from 1st July 2009, with further reductions in caps becoming effective in 2011. Operators will also be required to bill on a per second basis under the new regulations. Further, operators will be required to notify subscribers of high usage to avoid so-called "bill shocks", requiring real-time usage reporting and notification processes. European officials also said that they will monitor changes to other operator charging structures to ensure that these are not increased to compensate for the impact of the new legislation.

"The regulations approved by the European Parliament, combined with increasing competition both from within the mobile industry and from alternative communications technologies, mean that operators have to continuously monitor and reassess retail and wholesale pricing strategies," says Lodewijk Cornelis, CMO, MACH. "MACH solutions turn, what seems at first sight to be, a huge obstacle to growth into an opportunity for operators to differentiate their offerings and reduce their operational costs."

The solutions announced today allow operators to use sophisticated simulation techniques to quickly and dynamically optimise retail and wholesale pricing of non-EU roaming traffic, increasing revenues while at the same time maximising customer value. MACH's solutions also handle the complex task of rating usage data in real time by reference to regulatory capping, and its applications process all of the administrative changes to inter-operator tariff structures to ensure accurate and timely settlement before and after the regulations come into effect.

Colibria has announced the availability of its App Center, designed to enable mobile operators to deploy multiple application services through their existing messaging infrastructure. Hosted by Colibria to allow rapid deployment at low cost, the App Center can deliver a number of internet communities, covering social networks and instant messaging services, to mobile devices through one simple interface.

With access to a number of featured applications, including Twitter, Google Talk, Facebook and flickr, Colibria's App Center is compatible across a number of existing handsets, opening up potential new revenue opportunities with markets and subscribers not previously able to access mobile applications. Providing extensive features and applications generally associated with high-end smartphones, mobile users can now access applications on handsets that previously could not support such services, for instance mobile email on a non-email phone. 

The Colibria App Center also hosts internet IM Apps, which give access to Windows Live Messenger and other services, Content Applications including news feeds and access to 3rd party applications and Value Added Services including games, translation services and weather updates. Once these apps have been selected on the phone they will sit in the users contact list, giving them immediate access to the application and updates when information associated with the application changes. For example subscribers are updated when their social network receives a post or status change.

Demand for mobile applications and social networking become more prevalent, as seen with predictions that mobile social network users will grow to 800m by 2012* and from the recent news that Apple has recently passed one billion downloads through its application store. The Colibria App Center has been designed as a cost effective way enabling operators to mobile such services with easy access to frequently used applications, premium services and paid for content, driving additional new revenue streams.

Keith Gibson, CEO at Colibria said "Operators are beginning to see the importance of broadening the mobile community experience, and the new App Center will go a long way to improving this as well as operator revenues. With a single integration point to access multiple social networks, internet IM services and content, the App Center is already showing from early indications across Colibria's customer base that traffic can double when applications are introduced. Customer expectations are shifting, and operators need to be able to respond quickly to these expectations with innovative new services such as those available through the Colibria App Center."

Highdeal, the provider of Pricing & Rating solutions, announced today that Cogeco Cable has selected and deployed Highdeal Transactive. Cogeco Cable, one of Canada's biggest cable companies, selected Highdeal Transactive as its convergent rating engine.

Cogeco has concluded the first phase by implementing Transactive to rate High Speed Internet service usage, enabling a wide range of pricing models. Highdeal Transactive provides Cogeco Cable with the scalability, reliability, and speed-to-market needed to remain at the forefront of the communications sector while ensuring Cogeco Cable continues to increase its profitability and market share.

"Cogeco Cable is dedicated to investing in solutions that allow us to deliver a wide range of attractively packaged services with great speed and reliability. We are extremely satisfied with the business flexibility of Highdeal Transactive and are certain Transactive will continue to meet our billing needs as we continue to grow and innovate," says Francois Beaulieu, Vice President and CIO of Cogeco Cable.

"We are pleased to have been selected by such a well-established market leader," said Camilla Dahlen, President, Highdeal Inc. "We look forward to helping Cogeco Cable succeed in its vision and reach its goals."

Redknee, a provider of software and solutions for communications service providers, today announced that a European wireless operator will be the first to deploy Redknee's newly enhanced Next Generation Rating and Charging (NGRC) platform, version 6.0. Redknee's newest release of NGRC enables operators to provide flexible tiered offerings and dynamic subscriber controls for mobile data and broadband services. 

Redknee is encouraging operators to roll out flexible tiered pricing models where the subscriber can choose how to pay for different services by allocating charges towards prepaid, postpaid or one-time accounts in real time. By moving away from restricted flat-rate plans, Redknee's NGRC 6.0 provides subscribers with the flexibility to adopt new services, and operators the ability to provide innovative business models to increase the adoption of data services.

NGRC 6.0 provides subscribers with the visibility and control they want with respect to their usage limits. It also gives them the flexibility to exceed these usage limits with service upgrades or temporary bandwidth boosting capabilities. With real-time communication between the subscriber and operator at the time of each initial service transaction, subscribers are encouraged to manage their own accounts through self-care options, and ultimately, to better control and manage their communication costs.

The new NGRC 6.0 platform will help drive subscriber adoption of the operator's 3G network and services, making internet access available to more of the region's population. It is anticipated that revenue from this contract will be realized in Redknee's 2009 fiscal year.

Lucas Skoczkowski, CEO, Redknee, said "We are pleased to provide solutions to help operators enhance their relationships with their subscribers and bring added flexibility and clarity to how operators charge for and bundle wireless data services and applications. Redknee's tier-1 customers, as well as our high growth market customers, now have full access to our advanced solutions, enabling operators to forge long-lasting relationships with their subscribers as they launch new 3G and mobile broadband services."

ZTE has announced that its terminal products recorded 10 million units shipped globally in Q1 2009, representing an increase of 30% compared with the same period last year.

In Q1 2009, 68% of ZTE's terminal shipments were to overseas markets, delivering terminals to over 100 countries and regions. During this time, ZTE's CDMA handsets recorded a 2.5 million shipment in the global market, exceeding the total CDMA handsets shipment volume in 2008.

In addition, ZTE provided more than 2 million data cards to the global market in Q1 2009. In 2008, the group shipped 10 million data cards to its worldwide customers, registering a remarkable 426% increase over 2007 and setting a world record as the fastest growing company in the data card market.

ZTE continues to solidify its 3G strategy and has recently launched its newest 3G terminal products for TD-SCDMA, CDMA and WCDMA divided into nine different terminal categories and 40 product types. The latest IT gadgets include mobile handsets, data cards, netbooks, monitors, digital photo frames, wireless phones, home gateways, modules and wireless walkie-talkies, which are all parts of the comprehensive array of the company's 3G devices.

Based on a report entitled "2008 China 3G Terminal Market Development" released by CCID, a well-known industry research company in China, ZTE's terminals products attained a total market share of 37.8% in 2008, topping the entire Chinese market.

According to ZTE's Q1 2009 earnings announcement, the Group recorded RMB 11.67 billion in revenue, representing an increase of 35% compared with the same period last year, largely driven by the excellent growth from 3G terminals and CDMA handsets. Revenue from mobile handset products grew by 22.2% against the same period last year, representing a notable rise in product sales.

Paragon Software Group, a software developer for mobile devices and PC desktops, has released Handy Assistant, an advanced mobile phone application allowing management and customization of phone profiles, call processing and filtering, as well as other highly utilized phone features on Windows Mobile devices.

Profiles: One of the most important phone features is Profile switching and management, which is particularly useful when an occasional phone call interrupts meetings or when an important call was missed due to the silent sound mode. Handy Assistant includes six
default profiles to manage the user's ring type, sound volume and call processing: Meeting, Sleep, Spare Time, Calendar Events and Roaming.

The ability to create the user's own custom profile is also available. Profiles can be activated automatically or manually. Automatic profiles can be activated according to a preset schedule (specific days and time) or by location (e.g. office, gym, home). All profiles can be easily changed directly on the Today's screen of the Windows mobile device.

Call processing: Handy Assistant processes all incoming calls and filters them according to the rules: Accept, Reject, Reject+SMS or Ignore. The user can set different rules for various categories of contacts. Handy Assistant enables the user to reject the incoming
call, if the mobile user is unable to answer it, while quickly sending an SMS message in return. The user can also create different SMS texts for various categories of contacts.

Contact categories: There are three default categories in Handy Assistant: VIP, Business and Personal. Users can create their own categories, edit category groups, activate the default or custom profile for each contact category. The program's contact categories integrate easily with Windows Mobile native phone contact categories
set by the user.

Black list: Handy Assistant enables the addition of contacts to the Black List in order to conveniently avoid undesired calls.

Post-call actions: Handy Assistant offers the user multiple options for after-call follow-ups, such as writing a note, open/add to Contacts, blacklist/whitelist the contact, change the current profile, send e-mail/SMS, save info about an appointment and more actions in a matter of seconds, even during a call.

Other features include:
–       Call recording
–       Auto-redial
–       Multiple ring types
–       Over-the-air program updates

Handy Assistant is compatible with all Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5, 6 and 6.1 (Professional and Classic) devices with touch screens.

Openet, a provider of Transactional Intelligence solutions for service providers, today announced that mobilkom austria is using its technology to meet the requirements of the new EU-wide Data Roaming regulations. As a long-standing customer of Openet, mobilkom austria has deployed the Convergent Charging product built on Openet's FusionWorks Framework.

With 4.5 million customers, mobilkom austria is the leading mobile network operator in Austria.  In March 2009, the European Union's parliament voted to extend the EU regulation on international telephone roaming charges from voice calls to the data market, within the 27 EU nations.  In addition, operators have to introduce specific measures targeted at improving subscriber transparency to prevent "bill shock."

With the FusionWorks Convergent Charging product, mobilkom austria can manage roaming data usage, in real time, for subscribers, and enforce data volume or monetary caps.  The provider can also notify its subscribers when pre-defined thresholds have been met and offer the option to extend their usage beyond the cap.  This improved transparency for customer data roaming costs will ensure the mandated reduction in instances of "bill shock."

"Using Openet's Convergent Charging product, we are ready to meet the new EU data roaming regulations well in advance of the regulatory deadline," said Johann Pichler, CTO of mobilkom austria.  "FusionWorks real-time capabilities were crucial in our selection of Openet for this function, giving us the competitive edge to manage data balances, trigger notifications and provide subscribers with maximum flexibility when roaming in the EU."

FusionWorks is the platform at the core of all of Openet's offerings, supporting its suite of solutions, applications, and products.  By enabling dynamic business control over networks, solutions built on FusionWorks enable carriers to move beyond access services to create and add value within a wide range of rich, interactive services.

"Openet's Convergent Charging product and Spending Limits solution are designed to easily meet the exact criteria being laid out by the new regulations from the EU," said Niall Norton, CEO at Openet.  "By giving operators a better view of subscriber data, they can not only meet these new regulations, but identify additional opportunities to drive revenue and increase customer satisfaction."

IMS Forum, the only industry association dedicated to interoperability and certification of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and Next Generation Networks (NGN) applications and services, and Aricent, a global technology and service company, have announced the launch of www.TestNGN.org, which hosts an industry-wide collaborative platform of comprehensive test cases for the validation of IMS and NGN equipment and services.

www.TestNGN.org offers the industry's first community-based, open repository for NGN testing that allows network equipment manufacturers and service providers to significantly reduce the time, complexity, and cost required to introduce next generation networks and services, including equipment such as multimedia gateways, home subscriber and application servers, and services including voice and multimedia over IP, converged Web-telephony services and IPTV.

The repository will allow equipment manufacturers and service providers to download, post and share global testing experiences, quickly creating a high value knowledge base. This approach will help minimise the time spent on test case development, planning, writing and preparation, and accelerate the testing cycle for NGN architectures while reducing complexity and time to market.

"There is increased competition in the consumer and enterprise multimedia markets, with an urgent need for NGN equipment manufacturers and service providers to get new products and services to market quickly," said Michael Khalilian, chairman of the IMS Forum and NGN Forum.  "This joint effort between Aricent and the IMS and NGN Forum complements our landmark IMS Plugfest interoperability events. With easy access to downloadable test cases, equipment manufacturers will reduce their testing times and be assured of consistent compliance with the latest standards. Service providers will benefit from the ability to carry out their own end-to-end testing, and will be able to swiftly verify vendor assurances of NGN compliance testing. This site was designed to provide a major addition to the multi-vendor, multi-network environment created for our IMS NGN Plugfest interoperability test events to further accelerate the deployment of Next Generation networks and services."

The IMS Forum's TestNGN and Interoperability Working Groups are focused respectively on the product interoperability, reliability and operational and management issues associated with converged IMS and NGN applications and services delivered over wireless (3G, LTE), wireline (DSL, optical) and cable broadband. The groups ensure that converged applications and the vehicles which deliver such services will be timely and well supported from a provisioning, billing and management systems perspective.
 
Aricent has developed an extensive NGN testing practice, employing more than 1,600 test engineers and test consultants. The practice has over 70,000 test cases for wireless, VoIP and IMS, all designed to speed the worldwide delivery of Next Generation networks and services.

"We are proud to be working closely with the IMS and NGN Forums to co-develop an innovative method of accelerating the standardised introduction of cutting-edge NGN products and services," explained C P Murali, senior vice president at Aricent.  "Access to the professionally managed NGN test cases benefits both equipment manufacturers and services providers. This should lead to reduced development times for the whole NGN industry."