On the Mark: Capture your scribbles with digital ink
Wireless Bandwidth Is Shrinking Fast - By Mark Hall

Michael Manzo, chief marketing officer at Openet Telecom Inc. in Dublin, posits that a wireless bandwidth crisis is nigh.

The 700-MHz spectrum that was auctioned off in the U.S. in March might help a bit, but not for long. Not with products like the iPhone and mobile data users’ insatiable appetite for peer-to-peer activity gobbling up bandwidth. Manzo says just 1% of mobile users consume 40% to 65% of a network’s bandwidth. And data transactions are doubling about every six months, he claims.

How can CIOs ensure that their users’ smart phones won’t be useless bricks? Manzo says more spectrum isn’t the answer; instead, service providers will have to offer tiered data plans. To do that, they’ll need software like Openet’s FusionWorks, which can assess a variety of factors about a user’s rate plan, quality-of-service requirements and other conditions before beginning a download. Manzo even foresees carriers offering on-the-fly, pay-by-the-gulp services for those who have no QoS agreements. Plus, they’ll be able to bill for specific services, so that it might cost more for P2P than for streaming video. Or vice versa. more>>

Service Providers Must Move Beyond Flat-Rate Pricing to Embrace Innovation

A newly-published global study of services, business models and marketing evolution describes a significant economic need for service providers to personalize the subscriber service experience.

The research report, “Insight on Service Provider Innovation,” also illustrates service providers’ concerns for both pricing and infrastructure to support subscriber-focused innovation.

Openet said that the survey shows that service providers are in the midst of a sea change. Flat-rate pricing models have been able to secure new customers. However, the shift to IP-based networks and services has increased the competition for subscribers across wireline, wireless and cable operators and IT-based competitors to deliver a variety of existing and new dynamic services such as voice, video, gaming and data services such as instant messaging and mobile search. more>>

Wireless Bandwidth Shrinking Fast
Computer World - May 30, 2008

Because Openet’s FusionWorks software is used in most telco operations, Michael Manzo, Openet CMO, says he’s been privy to some scary internal statistics from service providers. One of the most frightening is that for most wireless carriers, 1% of the mobile users consume between 40-65% of the network bandwidth for their data downloads. Furthermore, data transactions are doubling about every six months, he claims.

You don’t have to be a math wiz to know that if that data-hungry population doubles or triples (and it will), your call home from the grocery store about whether to buy salted or unsalted butter will be (unbuttered) toast.

Manzo says Openet will cash in on those new capabilities with its FusionWorks tools. He’s probably saving his optimism for when those orders come rolling in. more>>

OSS on the Riviera: Management World 2008
Pipeline - May 30th 2008

Openet is doing a lot of stuff that makes sense in the current communications market. Using their FusionWorks engine, Openet is active in the mediation, charging, and rating space, and beyond. Their balance management and policy management solutions have a great deal of possibility in the space enabling parents or bosses to set limitations on calling plans. In addition, Openet continues to offer lawful intercept solutions that are alarmingly relevant in today’s world. The key word for Openet is visibility. The ability to see what’s going on in the network  more>>

Openet Debuts Ad Solution with Audience Measurement
Cable 360 Net - May 22, 2008

Openet’s Audience Measurement solution is designed to enable the correlation of real-time subscriber activity such as TV viewing behavior and broadband mobile service usage with demographic and psychographic profiling information. Based on the FusionWorks product suite, Openet’s Audience Measurement solution leverages the company’s billing, mediation and reporting offerings. source>>

Openet Policy, Billing Tools Aim to Make Pricing a Product
Internet Telephony - May 21, 2008

Openet this week debuted two new OSS/BSS products to help service providers move to more dynamic pricing models, opening the doors to new service offerings that take advantage of network capabilities like quality of service and real-time service delivery.

“This is all about taking a dumb pipe and turning it into an intelligent pipe,” Manzo said. “Carriers need to be able to dynamically control who gets access to the network and how network resources are allocated in dynamic fashion.”  more>>

Openet Launches Policy and Balance Managers at Management World 
Billing and OSS World - Tim McElligott - May 20, 2008

Further defining the transactional intelligence space, Openet introduced two new products for its FusionWorks platform at the TM Forum’s Management World Conference. The products are designed to make service providers more dynamic.

The new FusionWorks Policy Manager and Balance Manager work together to assist service providers in harnessing transactional capabilities. They help service providers to deploy features such as Parental Controls, Spending Limits and Flexible Accounts that Michael Manzo, chief marketing officer at Openet, said will help drive new revenue. more>>

Openet Launches Two New Products to Assist Service Providers
CBR - May 19, 2008

Openet, a provider of transactional intelligence for network service providers, has launched two new products, FusionWorks Policy Manager and FusionWorks Balance Manager.

With these products, service providers can deploy solutions such as Parental Controls, Spending Limits and Flexible Accounts that will drive current and future revenue opportunities.  more>>

Openet Debuts Two Products to Accelerate Service Provider Revenue From Next-Generation Services
TMCNet - May 19, 2008

Openet, the leading provider of Transactional Intelligence for the world’s largest and most innovative network service providers, today announced the immediate availability of two new products, FusionWorks Policy Manager(TM) and FusionWorks Balance Manager.

“For many years, Openet has been a leader in telecom mediation — that is, collecting transactional data about network usage,” said Paul Hughes, vice president of communications software research at Yankee Group. “Openet has a portfolio of tier-one customers, which uniquely positions them as providers of dynamic controls for real-time services such as bandwidth throttling, or allotting more or less bandwidth to customers depending on their usage. FusionWorks Balance Manager and FusionWorks Policy Manager are important additions to realizing their real-time vision,” Hughes said. more>>

Openet Debuts Two Products for Next-Generation Services
Billing and OSS World - May 19, 2008

Openet is releasing two new products to assist service providers in harnessing transactional capabilities to target new services. The products, FusionWorks Policy Manager and FusionWorks Balance Manager, allow service providers to deploy systems such as Parental Controls, Spending Limits and Flexible Accounts that will drive current and future revenue opportunities.

Openet is a provider of event processing and transaction management systems. The products are in response to the growing usage of high-speed data packages by next generation subscribers. more>>

Openet Takes its Telco Offerings to Cable Companies
Washington Business Journal - May 16, 2008

Openet Inc. has built a profitable business collecting usage data and setting automated pricing rules for telephone operators’ billing systems. But with the big telcos and their rivals in the cable television business battling it out to win voice, data and video customers, Openet is now betting there are advantages to serving both sides.

Openet, an Irish company with its U.S. headquarters in Reston, has traditionally focused on a client list of telco heavyweights including Sprint, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, British Telecom, FT Orange, Telecom Italia Moviles, Mobikom Austria and Portugal Telecom Mobile.

But next week, Openet opens its doors to the cable industry with new software applications that allow both telcos and cable operators to employ more flexible and interactive billing capabilities and eventually to offer customers new revenue-generating services, such as voting for a favorite contender on a reality TV show via remote control or supporting purchases made through opt-in advertising campaigns delivered to cell phones.

Openet currently offers applications that can be used for parental controls, spending limits, credit controls, flexible accounts and loyalty programs. source>>

How Will Mobile Pricing Models Evolve?
Network World - Joanie Wexler - May 14, 2008

Open access, broadband Internet depend on how services are bundled and priced.

So we now have a nationwide WiMAX network officially under construction that’s backed by WiMAX enthusiast Intel, open-access activist Google and several cable companies eager for a mobile service to sell as a complement to their traditional offerings. What might this lovefest mean for open-access service packages and pricing? Will it be “same old, same old” or will we get totally cool new stuff?  more>>

Openet Debuts a Charging Gateway
Billing & OSS World  - April 29, 2008

Dublin-based Openet, a provider of transactional intelligence solutions, was in Chicago this week for the Billing & OSS World Conference & Expo and announced the availability of its Charging Gateway.

The gateway is based on the company’s FusionWorks Product Suite and provides a way to collect, aggregate and store user session data in real time that is 3GPP charging standard compliant. more>>
 

Pipeline - Seeking OSS at The Cable Show?
Questions and Answers with Openet.

Pipeline: What will you be exhibiting at the show?
Openet: We will not have a formal exhibit at the show; however, we will be making announcements about solutions for cable operators prior to the event, and conducting meetings with operators and vendors about those solutions during the show.

Pipeline: Why did you decide to attend the Cable Show? Why should our readers, who are interested in OSS, do the same?    more>>

Openet Increases Revenue Capture for Service Providers With Charging Gateway

TMC Net - April 29, 2008 

Openet, a provider of Transactional Intelligence solutions for the world’s largest and most innovative service providers, today announces the availability of its Charging Gateway, an application based on its FusionWorks Product Suite(TM). The Charging Gateway provides a high-availability, 3GPP charging standard compliant way to collect, aggregate and store user session data in real time. The real-time capture ensures revenue by bridging the network and the billing system, keeping record delivery to the billing mediation solution alive in the event of a network or mediation system outage or overload without risking data loss. more>>

Double Jeopardy
Vanilla Plus Magazine - April 2008

“The issue of challenges with existing systems to a point has been beaten to death, ” says Niall Norton, chief executive, Openet. ” The big point here is that mobile content is the land of huge opportunity with some threats. Until now, mobile entertainment and content provision has been such a small part of operators’ revenues that it hasn’t really featured. Now , instead of being a fraction of a percent, it is becoming a single digit percentage of total revenue and providers need to maximize the value of such services.” more>>

Omnitel Lithuania deploys Openet to increase revenue for pre-pay data and advanced services
Vanilla Plus Magazine - April 2008

Openet, a provider of transactional intelligence systems, has been chosen Omnitel Lithuania, the largest telecom’s company in the Baltics, to provide FusionWorks Convergent Charging and FusionWorks Network Edge Rating across the operator’s two million-strong subscriber base. The combined solution from Openet will be sued to increase pre-pay data usage control, “with consistent and seamless service regardless of individual plans”, said Openet. It is designed to speed Omnitel’s deployment of new revenue generating tariffs, promotions and services. more>>

Openet Delivers Two New Apps for Risk Reduction
Billing and OSS World - May 2008

Openet announced two new applica-tions aimed at helping service provid-ers ensure a positive customer experi-ence and reduce the risk of unpaid bills by managing limits for voice and data transactions. The new applications, Spending Limits and Credit Controls, work with the company’s FusionWorks Product Suite. more>>

Openet Unveiled it’s Parental Controls Application 
Wireless Week  - April 23, 2008

Openet unveiled it’s Parental Controls application. Using its FusionWorks Product suite, the application lets parents prevent children from using specific services; cap the total amount of spending for children while allowing calls to designated numbers, such as home and emergency services, after the limit is reached; limit the amount of usage by service, such as a maximum number of music downloads or gaming usage; control access to services by time of day, day of the week and specially designated times; and limit access to services based on the children’s location, such as while they are in school. more>>

Can Ad Viewing Incentives Produce Results for Mobile?
Screenplays - Apr 2008

“The operators have the exact demographics and behavior of the subscriber, and marshalling that data becomes very attractive to advertisers, but it’s still unclear what that information is worth,” Shane O’Flynn, Openet vp client services says. “Nobody’s quite sure. If they pay 10 cents per eyeball on a Super Bowl TV ad, how much is the eyeball worth if you know it is in the key demographic you want? The only indication is Google is making a fortune. Everybody knows there’s a big market.”    more>>

FusionWorks Helps Drive Wireless Offering
Eastern European Wireless Communications - Mar 2008

“As part of a strategically timed review of their ratings process, we were able to help Omnitel consolidate hundreds of rating plans into just 12, ” says Philip Hogan, VP sales EMEA and APAC at Openet.

FusionWorks Convergent Charging will be used to ensure that data services are only available when a prepay subscriber is in credit. more>>

New Apps Align Voice and Data Usage with Service Plans
TMCnet - 08 Apr 2008

Openet, a provider of Transactional Intelligence solutions for service providers, has announced two new applications supported by its FusionWorks Product Suite. The Spending Limits and Credit Controls applications help service providers ensure a positive customer experience and reduce the risk of unpaid bills by managing limits for voice and data transactions.  more>>

Every Move You Make: Collecting Data for LAES in Next-Gen Networks
Pipeline - Apr 2008

Lawfully Authorized Electronic Surveillance (LAES) is challenging service providers to retain data through various criteria and across multiple next-generation networks such as WiMAX, cable and IMS—not an easy task when considering the expansive subscriber bases and massive amounts of data traveling across any given service provider network. This standard addresses the interfaces between a service provider and a law enforcement agency to assist the agency in conducting electronic surveillance; however, in the continuous mad scramble that is telecom today, this is easier said than done.  more>>

Openet Intros New Applications Supported by FusionWorks
TMCnet - Mar 31, 2008

Transactional Intelligence solutions provider Openet has announced to new applications supported by its FusionWorks Product Suite. The new Spending Limits and Credit Controls applications are designed to help service provides to ensure a positive customer experience, while also reducing the risk of unpaid bills by managing limits for voice and data transactions.

“By working closely with our Tier 1 customers to identify their needs and engineering our solutions to maximize service provider revenue through the use of Transactional Intelligence, Openet is enabling new services every day,” said Mike Manzo, chief marketing officer of Openet. more>>

Openet Pioneers Next-gen Wireless
EETimes- March 27th, 2008

“For many years, Openet has been a leader in telecom mediation–that is, collecting transactional data about network usage,” said Paul Hughes, vice president of software research at Yankee Group.   Openet “has a portfolio of tier-one customers, which uniquely positions them as providers of dynamic controls for real-time services such as bandwidth throttling,” or allotting more or less to customers depending on their usage, Hughes said.  “These type of real-time controls will become increasingly important as newer bandwidth-hogging services, like downloading and delivering music and video, come online,” he added. more>>

Come One, Come All; The Wireless Industry Opens Up
Intele-Card News - March 21, 2008 

“In essence, [there is the] walled garden [effect] where you have to go to your service provider for every application, and the carrier is in the business of monetizing applications as opposed to network capabilities,” says Mike Manzo, CMO of Openet, a provider of transactional intelligence solutions. “Finally, the wireless service providers appear to be acknowledging that they are a pipe, as opposed to an application, and they are going to monetize their network capability, which is what they do well. They’re probably going to be layering on smarter network capabilities, things like quality of service or bandwidth boost capabilities or any number of things that improve the user experience.” more>>

Omnitel Lithuania deploys Openet’s charging and rating solution
CBR - March 13, 2008

Omnitel Lithuania has selected Openet, a provider of transactional intelligence solutions, to provide FusionWorks Convergent Charging and FusionWorks Network Edge Rating platform across its two million subscriber base.  more>>

Openet Wins in Lithuania
Light Reading - March 12, 2008

Rolandas Ryliskis, CTO of Omnitel, said: “Openet offers the most superior charging and rating solution on the market for pre-pay and wireless services. FusionWorks Convergent Charging and Network Edge Rating offers the vital flexibility, reliability and speed needed to better control transactions and quickly deploy new tariffs and services that meet the changing needs of our customers.”  more>>

Tools Emerge to Reward Mobile Ad Watching with Service Discounts
Screenplays - March 8th 2008

The overall challenge for operators seeking to experiment with offers of free or discounted service in exchange for viewing ads lies with integrating ad-management and ad-insertion platforms with operator billing and subscriber management platforms, says Shane O’Flynn, Openet’s Vice President of Client Services. “We connect to the ad server, and as it inserts an ad, we collect that as an event and pass it to the billing system.”  more >>

Switching to Offense with Convergent, Real-Time Services
Billing and OSS World - 29th Feb 08

 ”Playing in the Web 2.0 arena would build customers’ opinions of operators who could, in turn, build customer loyalty in the same way airline, automotive, credit card and hospitality industries do,” says Joe Hogan, CTO of Openet. “If we as an industry begin to devise marketing strategies that, in real time, reward customers the more they use our services, then we can get customers for life.” more >>

Operators wait on the Platforms while IMS Arrival is Delayed
Global Telecoms Business - Feb 08

“While IMS and SDPs are intimately related,” says Shane O’Flynn, VP Client Services at Openet, “it is more because the concept of both is born of a desire to simplify the networks and application environments over which services are delivered rather than a mandated coupling where either one cannot exist without the other.” more >>

Mobile Advertising: Source, Serve, Track and Charge
Vanilla Plus - Feb 08

Mobile Advertising places heavy demands on carrier systems; advertisers have to be matched with the available advertising inventory, subscribers have to be selected to be targeted with specific advertisements, the response rates to campaigns need to be tracked and revenue share needs to be settled between all the parties.  

“The solutions required to deliver next generation advertising are in many ways similar to tools being implemented by service providers today to support real-time mediation, charging and usgae controls for telecom services” says Michael Manzo, Chief Marketing Officer of Openet.  more>> 

Openet: Billing-Systeme sind tot
Heise Mobil - Feb 13, 2008

“Billing-Systeme sind tot.” Mit dieser Ansage lässt Niall Norton, CEO der irischen Firma Openet, auf dem Mobile World Congress aufhorchen. Die Zahl der zu verarbeitenden Transaktionen werde sich in Mobilfunknetzen innerhalb von zwei Jahren je nach Netz verdreifachen bis verzehnfachen. Diesem explosionsartigen Wachstum, das durch die verstärkte Nutzung von Datenübertragung und allerlei möglichen Zusatzdiensten ausgelöst wird, seien klassische Billing-Systeme nicht gewachsen. Ganz uneigennützig erscheint diese Einschätzung allerdings nicht: Zufälligerweise hat Openet Software im Angebot, die zwischen der IT und dem Netzwerk platziert wird und die Billing-Systeme entlastet, in dem die Nutzungsdaten aus dem Netz aufbereitet und vorbeurteilt werden.  more>>

Cisco Showcases Mobility Applications at Mobile World Congress That Help People Connect, Collaborate and Access Entertainment on the Move
CNN Money - Feb 11, 2008

Mobile Content Services - Mobile operators can deploy the Cisco Service Exchange Framework and applications from Openet, helping them monetize mobile content services while helping to increase average revenue per user (ARPU) through differentiated billing. more>>

Mobile Carriers Face Cell Phone Saturation
Red Herring - Feb 08, 2008 

“The wireless carriers are entering the next evolutionary phase,” said Mike Manzo, Chief Marketing Officer at Openet, a Dublin, Ireland, company that provides data mining services to carriers. “Cell phone penetration now exceeds the population by a factor of 40 percent in some places. The types of devices will change.” Mr. Manzo forecasts growth and integration of specialized mobile devices such as GPS systems, Internet-connected personal entertainment toys, and specialized business-oriented devices.  more>>

Mobile Advertising Alliance Formed
WirelessWeek - February 06, 2008
A new consortium of companies has formed the Mobile Advertising Alliance, with the promise to revolutionize mobile phone networks as an advertising opportunity. The collaborative venture was started by software vendors Anam, Cibenix, Mobile Cohesion, Openet and SLA Mobile; each member firm provides a best-of-breed component to the mobile advertising platform.

The Alliance has defined a platform that allows mobile operators to secure their position in the mobile advertising market and advertisers to reach a wide market with uniquely targeted campaigns. The platform also promises to allow systems integrators to achieve rapid integration of software solutions with existing telecommunications infrastructure. more>>

Alliance Flags Mobile Advertising Revolution
By Sarah Falson | Tuesday | 2008-02-05

A consortium of advertising companies has today announced that it plans to revolutionise the mobile phone network in terms of advertising and direct marketing, ahead of the Mobile World Congress which will take place next week in Barcelona.

The group of software players, including Anam, Cibenix, Mobile Cohesion, Openet and SLA Mobile, aims to strengthen the mobile advertising market with the launch of a platform that makes mobile advertising more accessible for advertisers, allowing them to reach a wide market with uniquely targeted campaigns.  more>>

New Mobile Advertising Alliance Launched at Mobile World Congress 2008, Barcelona

Barcelona - February 5, 2008 - A new consortium of companies was today announced, prior to the Mobile World Congress (11th to 14th February, 2008), that promises to revolutionise the mobile phone network as an advertising and direct marketing opportunity.

The Mobile Advertising Alliance is a collaborative venture between software vendors Anam, Cibenix, Mobile Cohesion, Openet and SLA Mobile. more>>

MWC: Software companies align for mobile marketing push
Feb 6, 2008 2:49 PM, By Sarah Reedy

At Mobile World Congress, the Mobile Advertising Association forms to take marketing mobile

Mobile advertising is slowly moving from an untapped source of revenue to a value-added service for customers and carriers alike. To expedite the process, the Mobile Advertising Alliance (MAA), an association of mobile software companies, was announced in advance of Mobile World Congress next week in Barcelona. The alliance promises to bring the potential of advertising and direct marketing to mobile phone network across the globe. more>>

Openet Touts 2007 Growth
JANUARY 11, 2008 - Light Reading Europe

DUBLIN — Openet experienced a banner year in 2007, highlighted by considerable adoption and growth of its Transactional Intelligence solutions by an expanding customer roster consisting of the world’s largest and most innovative service providers. Openet’s key role in Tier 1 customer innovation and implementation of next-generation services over the past year is setting the stage for successful market adoption of the next wave of Openet’s offerings that will continue to advance customer revenue and service opportunities   more>>

Openet Experiences Banner Year for 2007, Anticipates Even Better 2008
January 09, 2008  By Susan J. Campbell TMCnet Contributing Editor

Openet, a worldwide provider of event processing ad transaction management solutions, has announced the results of a banner year in 2007. This year was highlighted by considerable adoption and growth of the company’s Transactional Intelligence solutions by an expanding customer roster consisting of the world’s largest and most innovative service providers.

The company’s key role in Tier 1 customer innovation and implementation of next-generation services in 2007 is setting the state for successful market adoption of the next wave of Openet’s offerings that will continue to advance customer revenue and service opportunities.   more>>

Irish Examiner
January 2nd 2008

OPENET is a provider of transactional intelligence solutions for the world’s largest and most innovative service providers. The company was ranked 14th in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Ireland based on average percentage revenue growth over five years. With the average growth rate at 49%, Openet grew 589% during this period. The company has also been named a finalist in the European Business Awards 2008 with nine other companies competing for the Business Innovation of the Year award. more>>

‘Open’ Breakthrough

By: Monica Alleven - January 1, 2008

Verizon Wireless certainly wasn’t the first U.S. carrier to make the move to open access. It just happened to be the operator with the most notoriously closed network.
You could almost hear the roar of applause across the developer community after Verizon Wireless on Nov. 27 announced its plan to open its network to new devices, software and applications. In wireless terms, the new openness was the equivalent of the Berlin Wall coming down. more>>

They’re Playing Our Song
By Aine Coffey and Brian Carey - The Sunday Times December 2, 2007

Irish entrepreneurs are hoping to cash in on the mobile phone revolution that will see us more likely to buy tickets than to talk, write Aine Coffey and Brian Carey.
It was May 2005.  Mark McLaughlin, a die-hard Oasis fan, had ordered two tickets from Ticketmaster to stand at the front of the hairy Mancunians’ concert in London’s Clapham Grand.
When fifth-floor seated tickets arrived instead, he saw red.  The experience would turn McLaughlin, then about to move from Goldman Sachs to corporate banking at Bank of Ireland, into an entrepreneur. more>>

Software firms pool skills for profit 
Nov 22nd 2007

Although Openet is one of the largest and best-established players in the group, the company also sees the value in clustering.
“We absolutely need each other. One part of the platform without the other is interesting, but not compelling,” Shane O’Flynn says.The opportunity presented by coming together is orders of magnitude greater than any one company could hope to achieve by itself, O’Flynn argues. “10pc of a billion-dollar market is better than 100pc of a US$10m market,” he says.  >>more

What’s Up With IMS?
Nov 19th 2007

“Two years ago you couldn’t stop equipment vendors with huge displays at telecoms shows talking endlessly about IMS. Things have gone quiet because I think that companies are starting to finally get serious about rolling it out. The IMS cores are already in the process of being built – in some of the more progressive operators, have already been built – and there are significant financial commitments being made. IMS on-line charging systems are part of this initial spend as they are now a preliminary consideration rather than something left to later phases of IMS rollouts.”
— Joe Hogan, CTO and Founder, Openet    more>>

Openet, Sun Team on ‘Green’ Solution for Tier 1 Service Provider Transaction Processing
November 8th 2007

Transactional intelligence solutions provider Openet recently announced a partnership with Sun Microsystems on a new solution designed to help Tier 1 service providers improve the speed and efficiency of their billing and transaction systems. >>more

The Role of DIAMETER in IMS
By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis

November 8, 2007

In a world of IP Communications under siege by hackers, crackers, and disgruntled employees, the science of Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) has evolved considerably as VoIP has gone from a hobbyist concoction to a revenue-generating service that must rely on rock-solid, secure ways to authenticate, authorize, and establish accounting records for billing user time on networks. For example, the earliest services needed a protocol to communicate AAA information between voice gateways and their associated billing application. >>more

Openet and Sun Microsystems Team Up to Help Telecoms Go Green
By Brian Solomon November 5 2007
 
This coming Monday, Openet and Sun Microsystems will unveil their plan to help telecom service providers to go green.

The plan is to announce a new standard for charging and rating processing.  The solution that Openet and Sun Microsystems will be offering has its origins in the recommendation of a joint tier-one service provider that sought to leverage cost-effective solutions in order to reduce its ecological footprint.  In essence, the idea is that service provider customers will now be able to implement green initiatives by decreasing their environmental and economic impact.
 
Openet executives will be discussing the new initiatives at several conferences next week. >>more

Executive Insight: Joe Hogan, Openet

Openet’s CTO Joe Hogan, discusses the evolution of advertising business model and the challenges faced by operators.

click here to see the video

Will the iPhone set a precedent in revenue sharing
Vanilla Plus October 2007

Apples iPhone has only just hit the stores in the US and, as anticipated by mobile watchers, it has had an almost immediate impact on the way telecoms industry operates.

Verizon has announced that it plans to bring RealNetwork’s Rhapsody to its handsets with the support of MTV. And now that Apple is in discussions for a UK launch, similar operator/content provider partnerships are inevitable, says Mike Manzo, Openet’s chief marketing officer. >>more

Advanced billing is getting a new look in the age of convergence
september 27th 2007

In a converged world, service providers need a real-time billing system that quickly can implement the ideas the marketing department comes up with, supporting prepaid, postpaid and hybrid plans. As a result, the concept of prepaid billing is being made over as service providers are beginning to realize that prepaid functionality can provide so much more than simple service agility; it actually can make for entirely new revenue streams. >>more

Openet gets back on track

Sunday Business Post - 16 Sept 2007

Openet has seen a major change in fortunes over the past three years and is now eyeing the future with confidence, writes Gavin Daly.Dublin software firm Openet had sales of €29.8 million last year and made a profit of €3.6 million, after major growth in the business.Niall Norton, chief executive of Openet, said the results put the company on track for sales of €100 million in three to four years’ time. He described 2006 as a turnaround year for Openet - in the 18 months to the end of 2005, the company had sales of €26.7 million but made a pre-tax loss of almost €6.5 million. >>more

 iPhone : A dilemma for the operators

The UK Mobile Report (online) 19 Sept 2007

Mike Manzo, chief marketing manager, at transaction specialists Openet, contacted UKMR to point out the dilemma the iPhone brings to mobile operators:
“The iPhone , and the forthcoming crowd of competitive devices, are being designed to make data and content applications and services much more user-friendly, which in turn creates higher adoption and usage. The subsequent increase in the number of data transactions that operators have to handle could reach the levels of voice and sms - a boon to telecoms.”“However, mass adoption of next-generation mobile usage presents new challenges when it comes to revenue sharing, not least because Apple has taken the unprecedented step of demanding a percentage of revenue from their exclusive operator partner in each country. Operators will have to cope with the added dimension of a third beneficiary and the increased demand for data services, operators need a solution capable of handling both complex, multi-service billing and partner settlement.”

UKMR Verdict: You can see why operators (O2 excepted) are nervous about Apple. If iPhone succeeds, it proves that a manufacturer with a highly attractive phone can insist on a revenue share - hardly something Vodafone et al want to encourage

link>>

Openet Touts Processing Potential 

SEPTEMBER 04, 2007 - www.lightreading.com

DUBLIN — Openet, a provider of Transactional Intelligence solutions for the world´s largest and most innovative service providers, today announced performance testing results that set a new benchmark for Tier 1 service provider transaction processing.

The study shows Openet´s FusionWorks Platform(TM) running on HP Integrity servers smoothly handles 430 million charging transactions per hour. The testing projects the ability to manage billions of transactions per day, making the combination of FusionWorks on HP Integrity servers an ideal platform for transaction processing for Tier 1 providers that need to manage both legacy and the ever-expanding IP-based traffic of next-generation services. >>more

Openet Announces Market-Redefining Performance Benchmarking Study Results for Tier 1 Service Providers

September 04 2007 (Market Wire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)

Openet, a provider of Transactional Intelligence solutions for the world’s largest and most innovative service providers, today announced performance testing results that set a new benchmark for Tier 1 service provider transaction processing.

The study shows Openet’s FusionWorks Platform running on HP Integrity servers smoothly handles 430 million charging transactions per hour. The testing projects the ability to manage billions of transactions per day, making the combination of FusionWorks on HP Integrity servers an ideal platform for transaction processing for Tier 1 providers that need to manage both legacy and the ever-expanding IP-based traffic of next-generation services. >>more

Today’s IMS Scene

INTERNET TELEPHONY August 2007

IMS, the IP Multimedia Subsystem, is perhaps the most ambitious movement in telecom since the transition to digital signaling in the 1970s and 80s. Its goal is to overhaul the world’s wireless and wireline networks, placing them atop a global, common service architecture that will allow service providers to quickly devise and deploy many new on-demand, IP multimedia and mobile services. Single platforms will be able to combine multiple services such as VoIP, IP Centrex, Fixed-Mobile, Hosted PBX and SMS. >>more

Service Providers Tap New Solutions  

Screen Plays Magazine - September 2007 

Next-Gen Charging Systems Comprise Key To Converged Third-Party Merchant Transactions
By Peter Lambert 

Service providers have suddenly begun implementing a new generation of rating and charging platforms to meet two emerging marketplace mandates: to converge fixed and mobile IP and to transform themselves into retail storefronts for a surfeit of third-party merchant products and services.  more>>

Industry, Analysts Critique Auction Details;
Rules Unlikely to Lure New Players,
But Existing Carriers Will Gobble up Spectrum.
RCR Wireless News - August 6, 2007

By: Jeffrey Silva
While the Federal Communications Commission and others celebrated anticipated public-safety and wireless benefits of last week’s 700 MHz auction rules decision, skeptics question whether the action will indeed produce a competitor to the Bell telephone-cable TV broadband duopoly and a strong commercial entity willing to partner with first responders on a shared national wireless network.

“We believe the key impact for investors is that there is unlikely to be a new national wireless carrier using the 700 MHz spectrum to compete with the telco and cable broadband incumbents, though we expect some potential new entrants to bid and make a significant effort,” said Blair Levin, an analyst with investment banking firm Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. more>>

Policy management needed for standards soup
Mobile Europe - August 2007

In Mobile Europe’s February 2007 issue, Alun Lewis looked at the development of
3GPP standard LTE. now he looks at its counterpoint - System Architecture Evolution. The shape of things to come, he says, is flat, uses packets and needs policies…

After the post-recession doldrums of a few years ago, it’s fast becoming clear that many late ‘90s visions of the evolving ‘network of networks’ are finally starting to become reality. While the future then was going to be based on such faded and largely forgotten technologies such as ISDN and ATM - as well as early versions of cellular and fixed radio access - many of the core principles remain the same, despite the huge impact of IP, DSL, WiMax and 3/4G on network architectures. That original vision was based on the idea of a single, access technology-agnostic, core network that spanned both the fixed and mobile world, long before terms like fixed-mobile convergence had even been thought of.  more >>

Wireless Week - iPhone Post-Launch: The Reality Sets in
July 15, 2007

In the heart of downtown San Francisco, Candace Locklear, a public relations director at SparkPR, stood in line at the flagship Apple store for about 11 hours on June 29 before she got her $600-plus iPhone. For her, it was worth it.  more>>

Delivering Video Over IP
Internet Telephony, July 2007

At Openet, CEO Niall Norton says, “Openet develops products and delivers solutions to telco operators in the network edge space, which involves providi