CHICAGO - November 14, 2000 - PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world's largest professional services organization, today announced at TeleManagement World (TMW) an exciting collaboration with Portal Software, Siebel Systems, Sun Microsystems, Inc., Syndesis and Vitria Systems, Inc. to provide Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) clients with an automated, end-to-end operational support systems (OSS) infrastructure aimed at capturing and retaining customers efficiently and profitably in a fiercely competitive landscape.

To be demonstrated at TMW's Catalyst Showcase event in Chicago, the DSL Customer Management Services initiative is the latest project launched in part by PricewaterhouseCoopers' New World Networks solutions group, which has aided some of the world's leading communications service providers in designing and implementing mission-critical provisioning, billing and customer care systems. TMW attendees will be able to view a series of sales, order management, service/network provisioning and customer service handling functions made possible by integrating an array of leading-edge software and hardware products and services from a team of technology companies.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' collaboration with other team members on the DSL Customer Management Services project is premised on open standards as well as TeleManagement Forum's New Generation Operations Support Systems (NGOSS) principles. This framework of guidelines enables a truly "plug and play" environment in which disparate systems can communicate with each other using a common middleware architecture.

"The DSL Customer Management Services initiative grew out of the increasing demand from communications clients for OSS solutions that are robust and sophisticated but also scalable, flexible and relatively painless to implement," said Mike Reuschel, partner and Americas leader of the New World Networks solutions group within PricewaterhouseCoopers' Management Consulting Services practice. "Our work with other Catalyst team members is well on its way to enabling DSL companies to reach their aggressive goals for continued growth and success in a highly competitive market."

Collaboration and Commitment

Each company involved in the DSL Customer Management Services initiative brings unique perspectives, industry experiences and components to the project-reflecting a wide range of products, services and skill-sets required to build an effective OSS infrastructure for DSL companies, as well as the collective commitment to standard business process models that can ease integration woes for clients.

Portal Software builds the business infrastructure for the Internet by providing the customer management and billing software for Internet and next-generation communications services. Portal's Infranetb software platform links Internet/IP services, subscribers and revenues, enabling service providers to rapidly develop, price, and provision new services and effectively manage customer usage and billing in real time.

Siebel Systems provides Siebel eCommunications, a comprehensive suite of eBusiness applications designed specifically for the communications industry. Designed in close collaboration with the world's leading service providers, Siebel eCommunciations delivers out-of-the-box functionality for acquiring, serving and retaining high-value customers across all channels, including the Web, the call center, field sales and service and third party resellers.

Sun Microsystems provides industry-leading products and platforms that help power the DSL Catalyst solution. Acclaimed for reliability, availabilty and scalability, the products include Sun Enterprise Server, StorEdge platforms and the Solaris operating system.

Syndesis is automating the New Public Network with NetProvision, market-leading provisioning software that is mission-critical for any service provider attempting to meet the skyrocketing demand for diverse data services. It is a unique solution that allows providers to dynamically create end-to-end services across disparate equipment from the widest range of hardware vendors.

Vitria Technology, Inc. provides BusinessWare(TM), an ebusiness infrastructure platform that automates mission-critical business processes across the extended enterprise. Compliant with the TMF reference model, BusinessWare provides the framework for defining end-to-end business processes, the necessary infrastructure for facilitating the collaboration between various applications, and a normalized common information model.

About PricewaterhouseCoopers

The Management Consulting Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers helps clients maximize their business performance by integrating strategic change, process improvements and technology solutions. Through a worldwide network of skills and resources, consultants manage complex projects with global capabilities and local knowledge, from strategy through implementation. PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwcglobal.com) is the world's largest professional services organization. Drawing on the knowledge and skills of more than 150,000 people in 150 countries, we help our clients solve complex business problems and measurably enhance their ability to build value, manage risk and improve performance in an Internet-enabled world.

PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the member firms of the worldwide PricewaterhouseCoopers organization.

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