MOSCOW, Russia, April 5, 2006 - Cisco Systems today announced that it is collaborating with Personeta to deliver a solution for one of Russia and Eastern Europe's leading mobile service providers, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS). The collaboration will help deliver a new fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) voice solution to MTS' business customers in across Russia. The solution helps provide MTS customers with a convenient seamless service and a unified bill. For MTS the benefits include reduced capital and operating expenses, improved competitiveness, and increased service revenue.
The solution is based on key elements of Cisco's Service Exchange Framework, part of its IP Next Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture, and Personeta's TappS NSC application server, The solution also includes Cisco's voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateways as well as Cisco's carrier-class media gateway controller, the PGW 2200 which provides enhaced call control capabilities to MTS.
The combined Cisco and Personeta solution provides MTS with carrier-grade resiliency, scalability, and security. Solution elements are integrated to eliminate single points of failure, and security appliances help protect external access to the service. For enterprise business customers, the solution will help to easily unify mobile voice and fixed PBX telephony using VoIP technology. Features include voice virtual private networks, which provide a universal number across PBX-attached and mobile phones and an integrated "find-me" feature. With the PBX-to-mobile service, callers can call to the fixed line number and the system will automatically ring the mobile number associated to that user, so that the employee never misses an important call. MTS' customers have the ability to specify time-dependent simultaneous or sequential ringing.
MTS has realized numerous benefits, which include new services and applications that can be easily developed in the flexible service creation environment provided with Personeta's TappS NSC solution, accelerating time to market for new services. By using IP technology, the new solution was cost-effective to deploy and maintain, and scaleable to hundreds of thousands of subscribers without major network reengineering or service disruption. Financially, the solution has reduced operating expenses for MTS by substituting expensive circuit-switched transport with cost-effective Cisco VoIP solutions. A new service that offers mobile access for business is already generating new revenue for MTS. Future revenue-generating services utilizing IP services can be easily added.
The new solution over the Internet or through the operator's interactive voice response system, reducing management and support costs. Centralized announcement storage and management eliminates the need to make changes on multiple devices, and a single Business Support System/Operations Support System integration point simplifies back-office systems. MTS receives a single, correlated call detail record. MTS customers are provided with a single bill which minimizes billing expenses for the operator and simplifies control, auditing, and accounts payable for customers. In addition, MTS customers do not have to purchase on-premises equipment or commit to a capital investment, making it easy and attractive to subscribe.
"Wireless applications for voice and data are as essential to today's businesses as their fixed or wired counterparts. Although many enterprises have sophisticated IP data networks in place they must still rely on a separate mobile voice network," commented Massimo Migliuolo, Vice President, Global Mobile Vertical, Cisco Systems. "The Cisco IP Next Generation Network (IP NGN) is the platform enabling the convergence of wired and wireless networks. Within the IP NGN, Cisco's Service Exchange Framework delivers existing IP Multimedia services as well as new IMS and SIP based services enabling true service convergence to occur."
"The opportunity to provide such an innovative service solution to an industry leader like MTS is an important market validation for the entire concept of fixed-mobile convergence," said Bibi Rosenbach, Founder and acting President of Personeta. "The combined Cisco and Personeta solution will enable MTS to increase revenue streams by deploying new products and services quickly, as well as benefit from the deployment of service enabling architectures such as IMS."
Network Solution
The new FMC solution combines several IMS components from Cisco® and Personeta. To perform signaling and call control tasks, the systems integrator, Technoserv A/S, a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, chose the Cisco PGW 2200 Media Gateway Controller. The PGW translates the SS7 signaling from MTS' GSM network to the Primary Rate Interface (PRI) used by enterprise customers' backhaul TDM networks. Currently, the mobile operator uses a Cisco AS5400HPX universal voice gateway as the access gateway for customers' PBX connections and as a trunking gateway that faces the GSM network. Cisco provided the entire switching fabric for the FMC solution, including PGW 2200 media gateway controllers, AS5400HPX universal voice gateways, and the switches and routers required for network deployment at each of MTS' regional sites.
The Personeta TappS NSC network service controller offers a comprehensive service creation and delivery environment, enabling fast and flexible service creation for voice, data, and messaging service features. As part of its service execution capabilities, the system implements a next-generation media server into the MTS' network, enabling flexible user interaction via interactive voice response (IVR). Personeta's network service broker function and hosted Mobile Office Application for Mobile Enhanced Logic (CAMEL)/IP enables the system to orchestrate 2.5G network features with IP-based service functionality, high levels of control over call handling and web-based self use features.
For more information
To learn more about Cisco solutions for mobile operators please visit: www.cisco.com/go/mobile.
About Mobile TeleSystems
Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS") is the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS. Together with its subsidiaries, the Company services over 60.31 million subscribers. The regions of Russia, as well as Belarus, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, in which MTS and its associates and subsidiaries are licensed to provide GSM services, have a total population of approximately 233.1 million. Since June 2000, MTS' Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol MBT). Additional information about MTS can be found on MTS' website at www.mtsgsm.com.
About Personeta
Personeta, a Cisco Technology Developer Program partner, is a leading provider of intelligent network service creation and delivery platforms that enable carriers to improve profitability with value-added voice, data and video services. Personeta solutions help service providers maximize their existing capital investments in Inteligent Network equipment and services, while facilitating a smooth migration to IP-based networks. Personeta's TappS NSC speeds time to market and introduction of new service offerings. It also delivers the same services over any combination of network technologies - fixed, mobile, VoIP and broadband. Personeta's corporate offices are located in North America and its technology center is based in Israel. For more information, visit www.personeta.com.
