IBM and Telcordia to Provide Mission Critical Applications for Senior Service Providers; Telcordia Operations Support Systems and Intelligent Network Services Ported to IBM eServer

Business Wire, Nov 27, 2001

Business/High Tech Editors

MORRISTOWN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 27, 2001

In ongoing support to help Telecommunications Service Providers create new revenue generating services and improve operational efficiency, IBM today announced that Telcordia will port its suite of Operations Support Systems (OSS) to IBM eServer pSeries(tm) which offers customers a highly reliable and scalable server with a low total cost of ownership.

The companies' complementary technologies and expertise will enable Service Providers to more easily deploy new services over next generation networks. IBM Global Services will provide consulting, systems integration, maintenance and installation support services, as well as financing options through its IBM Global Financing organization.

With features like logical partitioning and distributed switching, IBM pSeries brings mainframe type functionality into the Unix(R) space. Telcordia will provide network consulting services, OSS and Intelligent Networks systems and expertise. The two companies will jointly market the Telcordia Work Force Management Suite(R), and Network Provisioning Suite(R) of products.

"Today's era of IP and data communications brings with it a need for a new generation of operations support systems," said Ed Glotzbach, executive vice president and chief information officer, SBC Communications Inc. "We welcome the agreement between IBM and Telcordia for its potential to result in more flexible and responsive solutions that address this need and deliver expanded service choices for the telecommunications industry."

The growing demand for new services and the steady increase in subscribers and network traffic are expected to fuel the growth in the OSS and Intelligent Network Services market. According to analyst firm IDC, the OSS market opportunity in the next generation networking sector will almost double from $3.6 billion in 2000 to $7.1 billion in 2004. At the same time, more enterprise customers are increasingly outsourcing communications applications to Service Providers rather than purchasing their own equipment, while still focusing on core network upgrades.

Both IBM and Telcordia recognize these growing requirements and have chosen to provide their customers with proven, best-in-class back-office solutions for a more reliable, flexible and scaleable environment with greater cost effectiveness.

"By partnering with Telcordia, we are providing leading network transformation offerings to help Service Providers and their customers cut costs and transform the way they do business," said Rich Stomp, vice president, IBM Global Telecommunications Industry. "IBM is increasing its focus and investment in Telecommunications Service Providers and is delivering the required end-to-end solutions with partners like Telcordia."

Telcordia and IBM have been working together for many years in support of the implementation of Telcordia(TM) ISCP(R) Intelligent Network Services Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP) solution. This highly reliable Intelligent Network platform has been implemented at over 20 major Service Providers in the United States, Canada, Europe and the Middle East, representing more than 200 ISCP production nodes. This agreement builds on the successful business partnership that the two companies have enjoyed for the past eight years.

"Customers will benefit from the combination of Telcordia OSSs running on IBM eServers which will be offered as part of a total solution that includes software, hardware and consulting services," said Dennis Tinley, vice president, Customer Solutions, Telcordia. "Our expanded relationship with IBM comes at an important time as our customers significantly increase their focus on cost-effective solutions and maximizing their return on investments."

The IBM e business logo and pSeries are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries.

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM is the e-business infrastructure leader enabling telecommunications service providers to deliver new services to their customers with faster time to market, revenue and profit. By partnering with the top Network Equipment Providers and ISVs, IBM is providing leadership network transformation offerings around the world and helping service providers and their customers transform the way they do business. The fastest way to get more information about IBM is through the IBM home page at http://www.ibm.com. Information on IBM's telecommunications offerings can be found at www.ibm.com/industries/telecom.> About Telcordia Technologies, Inc.

Telcordia Technologies, Inc., an SAIC company, is one of the world's largest providers of operations support systems, network software and consulting and engineering services to the telecommunications industry. A leader in the development of Next Generation Network technologies, Telcordia (www.telcordia.com) is headquartered in Morristown, NJ with offices throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Central and South America and Asia Pacific.