Monday, 3 October 2005 09:43 EST

IMS Global Congress, Budapest, October 3rd, 2005

Aepona today announced another endorsement of its services enablement architecture for telecommunications operators. PTK Centertel, operator of Orange network (from 19th of September 2005) has chosen Aepona Causeway as its main integration platform for developing next-generation intelligent network services on its network. This is further evidence that Aepona’s approach to services enablement is becoming the preferred approach for the most forward-looking operators.

Centertel will be rolling out a series of virtual private network (VPN) services aimed at both pre-pay and post-pay customers enabled by the Aepona Causeway gateway and service interaction management suite.

Causeway is already market-proven with several operators worldwide choosing to adopt it as the most open, stable and future-proofed route to services development. PTK Centertel has now standardised on Causeway for next generation intelligent network solutions. The OSA compliant Causeway becomes the default application programming interface into Centertel’s network resources – both circuit-switched and IP based resources.

Causeway will help Centertel roll out new converged services – thereby helping with the migration towards IMS. According to Mr Philippe Salin, Technical Director, PTK Centertel, "We believe that all of our customers are entitled to an ever-expanding set of VPN services that can now be offered by PTK Centertel. By working with Aepona and adopting the company's Causeway architecture, we are able to offer VPN services much more cost effectively and to a much wider client base than would have been possible previously. Aepona’s Causeway allows us to get to market faster and smarter. We now have plans to further exploit the possibilities afforded by the architecture.”

“Aepona's Causeway suite allows us to get round the constraints that are inherent in intelligent network evolution and gives us a solid platform that protects our legacy investment but frees us to gain competitive advantage. Causeway also allows us to more rapidly introduce services to enhance the relationships we have with our entire customer base."

Liam McQuillan, Aepona’s CEO, argues that PTK Centertel’s choice of services enablement technology adds yet more credence to Aepona’s product strategy. “When we started on the road to standards-based services enablement technologies we were sure that operators would see the logic of building independence by adopting our open standards based products. PTK Centertel shows that operators increasingly see Aepona’s products as must-have enabling technologies for exploiting existing network assets while undertaking a smooth migration to IP network convergence.”

About PTK Centertel

Polish Cellular Telephony Centertel is an operator of digital cellular telephony GSM900/1800, which is used by 8.6 millions customers; it has approximately 1/3 market share of the Polish market – holding the second largest market share position in the country. PTK Centertel offers its modern mobile services across the entire country using GSM, GPRS, EDGE and W-LAN technologies.

Polish Cellular Telephony Centertel Sp. z o. o. was established in December 1991 as the first polish cellular operator using NMT450i system (the network was activated on 18th June 1992). On 1st March 1998 PTK Centertel launched Idea Centertel network (GSM 1800), which on 1st March 2000 (after obtaining GSM 900 concession) was turned into a two-scope network GSM900/1800 under the brand Idea. In December 2000 PTK Centertel gained a UMTS concession which will allow the operator to launch 3G services in the second half of 2005. PTK Centertel shareholders are: Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. (66% of shares) and France Telecom (34% of shares). More information is available on http://www.orange.pl or in the Trade Information: or Orange 0-510 100 100.

About Aepona

Aepona is a leading provider of telecommunications software that enables innovative service delivery solutions for operators worldwide. Aepona’s products are deployed by fixed-line and mobile carriers on three continents enabling rapid roll-out of cost-effective, value-added and customer loyalty enhancing services.

Aepona is at the forefront of convergence in telecoms - providing the necessary infrastructure to allow operators to maximise their investment in both circuit-switched and packet-switched networks. Aepona provides an important stepping-stone in the evolution path from traditional intelligent network (IN) services to IMS - the IP multimedia subsystem.