WAP Service Broker dramatically improves operator capability to roll out WAP services

Geneva, October 9, 1999. CMG has enhanced its WAP Service Broker product with the capability of provisioning WAP handsets 'Over The Air' with all configuration information that is required to access a specific WAP gateway. This capability enables mobile operators to provision WAP handsets from a central point in their customer care organisation and therefore dramatically shorten the activation time for new subscribers to WAP services.

'Over The Air' provisioning works for 'out-of-the-box' handsets and makes use of the Short Message Service (SMS) service to send the configuration information to the handset. This provisioning capability does not require any involvement by the mobile user.

'We observed a growing concern among operators about how to provision WAP handsets in an efficient and user-friendly way', said WAP Product Manager Wim Wedershoven. 'Configuring WAP handsets is quite complex and error-prone. Some of our customers considered the lack of easy-to-use provisioning as a potential block to the marketing of WAP services. Over The Air provisioning addresses this concern and makes the rollout of WAP services easy for both operators and users'.

Anticipating the WAP Forum standard for 'Over The Air' provisioning, the WAP Service Broker will support the provisioning protocols of individual handset vendors as they are introduced onto the market. In its first release, the WAP Service Broker supports the Nokia Over The Air provisioning protocol. Other protocols will follow. 'As a vendor-neutral solution provider, CMG can act as a catalyst between handset vendors and operators and support all necessary provisioning protocols', explained CMG Managing Director Peter Maathuis. 'This is a unique opportunity to leverage our proven capability for building bridges in the telecommunications market that are beneficial for our customers, for our partners, and for CMG itself'.

Background Information

CMG has been an active member of the WAP Forum since 1998. The company is one of the few suppliers - possibly the only supplier - of cellular information systems having such a comprehensive solution. The key products that make up CMG's offer to the mobile communications industries are: short message service centres, cell broadcast systems, mobile e-mail systems and the WAP Service Broker. CMG has supplied over 100 systems to more than 60 mobile operators in over fifty countries and the company is the undisputed market leader in messaging and gateway solutions.

CMG Telecommunications is part of CMG plc, founded in 1964 and now employing over 8,000 staff. CMG operates internationally from its bases in the UK, Ireland, the United States of America, China, Singapore, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium, implementing and supporting applications for clients around the world. Shares are traded on the Amsterdam and London stock exchanges.

For more information please contact:

Renate van Berchum
Tel: +31 (0) 30 23 39 300
Fax: + 31 (0) 30 23 39 490
Email: [email protected]