Camtel Goes Live With Deployment of FTS' Leap(TM) Billing

HERZLIYA, Israel, October 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FTS (LSE: FTS), a global provider of Business Control, Billing and CRM solutions for service providers, today announced that it has successfully completed the installation and implementation of Leap(TM) Billing, a comprehensive end-to-end billing and customer care solution, at Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel).

Camtel is Cameroon's national telecommunications provider, providing a wide range of telephony services to its consumer and business customers, including national and international telephony, Internet services, leased lines, satellite communications, and wireless CDMA.

With the introduction of Leap Billing, Camtel is now able to deliver new and exciting services to its customers while at the same time benefiting from creative billing schemes। The key benefit to the customer will be a single, unified bill that outlines the different services they have used from across the package that they subscribe to. The bill details all of the services that they have been charged for, from wireline telephony and internet services to wireless CDMA usage. The Customer Management solution also provides all of Camtel's customers with a single point of contact for all their queries.

The implementation includes FTS' Leap Billing interconnect, rating (featuring the company's patented Do Tree(TM)) and customer management platforms. FTS' Leap solutions are based on Business Control Layer Technology, which is a software layer residing alongside the network/OSS and BSS system. The Leap Billing solution enables Camtel to develop new revenue opportunities via enhanced customer support and experience.

"Leap Billing opens Camtel up to a new world of services and flexibility," said David Nkoto Emane, Camtel's Director General. "In addition to the new services we are able to provide, Leap Billing also improves our subscriber-facing activities. We can now offer our subscribers true unified bills and state-of-the-art customer management capabilities. On top of this, we saw an immediate RoI as the system allows us to improve our revenue collection."

"The current deployment is an important milestone in a larger, long-term project with Camtel," said David O'Reilly, Sales Director, Africa at FTS. "We are pleased that we have gained Camtel's trust to support its ongoing plans, and we are looking forward to developing our relationship with them."

The Camtel deployment went live with SUN's T2000 Application Servers and data storage');" onmouseout="setTimeout('hideLayer()',500);" class="hotlink2">data storage, a result of FTS' aggressive partnering plan whereby the company engages with local and global partners to address market needs.

About Camtel

Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel) is Cameroon's national telecommunications service provider, offering voice, data, VSAT and internet services. Established in 1998, Camtel is wholly owned by the Government of Cameroon and serves its local high-tech, industrial and service sectors. Camtel's modern CAMPAC packet transmission network, and its full range of advanced telephony services, operates as the hub for Cameroon's lively national and international commercial transactions and business communications. For more information, please visit Camtel at: http://www.camtel.cm/.

About FTS

FTS (LSE: FTS) is a leading provider of Business Control, Billing and CRM solutions for communications service providers. FTS pioneered the Business Control Layer market and is the leading player in the space. By analyzing events from a business standpoint rather than just billing them, FTS allows providers to better understand their customer base and leverage business value from every event and interaction. FTS deploys its full range of end-to-end, stand-alone and add-on solutions to customers in over 40 countries and has implemented solutions in wireless, wireline, cable, content and broadband markets including multiple cross-network installations. Serving the evolving needs of both traditional and next generation service providers; the company's operations comprise four international R&D locations and strategically located sales support offices worldwide. FTS is one of EMEA's fastest growing technology companies, consistently earning a place within the Deloitte Technology Fast-500 EMEA listing.

FTS was recently voted the 'Most Promising Company' at the prestigious 2007 TeleStrategies Billing and OSS World industry event. The award was presented to FTS as it was felt the company will have the biggest impact on the sector in the coming year. For more information please visit http://www.fts-soft.com/.

Cameroon to power up its economy

Tom Nevin

The disappointing performance of Cameroon�s privatisation of energy sector and the resulting drag on economic growth have led to country�s vast gas resources being strategised as its principal source of power. Blessed with copious gas deposits which, converted to energy, could more than solve the West African country�s present energy problems, according to local and international energy professionals.

The precarious reliance on electricity power from hydro-generation would be short-circuited with the strategic installation of gas-fired capacity. Gas turbine power stations are relatively quick to build, are cost-efficient to run and are clean-burning.

Importantly, gas will also be integrated into homes for domestic use as a substitute for traditionally-used wood fuel, preventing further damage to the environment through the stripping of forests.

Cameroon�s economy has been under a liberalised transformation for the past decade, with a significant departure from centralised economics to market dynamics and competitiveness.

�However,� notes the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, �the performance of the power sector since 2001 has been extremely disappointing, but at least one external condition cannot be blamed on the reform. Severe droughts have limited the supply of water, which is the energy behind 90 percent of the electric power produced in Cameroon. This led to major power shortages that have damaged consumers as well as the whole economy.�

Cameroon is now taking a long, hard look at its hotch-potch energy sector, and gas has emerged as the most logical choice.

Gas-fired turbine generators would be a welcome substitute to hydro for both urban and rural electrification, the latter being in the greater need.

Cameroon�s established energy sources are fuelwood, electricity and petroleum. The switchover to gas will gradually predominate and replace the more expensive and environmentally damaging fuels sources.

�The wider picture of life in Cameroon is also an encouraging one,� reports Tafu. �The country is benefiting from a 3-year programme of poverty reduction and growth promotion, along with an IMF-supported debt relief initiative.�

Modest at best, the production of petroleum in Cameroon is now in decline and exploration for new deposits is being encouraged. Enlarged electricity network

Cameroon�s sole energy provider AES SONEL plans to more than double its electricity network, bringing in hitherto unserved parts of the country. The company expects to add about 50 000 new electricity connections each year over the next 15 years in the upgrading its of its existing transmission, distribution and generation facilities. AES SONEL, in partnership with the Cameroon government, is the sole electric utility in Cameroon and currently generates and distributes electricity to more than 528,000 customers in the country.

�This is the most ambitious expansion program for Cameroon�s electricity sector. We expect to more than double the number of people we serve in Cameroon and to provide electricity to thousands of individuals who never had it before,� said John McLaren, president of AES, SONEL�s European parent.

Cameroon enacted a new electricity law in 1998 and privatised its integrated utility in 2001. The main goals were to stimulate investment, develop competition and decrease prices, in accordance with structural adjustment projects from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. AES-Sonel holds a series of concession contracts in generation (952 MW), transmission, system operations, distribution and sales. As it is currently the only company holding such concession contracts, it is a de facto monopoly. The new legislative framework of the sector would, however, allow other players to enter the generation and wholesale markets. -Business in Africa Magazine

New firm to soothe Cameroon's energy crisis

Yaounde The Cameroon government has established a new power firm to boost the West African countrys energy sector, according to a presidential decree।

The public Electricity Development Corporation (EDC), would manage the old infrastructure, as well as promote public and private sector investment to reduce power failures by increasing energy supply.

The firm would acquire funds to construct the Lom Pangar Dam, in eastern Cameroon, to enable AES-SONEL to increase its hydroelectric generating capacity.

In addition to water resources, the firm would also look at gas energy sources to provide sufficient energy supply to the industrial sector.

It wasnt immediately clear whether EDC would make infrastructure investments, would simply encourage them or both. -Business in Africa Online

Cameroon Becomes First African Nation to Introduce Cisco Networking Academy to all Universities

The Republic of Cameroon is the first country in Africa to plan the introduction of a Cisco® Networking Academy® in every university.

In addition under the proposal, all secondary schools will also provide children with a foundation in technology through the IT Essentials course.

The move, the centerpiece of a major IT-based country transformation project, became official earlier this year with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Cameroon administration and Cisco Systems Inc.

Egypt and Nigeria have also announced plans to introduce the program as a standard across all universities, marking an important milestone for the Networking Academy, now in its 10th year.

The Cameroon agreement came after Cisco Middle East and Africa Vice President Mark de Simone led a delegation from Cisco that met with the Cameroonian Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni in October 2006.

During the visit, Cisco made a pledge to support the development of IT infrastructure in the African republic, with particular emphasis on the national rollout of broadband Internet access.

Julius Ayuk Tabe, Networking Academy West and Central Africa area Academy manager, says: "Cisco identified an opportunity for country transformation and the initiative was presented to the highest authorities in Cameroon.

"Their concern was to ensure the sustainability of the program. This naturally led to the idea of matching capacity building to the delivery of IT skills across the country."

The result has been an undertaking which mimics-and surpasses-initiatives in countries such as South Africa and Ethiopia, where Networking Academy has been integrated into state education systems in a bid to support massive infrastructure rollout projects.

In Cameroon, the delivery of broadband services across the country will be carried out by the state telco as part of a USD$25 million project.

Cisco is helping to ease the financial burden of the build-out and the government expects the skills needed to complete the project will be home-grown, which is where the Networking Academy comes in.

Cameroon currently has nine Networking Academies, four of which are in the capital, Yaoundé, with the oldest (at the University of Yaoundé 1) having been in existence since early 2001.

Under the proposed expansion of the program, however, the total number of Academies will increase to 30, equivalent to three in each of the country's 10 administrative regions, within the next 18 months and around 80 in three years.

To oversee this undertaking, the director of Cameroon's national Agency of Information and Communication Technologies, Dr Ebot Ebot Enaw, is leading a Networking Academy taskforce.

This includes representatives of the Education and Post & Telecommunications ministries, as well as the United Nations Development Programme, ITU, United Nations Development Fund for Women, U.S. Peace Corps and United States Agency for International Development.

Ayuk Tabe is realistic about the challenges the taskforce faces. Local authorities and government departments will need to set aside their own interests and collaborate to ensure the scheme is a success.

And with only 10 percent of roads tarred, logistics could pose a significant obstacle for the project. "This country could have information highways before it gets real highways," notes Ayuk Tabe.

Nevertheless, he adds: "There is a lot of political will. The President and Prime Minister are committed to making it happen. And we are keen to see the value in terms of social impact. By the close of 2007, we want to see not only people trained, but also people with jobs."

If this seems ambitious, Ayuk Tabe points to the fact that until recently there were virtually no mobile phones in the country and "now people who cannot read or write have one."

In addition, the country's mobile explosion has created wealth, not least through the roadside selling of phone cards. Going forward, the hope is that broadband, supported by skills delivered through the Networking Academy, will have an even greater effect.

John Edwards, Networking Academy director in Europe and Emerging Markets, says: "I am delighted that we are set to play a role in providing the skills to aid the IT transformation of Cameroon, especially as we enter the Academy's 10-year anniversary.

"Having an Academy in 100 percent of a country's universities is a very welcome first for us."

De Simone adds that Cisco is ideally placed to provide the technical and educational expertise to underpin IT capacity building in Cameroon: "The addition of skills to the community can only help improve the country's presence on the global stage.

"Cameroon is one of the many emerging markets where we are working alongside governments with the aim of transforming economies and societies."

Jason Deign is a freelance journalist located in Barcelona, Spain.