Intec scores with SBC

Already a big player in the global mediation business, UK-based Intec Telecom Systems scored its biggest win yet with a five-year, multi-million dollar deal with SBC Communications to consolidate its various mediation platforms.

Intec was awarded the contract in late September after competing on a request for proposal issues by SBC all the way back in March of 2001. The long sales cycle worked to Intec’s advantage as a separate RFP for IP mediation was combined with the one for its landline service and awarded to Intec as well, said Bob Sobczak, vice president of sales for North America at Intec.

“That makes it a true convergent mediation platform for SBC,” Sobczak said.

Intec’s Inter-mediatE mediation system will replace and consolidated systems from both CSG Systems and Telesciences, reducing the number of server locations from approximately 20 to three.

“The whole telecom industry, especially those who are surviving, are retrenching and looking for ways to be more efficient in how they provide services and to be more competitive in the introduction of new services,” Sobczak said. Intec derives efficiency by operating a flat file transit system rather than one that is database dependent, he added.

In the last two months, Intec has added, renewed or expanded mediation and billing contracts with Telecom Egypt, Telesp Celular of Brazil, Sonofon, a mobile operator in Denmark, VSNL, an Indian international access provider and Colt Telecom Group in Europe.

“We haven’t grown simply because our competitors are falling down. We have grown because we are better at doing what they were doing,” Sobczak said.