US telecoms giant invests in Arantech’s software


4 Apr 2007

The largest regional mobile telecoms operator in the US, Alltel, has struck a landmark deal with Irish software firm Arantech to deploy its technology to address call quality issues.

With a market cap of US$24.7bn and over 15 million customers as of early 2006, Alltel is the largest regional mobile phone company in America and the fifth-largest mobile phone company overall. Alltel is understood to be a rumoured Verizon Wireless acquisition target.

The company is to deploy Dublin firm Arantech’s technology to get a better insight into customer experience problems such as dropped calls and service outages.

Alltel will use Arantech’s customer experience management (CEM) monitoring technology, entitled Touchpoint, to assess the quality of its service and pinpoint areas where improvement is needed in its network.

The deal was unveiled last week at the CTIA Wireless 2007 trade show in Orlando, Florida.

It is Arantech’s first deal with a major US carrier and provides a vital bridgehead for the company to take on America.

The company, which has satellite offices in Boston, has already secured major deals with international carriers like Vodafone, Orange and Swisscom.

Two years ago Arantech raised US$10m in a second-round venture capital deal with investors Trident Capital, Ericsson, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, Oyster Investment and Enterprise Ireland.

By John Kennedy