Am-Beo secures Sonera Zed contract


9 May 2003

As originally reported in siliconrepublic.com, Galway-based rating and revenue settlement software firm for the telecoms industry Am-Beo has secured a major contract with Sonera Zed, a major provider of content for the mobile industry.

In what is estimated to be a multimillion euro deal, Am-Beo’s software will be key to managing the complex partnerships and revenue flow associated with Sonera’s business. Sonera Zed’s products include ringtones, logos, picture messages, games, chat, sports directory, stock quotes, traffic reports, horoscopes, news, finance, movie guides, currency converters and restaurant guides.

Am-Beo (meaning ‘real time’ in Irish) employs 52 people in Mervue Business Park near Galway City. Its flagship product, Rate Rec, provides rating and revenue settlement for voice, data, content and other usage-based services. Another product, Roam Manager, manages inter-carrier roaming agreements and settlements.

Am-Beo has eight customers, mostly European telecoms carriers and service providers, such as Lycos Europe, XTS and Xtempus, but Sonera Zed is its first tier one customer.

In August last year, Yahoo! took a 15pc stake in Zed and the two companies entered into a commercial agreement to deliver co-branded mobile services across Europe, beginning in the UK, Germany and Italy.

The deal allows the leading internet portal to deliver Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Mail to mobile consumers in Europe.

Am-Beo CEO John Brady commented: “Sonera is dominating the content delivery market and Am-Beo is pleased to be working with such a forward-thinking company. Working with a company like Sonera reconfirms Am-Beo’s ability to serve the tier one companies.”

Sonera Zed’s Janne Aalto, vice-president of development, stated: “Am-Beo’s software provides a unique and flexible focus on revenue settlements, which is vital to our mobile content business. We are now well positioned for the growing demand for our products and services.”

By John Kennedy