Tango in cash following Indonesian deal


19 Jun 2007

Irish telecommunications technology firm Tango Telecom has announced that Indonesian mobile operator Indosat has implemented its SMS anti-spam product.

Indosat will deploy iAX Anti-Spam on its network, vice-president of sales and marketing at Tango Telecom Richard Choi explained at the CommunicAsia 2007 event in Singapore today. He listed the benefits the technology would bring to the mobile operator as network, revenue and brand protection and reduced subscriber dissatisfaction and churn caused by unsolicited text messages.

“SMS spam is more than just an annoyance: it can also incur charges for both the operator and the subscriber and research has shown that subscribers often see their operator as the source of the spam and switch carriers as a result,” said Choi. “IAX Anti-Spam is designed not only to detect SMS spam sent from local or foreign networks but also to provide protection against deliberate attempts to bring down an operator’s network using malware or viruses. This highly configurable solution will ensure the operator’s compliance with current and future regulatory mandates.”

The product defends against a wide variety of abuses, including denial-of-service attacks, flooding and offensive content offering operators a solution to protect their subscribers from inappropriate, harmful and unsolicited content, according to Tango Telecom.

Raymond Tan, network director, Indosat, said: “Indosat decided to proactively and aggressively counter the effects of spam and malware to its network and to its subscribers. We needed a solution that would protect our network from SMS fraud and abuse and our subscribers from SMS spam. Having previously partnered with Tango Telecom and their local partner Lintas Teknologi in the very successful deployment of their SMS delivery platform (iAX SMS), we were confident that their anti-threat solution would not only meet but exceed our requirements.”

News of the deal was announced at CommunicAsia 2007 in Singapore, a global showcase event which began today and runs until Friday. Several other prominent Irish telecommunications technology companies are showcasing their products at the event.

Ireland’s pavilion at the conference is co-ordinated by Enterprise Ireland and features nine companies in total: Accuris, Altobridge, Anam, Arantech, ChangingWorlds, Shenick Network Systems, Silicon & Software Systems, Tango Telecom and Xiam Technologies.

“The companies which make up the Irish national pavilion all have demonstrated track records of developing innovative, niche solutions that meet the specific demands of international customers in this dynamic industry,” commented Andrew Peet, the project manager for CommunicAsia 2007 at Enterprise Ireland.

“The global footprint they have achieved is a firm indication of the relevance of their product offerings to a market which has to constantly adapt to changing customer and consumer demands.”

Ireland’s key position in the telecommunications technology market belies the size of the industry here. Xiam Technologies also announced today a prestigious deal with wireless communications firm Qualcomm to provide content discovery and recommendations technology to its US content service.

By Niall Byrne