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Wednesday February 11, 5:46 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Informix Continues to Gain Momentum in the
Telecommunications Industry
Telcos, Worldwide, Select Informix as Business Partner for Its Advanced
Technology and Partnerships with Key Manufacturers and Service Providers
MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 1998-- Informix Corp. (NASDAQ:IFMX
- news), the leading provider of innovative database technology, announced today that it has
continued to gain success in the telecommunications industry by delivering high-performance, scalable
database solutions, and building solid partnerships with the primary telecommunications hardware,
software and integrated systems providers.
During the second half of 1997, Informix signed significant contracts in the USA with BellSouth
Advertising and Publishing, GTE Data Services, and Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp.
(Nasdaq:MTEL - news; Mtel); in China with the Mobile Network Management Center; in Brazil
with Telecomunicacoes Sao Paulo; in Italy with Telecom Italia; in New Zealand with BellSouth New
Zealand; in Taiwan with Chung Hwa Telecom Company; in Thailand with Total Access
Communications; and in Britain with British Telecom.
''That leading telecommunications companies are choosing Informix solutions for their mission-critical
online transaction processing and data warehousing is evidence that our emphasis on key strategic
market segments is producing results,'' said Bob Finocchio, chairman and CEO of Informix. ''The
telecommunications industry demands the highly scalable and open solutions that Informix can best
provide.''
Informix database technology provides customers with a scalable, high-performance solution ideal for
the types of mission critical applications that are fundamental to the telecommunications industry.
The following customers are significant fourth quarter wins and illustrate Informix's leadership in the
telecommunications market:
BellSouth Advertising and Publishing (BAPCO), Atlanta, USA
BAPCO, a subsidiary of BellSouth Corp. [NYSE:BLS - news], is one of the major publishers of
telephone directories in the USA. BAPCO publishes about 500 different directories, including The
Real White Pages(R), The Real Yellow Pages(R) and specialty directories for the home
improvement, export and sports industries.
To tackle the enormous challenge of managing large volumes of customers, advertiser and customer
service data, BAPCO selected Informix(R) Dynamic Server(a) because of its ability to meet and
exceed their technical requirements, and because Informix was able to work in close partnership with
Amdocs, BAPCO's database publishing solution. Amdocs specializes in customer care and billing
systems for network service providers, and sales and publishing systems for telephone directory
companies, and is an Informix strategic partner.
GTE Data Services, Tampa, Florida, USA
GTE Data Services, one of the largest software development and information management
companies in the USA, offers its information management products and expertise to targeted
commercial markets throughout the world. GTE Data Services recently renewed an existing contract
for products and services with Informix; GTE is using Informix products and services for its critical
business and network management applications.
''We have been an Informix customer for several years and have come to depend on their products,
service and support to meet our critical application requirements,'' said Fernando Valladares, vice
president and general manager of IT Services at GTE Data Services.
Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp., Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp. (Mtel) is a leader in the emerging messaging industry.
Its SkyTel service provides local, nationwide and international paging and messaging services. Mtel
has installed Informix Dynamic Server to manage service information on the Mtel Advanced
Messaging Network. After reviewing its previous database technology, Mtel replaced it with
Informix Dynamic Server, which will enable Mtel to expand its database as its customer base for
Advanced Messaging services continues to grow.
''We selected Informix Dynamic Server because of its ease of integration with our system's
infrastructure, its leading performance and its reputation for top-notch reliability,'' stated Bruce Deer,
vice president of Mtel's Advanced Technology Center. ''We needed a database technology that
would provide a rock-solid foundation for us to build upon, and that would enable us to provide
superior advanced messaging services.''
Mobile Network Management Center, China
With the network growing rapidly, and the demand for mobile services continuing to increase
throughout all of China, the Mobile Network of China quickly realized its older management system
could no longer keep pace. To maintain its competitive edge it needed a more powerful and flexible
system that could meet these demands and adapt to modern technology. They selected Informix. The
Network Management System, which is based on Informix Dynamic Server, manages and schedules
mobile business and provides on-demand statistical analyses of the network. In addition, it is also
able to connect with other network management systems.
China's Mobile Network Management System may be one of the most sophisticated in the world. It
manages devices not only from seven Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) vendors,
but also from two Total Access Communications System (TACS) vendors. Mr. Daizhong, Manager
of the Mobile Network Management Center of China, said, ''More than one year's development and
several months of pilot testing have proved that Informix products, through superior reliability and
performance, are well qualified for this complex mobile network management system.''
Telecomunicacoes Sao Paulo (TELESP), Brazil
TELESP is the largest local telephone operator in Brazil, responsible for the 4.5 million active lines
that transmit all the local calls of Sao Paulo State. TELESP is currently developing a large intranet
network that will support the internal administrative processes of 12 departments and service 15,000
employees. The system consists of a series of ten Web servers connected to TELESP's Internet
Web server. TELESP selected Informix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option in order to be
able to manage the diverse range of data types that the network needs to handle.
''We chose Informix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option because this solution combines the
recognized advantages of Informix's RDBMS -- performance, scalability and ease of administration
-- with its ability to manage non-conventional data types such as video, sound and images, all of
which are essential to build the intranet solution that will support all the administrative and operational
processes of TELESP,'' said Arnaldo Bosco Mascarenhas, manager of Distributed Technology
Information Support at TELESP.
Chung Hwa Telecom Company, Taiwan
Chung Hwa Telecom is the largest telecommunications company in Taiwan. In the fourth quarter,
Informix won the Long Distance Billing Management System project (LDBMS). The project is an
addition to business that Informix had won for the telecommunication company's GSM billing and
customer care application. The LDBMS project also includes a Point of Interconnection system
(POI), a system that helps to split account information between private wireless operators such as
cellular and pager accounts.
Informix also won The Intelligent Networking Billing System project, initially intended for an Oracle
database but, after testing the performance of Informix technology, Chung Hwa decided to replace
Oracle with Informix. The project will run on Informix Dynamic Server with Digital Alpha Servers.
Mr. Wen-Chun Roi, Managing Director of the Long Distance and Mobile Communication Group,
said, ''Informix helps us plan for our needs in meeting our business objectives and successfully
demonstrates their superiority in database technology.''
Total Access Communications (TAC), Thailand
TAC is one of Thailand's leading providers of cellular telephone services. Thailand's rapid economic
growth over the past decade has stimulated significant demand for telephone lines, demand which
cannot be met despite an ambitious landline network expansion program initiated by the state-owned
enterprise, the Telephone Organization of Thailand. As one of two private sector cellular telephone
operators in Thailand, TAC has an impressive growth record, with subscribers now totaling over
800,000.
TAC has selected Informix for its customer care and billing systems, and is using Informix Dynamic
Server and Informix ESQL/C to provide fast, dependable access to customer records. ''We
selected Informix because of its clear vision to develop innovative database technology, and we feel
satisfied and confident in its service and support,'' said Siripa Sapsirin, Assistant Manager of
Information System Operations.
About Informix
Informix Corp., the world's database technology leader, provides innovative database products that
enable the world's major corporations to attain competitive advantage. Informix, based in Menlo
Park, is widely recognized as the technology leader for corporate computing environments ranging
from small workgroups to very large parallel processing applications.
Informix's database servers, application development tools, superior customer service, and strong
partnerships enable the company to be at the forefront of major information technology solution areas
including data warehousing, OLTP and Web/content management. For more information, contact the
sales office nearest you or visit Informix's Web site at informix.com.
Note to Editors: Informix and Informix Dynamic Server(a) are worldwide trademarks of Informix
Corp., Informix Software, Inc. or their affiliates, registered in the U.S. as indicated by ''(R)'' and in
numerous countries worldwide. Other marks referred to herein are the trademarks or service marks
of their respective owners.
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