Europe : Tatara Systems has worked successfully with Vodafone Ireland to enable the launch of Wi-Fi services to Vodafone customers. Vodafone Ireland deployed Tatara Systems' Mobile Services Convergence Platform to enable its customers to use third-party Wi-Fi networks that complement Vodafone's own GPRS and 3G networks.

Inset is Tatara Systems’ CEO Steve Nicolle who is quoted below.

By choosing and deploying Tatara Systems' platform, Vodafone Ireland is now able to offer Vodafone branded Wi-Fi service across Ireland without having to build a Wi-Fi network of its own. This move, by the largest mobile operator in Ireland, highlights the need for mobile service providers to partner with independent Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) in order to provide customers with access to significant Wi-Fi footprint coverage.

Vodafone will initially offer a browser-based Wi-Fi service in Ireland, Northern Ireland, the UK and Europe, which will be billed to customers' mobile phone bills. The operator also plans to launch a combined GPRS, 3G and Wi-Fi Mobile Connect Card this summer, providing a single branded Vodafone user experience across GPRS, 3G, and Wi-Fi networks.

"Using Tatara Systems' technology we can broaden our Wi-Fi network to give the sort of access that our customers demand," said David Madden, Wi-Fi product manager of Vodafone Ireland. "Customers want secure access to their data and a consistent seamless Vodafone user experience across all networks. Tatara Systems' solution enabled us to maintain a consistent user experience and provide high confidence levels on security to our customers and WISP partners."

Tatara System's solution for Vodafone Ireland provides guaranteed secure authentication, real-time customer support and diagnostics, collects data on customer connection durations, and passes the information to Vodafone Ireland's M-Pay system, enabling the company to invoice customers for both WLAN and wide area wireless services on the same bill. In addition, Vodafone Ireland is positioned to capitalize on Tatara's real-time location and presence based technologies to offer advanced converged mobile services well into the future.

"Demand for mobile data access is growing and mobile operators need to provide a broad range of access services to serve their customer base and maintain their competitive edge," said Evelien Wiggers of IDC. "With its strong uptake of Vodafone Mobile Connect Cards, Vodafone is one of the world's leading providers of wireless data services and adding WLAN footprint to its portfolio is a natural extension for it to stay in a market-leading position."

The implementation marks Tatara's third major contract with Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator.

"Service providers are aware that they need to offer not only bundled services to remain competitive, but a suite of converged mobile services over multiple networks and devices," adds Steve Nicolle, President and CEO of Tatara Systems. "Tatara's solution allows Vodafone to immediately offer converged mobile services across WLAN and 3G networks with a single branded Vodafone experience, including secure authentication, subscriber management, and partner management. For the long term, Vodafone Ireland is now positioned to utilize Tatara's platform for advanced value-based converged service capabilities, including a full range of IMS-related services."

About Vodafone Ireland

Vodafone is Ireland's leading mobile phone operator with a base of 1.9 million customers and a total of 1,500 employees. Vodafone holds 51% of the market share in Ireland. On May 11, 2001 the Irish company officially became a subsidiary of the Vodafone Group plc, the largest mobile telecommunications company in the world. The Vodafone Group has equity interests in 26 countries across 5 continents, and partner networks in a further 13 countries, serving more than 150 million customers worldwide.