Cell C Selects Airwide Solutions and Atos Origin in South Africa for Spam Protection and Expansion of Mobile Messaging Capacity

South Africa's Third Largest Mobile Operator to Handle Growing SMS Traffic and Provide Enhanced Security for Subscribers

AFRICACOM -- Airwide® Solutions, the leading provider of next-generation mobile messaging and mobile internet infrastructure, applications and solutions, today announced an agreement with Cell C to expand the capacity of its messaging network using AirMessenger Router and provide enhanced spam protection for subscribers with AirGuard AntiSpam. Cell C, South Africa's third largest mobile phone operator, is making the investment to be better prepared for the festive season peaks in SMS traffic as well as to address the rising global prevalence of mobile spam. Atos Origin, an international IT services company and Airwide's partner in South Africa is working on the integration of the new technologies with Cell C's existing infrastructure, which also includes AirGate messaging gateways and AirMessenger SMSCs.

Cell C's network continues to grow quickly through both organic subscriber acquisition and through agreements with mobile virtual network operators. A high volume of SMS messages were sent over Cell C's network during last New Year's celebrations and this volume is expected to be even higher this year. Adding AirMessenger Router to Cell C's existing infrastructure will ensure that the festive season's messaging spikes are efficiently managed, and showcases one of the major benefits of a tiered infrastructure by offering a logical network expansion that enables Cell C to buy only the capacity they need, when they need it.

With the growth of subscriber and messaging volumes comes an array of unwanted and malicious messages, and rising SMS spam levels are creating an international problem. Fraudulent SMS traffic can degrade network performance, quality of service (QoS) and result in loss of revenue and increased customer churn. Using Airwide's AirGuard AntiSpam technology is expected to help Cell C maintain the quality of service on their networks and ensure satisfaction levels remain high for their customers.

"Airwide has been our preferred messaging infrastructure partner since we rolled out our messaging network in 2001 and upgraded it again in 2006," said Dennis Magaya, executive head of customer applications and services at Cell C. "With the most recent expansion of our SMS architecture including the additional protections from spam, we are confident that we will continue to be able to offer our customers the optimal user experience -- immediate response messaging in a well-protected environment. We are also consistently reaping the benefits of the practical tiered architectural approach that lets us efficiently scale our network and resources based on our needs."

"With the increasing popularity of mobile messaging comes the need for additional capacity as well as the need to protect the mobile network and subscribers from increased security threats," said Rob Mathot, regional director sub-Saharan Africa for Airwide Solutions. "Instead of forcing operators to overbuy capacity in any one area, Airwide's tiered architectural approach offers pragmatic flexibility to scale resources in such a way that mirrors growth, which is very important at this time in the global economy. In addition the network level protection against fraudulent SMS traffic, such as provided by AirGuard AntiSpam, is sure to enhance subscriber satisfaction and experience with Cell C."

"Cell C has consistently expanded on its strong reputation for service and competitive pricing in the South African mobile market. Airwide was the logical choice as a partner for us in helping Cell C to continue their expansion because of our track record together as partners, as well as the flexibility and robustness of its products, and its understanding of the complexities of messaging networks and mobile security," said Sipho Ntshebe Cell C Account Executive of Atos Origin.

The Airwide Fusion tiered architecture breaks up monolithic messaging infrastructures into tiers, including: storage, access and delivery, control, and applications. Airwide's product portfolio addresses each of these tiers through componentized offerings that provide unprecedented scalability and support multiple messaging types.

AirGuard AntiSpam enables operators to block spam messages that, for example, could launch unwanted handset updates that could corrupt subscribers' phones, requiring expensive repairs. Operators will also protect subscribers from fraud schemes in which a fraudster impersonates a legitimate subscriber's identity for the purposes of sending viruses or other destructive behavior.

Together, the tiered architecture combined with AirGuard AntiSpam's fraud prevention helps ensure that the messaging infrastructure only handles valid traffic.

About Airwide Solutions

Airwide Solutions is the leading provider of next-generation mobile messaging and wireless internet infrastructure, applications and solutions. Its products help more than 140 wireless operators worldwide drive mobile messaging usage and revenues and enable them to leverage multiple delivery channels and next-generation infrastructure in new and more powerful ways. With a history of industry firsts -- including the first text message ever sent, the introduction of the first SMS router, the first A2P MMS push gateway and mobile service control which enables mobile context, personalization and profiling -- the company continues to pioneer new technologies. Airwide's open, tiered Fusion architecture offers mobile operators advanced revenue options, a practical pathway to Mobile Messaging 2.0 and a foundation to bridge mobile messaging and the mobile internet.

Airwide Solutions operates globally with offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, India, the Middle East and Africa. For more information about Airwide Solutions, please visit www.airwidesolutions.com.