Portus to deploy residential, business and wholesale IP communications in Croatia on a single NetCentrex application platform

PARIS (France) April 27 (PROTEXT/PRNewswire) - NetCentrex'Business Services, MyCall(R) Residential Services, CarrierServices and Wholesale Services will operate on the sameplatform.

NetCentrex (http://www.netcentrex.net), the leading enablerof converged voice-data (VoIP) networks and solutions, and Portusd.o.o., Croatia's second alternative telecommunications operator,announced today that Portus has chosen NetCentrex to deployenterprise and residential IP communications services and todeliver carrier pre-selection and wholesale services.

Portus will initially deploy NetCentrex' Business ServicesSuite to launch a full range of enterprise IP telephony servicesin Croatia that will include IP Centrex hosted services, VoIPVirtual Private Network (VPN) services, including private dialplans, and business trunking. Portus will be the first and onlycompany providing IP Centrex services in Croatia, giving them aunique selling point. In a second phase, MyCall(R) ResidentialServices Suite will enable Portus to introduce broadbandresidential communications services. Both solutions will operateon a single NetCentrex Application Softswitch platform.

Portus will also use the Application Softswitch to offermulti-protocol carrier pre-selection services and legal services(including lawful intercept and emergency services). The platformwill have enough capacity to also deliver wholesale services toCroatian cable operators, making the deployment highly costeffective and accelerating return on investment (ROI) whilemaximizing revenue potential.

Portus has already gained significant market presence inCroatia through its H1 services as one of only three fixed-linetelephony operators. Croatia is now extending deregulation of itstelecommunications market, so Portus wants to develop a solid,long term strategy which will ensure profitability in the face ofincreased competition. Portus commissioned NetCentrex BusinessConsulting services to define a long term NGN services strategyand to build the business model for the deployment of telephonyand video services.

"NetCentrex Business Consulting Services enabled us to definein detail the roll-out of communications services that wouldplace Portus in the best position to attract customers, generateprofits and increase market share in the short and long term.,"states Darko Parun, Chairman of the management board of Portusd.o.o. "The layered architecture of the NetCentrex solutionsenables us to introduce enterprise services and residentialservices in two phases on the same platform. This centralizationof services will significantly reduce both CAPEX and OPEX whileincreasing the flexibility of service delivery. Moreover, theNetCentrex softswitch has enough capacity to interconnect VoIPtraffic with other service providers and to deliver wholesaleservices to cable operators or other local loop providers,increasing the platform's profitability and accelerating returnon investment."

"The deployment of wholesale services for cable operators andcarrier pre-selection in addition to residential and enterpriseservices enables Portus to leverage the high capacity ofNetCentrex' application softswitch platform and benefit fromenormous service flexibility," comments Boris Dezier, GeneralManager for Central and Eastern Europe at NetCentrex. "Thewholesale services will enable Portus to reach a larger number ofsubscribers because the cable operators will fill the subscribergap where local loop is a problem for deployment of services.Portus will also use their platform to maximum capacity, makingthe deployment a highly profitable investment."About NetCentrex(TM) (http://www.netcentrex.net)

NetCentrex develops unique next generation network (NGN)voice and video solutions that optimize network infrastructureand enable telecom operators and service providers to delivervoice-video-data and fixed-mobile converged services for both theconsumer and enterprise markets.

Solutions include IP telephony, video telephony, Triple Play,IP Centrex, voice/video VPN, contact center and IVR services. Allsolutions are built on the same IMS compliant infrastructure thatincludes an application softswitch, media services andmanagement. This core infrastructure provides user services,network connectivity, single point of provisioning andmonitoring.

Founded in 1998, NetCentrex has sales and partnerrepresentatives in over 25 countries and over 40 operator andservice provider customers. Leading European and US venturecapital firms back the privately held company.About Portus d.o.o. (http://www.h-1.hr)

H1 is a new service operator of fixed telephony on theCroatian telecommunication market. It is completely Croatian-owned, and by enganging knowledge of Croatian experts and capitalH1 plans to participate actively in developing the domesticeconomy. Expertise, professionality and innovativeness of expertswho worked diligently to build this new operator guarantee thatour long term plan - creating a reliable, efficient and modernoperator which will offer a wide spectrum of services, inaccordance with European telecommunications trends - will berealised. We are convinced that with well-thought-out investmentsand clear business vision we shall in long term place ourselvesamong leaders in Croatian market. Through new ideas and approachto business development we wish to constantly raise the qualityof life of Croatian citizens.Source: NetCentrexPress contacts: NetCentrex EMEA, Madeleine Jeavons, Tel: +33-(0)1-58-71-33-28, Email: pr@netcentrex.net, Web site:http://www.netcentrex.net, NetCentrex US/Latin America,Susan Stearman, Tel: +1-408-521-7421, Email:susan.stearman@netcentrex.net, Web site:http://www.netcentrex.net, Portus d.o.o, Martina Pintaric, Tel: +385-91-399-2788, Email: pr@h-1.hr, Web site: http://www.h-1.hr

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