Major new release of award-winning Network as a Service solution brings Mobile Intelligence to Cloud Computing

Belfast, UK – 4th November 2010 – Aepona, the leading global provider of software products and services to the communications industry, today announced a major new release of its award-winning Universal Service Platform (USP). USP allows Service Providers to implement “Network as a Service” (NaaS), in which mobile network, billing and informational assets are packaged and marketed towards 3rd parties such as Enterprises, SIs, ISVs, and Web/Mobile application developers. These assets are then available on-demand via the Mobile Cloud to enrich and monetize a wide variety of B2B and B2C applications and services across many vertical market segments.

The 3.0 release of USP combines Web Service Exposure, Payments and Settlement, and Partner Relationship Management in a tightly integrated, commercial off-the-shelf software platform. Close coupling of functions such as network API exposure, revenue management and policy enforcement provides for a high-performance, carrier-grade NaaS solution that can be rapidly integrated and launched, dramatically reducing time-to-market compared with custom-build IT solutions assembled from disparate software modules.

A key aspect of USP 3.0 is its support for NaaS in cross-network implementations, providing a full commercial environment for Mobile Cloud Computing and including intelligence features that allow enterprise solution providers and web/mobile application developers to seamlessly reach and bill any end-user on any mobile network. As the platform and managed services provider for the GSM Association’s OneAPI service in Canada, Aepona has gained unparalleled experience in cross-network commercialization issues such as multi-operator bill-on-behalf-of services, centralized privacy/consent and policy management, cross-network routing, multi-party settlement, and support for a variety of partner charging models. Each of these essential functions is supported in USP 3.0.

USP 3.0 also supports Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) In-Application Billing, providing application developers and content providers with a low-friction up-sell path for their services. D2M In-App Billing allows users to buy new features and content (for example, a new level within a game) and charge them directly to their mobile phone bill, without the need for the user to have an application store account or credit card. This feature of USP 3.0 will help increase the penetration of in-application billing beyond today’s relatively small user base, towards the mass market of mobile subscribers.

Universal Service Platform 3.0 is available now. Detailed information on the product is available at http://www.aepona.com/products-services/universal-service-platform/