Somafone First To Turn On GSM Roaming In Somalia MOGADISHU, Somalia (BUSINESS WIRE) Sept. 9, 2005
Somafone First To Turn On GSM Roaming In Somalia MOGADISHU, Somalia (BUSINESS WIRE) Sept. 9, 2005

- Somafone, the newest GSM operator in Somalia, who is committed to delivering the highest quality of service, the latest GSM features and the lowest airtime and international rates, announced today that it has deployed international roaming and SMS capabilities from TECORE Wireless Systems, opening up the opportunity to establish roaming agreements with operators worldwide. As the political situation in Somalia continues to stabilize with the establishment of a new government, the increase of visitors to Somalia will drive the need to provide reliable and high quality GSM roaming and data services, as well as enable current subscribers to receive the highest voice quality with plenty of channel capacity to eliminate network blocking that may be experienced with other service providers. "With the increase of data services and text messaging worldwide, Somafone wanted to be able to offer its subscribers the ability to send messages internationally to family or friends living in nearby or faraway countries," said Abdullahi Hussein, CEO, Somafone. Somafone also deployed other advanced features, including Over the Air Activation (OTA), SMS to Email, Email to SMS, Email Notifications by SMS, Missed Call Notifications, Virtual Top-Up and Prepaid. The unique OTA feature allows any GSM subscriber from another network to roam on the Somafone network, utilizing their home network SIM card. The subscriber immediately receives a text message with a local Somafone mobile number upon the selection of the Somafone network, and can start receiving calls immediately without any operator intervention. The subscriber would simply need to purchase a prepaid voucher to top-up their OTA account in any denominations. "We are excited about the OTA capability, because not only does it enable visitors to Somalia to immediately start receiving calls, but it also allows other network subscribers to select the Somafone network at any time to utilize our high quality network," said Hussein. TECORE has deployed Somafone's network equipment and enabled all of these advanced features. "We are delighted with the performance of TECORE's equipment. Their expertise and support throughout this complicated and time consuming integration has been beyond expectation. As we grow our network to extend to other cities and regions, we are committed to TECORE as our exclusive equipment supplier, based on the outstanding performance and results we have received," continued Hussein. About TECORE Founded in 1991, TECORE(R) Wireless Systems has become a leading provider of mobile communications systems and its AirCore(R) SoftMSC(TM) provides unparalleled functionality and scalability across wireless technologies and applications for both carriers and enterprises. The multi-protocol architecture facilitates voice, data, and multimedia from a common platform. The company's turn-key solutions include its AirCore SoftMSC at the core of the network in conjunction with advanced GSM/GPRS, CDMA and 3G base station solutions to deliver fully-integrated wireless communication services. TECORE is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company. For more information, please visit the TECORE website at www.tecore.com. About Somafone Somafone provides wireless voice and data services with national and international connectivity in Somalia and it is a full member of the GSM Association. Somafone is currently deploying GSM services in Somalia and Somaliland. Note to Editors: If you would like to view this entire news release on Business Wire's website, please go to www.businesswire.com. CONTACT: Somafone Media/Press Contact: Valerie Shannahan, 410-872-6000 media@tecore.com ASIA PULSE
BY YONIS WAXWEYN NEWS