Activates mobile Internet applications based on Microsoft .NET

The Hague, NL and Brussels, Belgium March 20, 2008 – Today, KPN Mobile International, a leading European provider of next-generation telecommunications services, and Artilium, a leading European developer of software for mobile network operators, announced their partnership to create new opportunities for user-generated applications on KPN’s mobile networks.

The software enabling this transformation is Artilium’s Real-Time Architecture (ARTA) for Connected Mobile Services, designed to facilitate rapid creation of new mobile applications, packaged as services. ARTA is designed and developed by Artilium on the Microsoft Platform.

The partnership includes a licensing agreement allowing KPN deployment of ARTA as a platform for next-generation converged services across its growing base of more than 27 million mobile subscribers in the Benelux, Germany and Spain.

KPN Mobile International Chief Executive Officer, Stan Miller said, “This agreement is a major boost for KPN’s strategy on MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) in Europe. Artilium software allows KPN to surge to the forefront of mobile/Web innovation. We are able to open our network to developer communities worldwide to deliver an infinite range of differentiated services and an exciting new level of personalisation and interactivity for subscribers. In doing so, we begin to transform the very essence of our business, creating new service-centric business models across a broad value chain that includes developers, advertisers and our commercial partners.”

“Artilium unifies IP, PSTN, ISDN and GSM network communications and provides the framework that securely opens the mobile network to rapid application innovation,” said Artilium Chief Executive Officer Robert Marcus. “We are delighted to be partnering with KPN in this groundbreaking work that brings with it an unprecedented level of business model originality and value-chain diversity.”

Commenting on the agreement, Steve Zimba, Managing Director Global Telecom Business at Microsoft Corp. said:  “We are excited that KPN and Artilium have chosen the Microsoft platform to power their ecosystem of connected mobile services. We will be working closely together to help make this great vision a compelling reality for the millions of consumers who are eager to embrace rich, personalized and contextually aware mobile experiences.”

About KPN

KPN is a leading international telecommunications and ICT service provider, offering wireline and wireless telephony, internet and TV to consumers and end-to-end telecom and ICT services to business customers. The international KPN data and IP services are enabled through an extensive, high-capacity fibre-optic network in 22 European countries, plus worldwide connections to 180 countries. KPN’s subsidiary Getronics operates a global ICT services company with a market leading position in the Benelux, offering end-to-end solutions in infrastructure and network-related IT. In Germany and Belgium, KPN pursues a multi-brand strategy in its mobile operations and holds number three market positions through E-Plus and BASE. KPN provides wholesale network services to third parties and operates an efficient IP-based infrastructure with global scale in international wholesale through iBasis.
At December 31, 2007, KPN served over 35 million customers, of which 27 million in wireless services, 5.4 million in wireline voice, 2.4 million in broadband Internet and 0.5 million in TV. With 25,500 FTEs (43,531 FTEs including Getronics), KPN posted revenues of EUR 12.6bn in 2007, with an EBITDA of EUR 4.9bn. KPN was incorporated in 1989 and is listed on the Amsterdam, New York, London and Frankfurt stock exchanges. For more information, visit www.kpn.com/international

About Artilium

Artilium develops carrier-grade software that unifies communications and opens mobile networks to user-generated mobile Internet application development and innovation, enabling rapid creation of a virtually infinite ecosystem of autonomous software processes interoperating as services in an open yet structured and secure architecture.

Artilium’s ARTA Connected Mobile Services Framework is an open, modular and highly extensible Service-Oriented Architecture that includes a Service Creation Environment, a real-time Service Delivery Platform including an Intelligent Network, and a Mobile Presence Server that intelligently combines highly accurate, continuous real-time location and state awareness to enable a vast range of new mobile commerce, advertising and social networking services based on the company’s patented Tri-Cell Intelligent Location System (TILS).

Founded in 1995 and recognized for advanced and innovative engineering, Artilium has completed more than 40 installations serving tens of millions of end-users in 11 countries. Artilium plc is a publicly listed company with AIM on the London Stock Exchange (LSE/AIM: ARTA).  The company is based in Belgium. For more information, visit www.artilium.com

For further information:

KPN
KPN Press office
+31 70 446 63 00

Artilium (Europe)
Anne Walker
+44 (0)20 7402 7349
anne.walker@artilium.com

Artilium (USA)
Jeff Fishburn
+1 (503 802-4408
jefff@onpr.com

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Author: Peggy Anne Salz

In-Brief: Knowing the exact - or even the approximate - location of a person is just half of the battle when it comes to delivering appropriate content on the fly. Simon Wood, VP Program Management at Artilium, a provider of enhanced mobile communications solutions based around unified communications, walks us through importance of presence and his path-breaking ideas around a “semantic priority” to determine our presence and preference in real-time. Think mobile Web meets Tim Berners-Lee’s Semantic Web.

Location-based services are soooo yesterday. Now the race is on to provide a complete suite of applications built on the convergence of services as varied as location-based services, social networking, mobile search, and web 3.0 technologies. Put simply, the end-game is about offering connected multimedia experiences including information, entertainment, social networks, and navigation. [Nokia “gets” this. In fact, during a recent mobile search conference organized by Visiongain, Jussi-Pekka Partanen, Nokia’s head of mobile search, stressed the importance of location capabilities (such as GPS) described precisely how location will unite the physical, virtual and social worlds we live in. ]

But location is just part of the equation. Presence, and the systems that will manage it, will be core to location-based services and sit at the center of how we will experience and organize our lives across platforms and devices. More importantly, it will form the foundation for effective mobile advertising and services delivery.

This is the view (or rather, the vision) of Simon Wood, VP Program Management at Artilium, a provider of enhanced mobile communications solutions based around unified communications. I caught up with Simon to discuss context-aware services, personalization, presence and Artilium’s recent acquisition.

Presence and service scenarios: Forget the desktop definition. Presence in mobile is about more than status; it’s about customized connectivity and a bridge to more holistic and personalized mobility services. “By having a richer view of the user’s current environment, current circumstances and current state of presence, you can [deliver] personalization dynamically [and] in an intelligent way.” The slew of “Find me Follow Me” services on the market today already combine the concepts of time-based presence and location.

But they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Services could be delivered differently depending on context and the company a user keeps. “At certain times of the day, I might want certain calls from certain groups of people to be handled in one way, and another time of day in a different way.” Mobile advertising, for example, wouldn’t just need to fit with the user’s location; it would have to be delivered in an intelligent manner than matches the user’s status, mode and personal requirements for message delivery.

The Semantic (mobile) Web: Simon is developing a systematic and automatic approach to presence that can “decide” which expressions of presence are more relevant than others. In many ways, it is similar to the work in progress on the semantic Web. “You have a way of describing what information is being presented, so you can automatically work out how relevant that information is and I think it’s exactly the same concept applied to enhanced mobile presence. [In mobile] we’re getting a wider set of information, a wider variety of feeds, and much richer environment. You need to be able to manage that richness, that extra level of information and from there, be able to pull out really what’s important and being able to do that automatically so that you’re not relying on human intervention to change the delivery of those services. It has to be automatic and it has to be convenient for the subscriber.”

Open Web: Mobile operators are well equipped to deliver location-based and presence-aware services. But they’re not the only ones. “We’re moving into a new open world [and] we’re seeing more operators trying to get out of their walled gardens. As they [operators] become more open, the opportunities widen to deliver services across a larger, more connected subscriber base….In terms of delivering those services, I still think the operators have a very strong play in those areas but there’s also growing benefits for having that service wider than just tied to a network operator.

News: At MWC, Artilium snapped up Trisent Communications, a company specialized in LBS technology that enables mobile network operators to deliver services to subscribing customers based on the geographic location of their mobile phone. In a nutshell, the acquisition will complement Artilium’s ARTA Service Delivery Platform to allow operators to rate, charge and deliver services combining location, presence, commerce and social networks. (Background: Trisent’s technology, the Tri-Cell Intelligent Location System, enables real-time tracking service like GPS (Global Positioning System), but does not use satellites or require equipment to be installed on the network. The technology works by using standard phone handsets.)
As Robert Marcus, CEO of Artilium, said in a press statement: “By combining location with presence and status, consumers can see the availability of the people they want to reach, mobile network operators can provide contextually aware services, and brands can better personalize mobile experiences.”

London, UK and Barcelona, Spain – 11 February 2008 – Artilium plc (LSE/AIM: ARTA), a European leader in advanced telecommunications software is pleased to announce the acquisition of Trisent Communications, a specialist in Location-Based Services (LBS) technology that enables mobile network operators to deliver services to subscribing customers based on the geographic location of their mobile phone.

Trisent’s technology complements Artilium’s ARTA Service Delivery Platform to allow operators to rate, charge and deliver an array of intelligent differentiated services combining location, presence (Ie, availability), commerce and social networks, among other criteria.  Applications include resource tracking i.e. taxis, fleet scheduling; business directory, weather, traffic; and proximity-based notification i.e. targeted advertising, buddy list, profile matching (dating).

“Mobile presence is the most innovative revenue generating opportunity for network operators today.  By combining location with presence and status consumers can see the availability of the people they want to reach, mobile network operators can provide contextually aware services, and brands can better personalize mobile experiences,” said Robert Marcus, CEO of Artilium.  “Add commerce to the mix and the vision and monetization of location-based services is truly realized.”

According to research from Gartner Group, the total number of subscriptions to Location-Based Services in Western Europe, North America, Asia / Pacific and Japan is expected to grow from 7m in 2006 to 298m in 2011.* According to Strategy Analytics, in North America alone, end-user spending on location-aware mobile services is expected to grow from $110m end of 2006 to $2.2bn by end of 2011.**

Trisent currently has a licensing agreement with Max Telecom, a fixed and wireless telecommunications operator in Bulgaria.  The Trisent technology is being used for workforce management and fleet tracking at present and will expand to offer mobile customers location-aware services including personal security, lone worker protection and services industry employee deployment.

“In our initial roll-out of Trisent technology in the business-to-business market, we’ve realized a cost savings of up to 25 times compared with GPS fleet tracking equivalents,” stated Krassimir Stoitcheff, CEO of Max Telecom.  “We’re very pleased with the Trisent technology and have hugely satisfied customers using the technology.  We are excited about the opportunities for future services, revenues and growth ahead.”

“Although many players are in the location-based services space, Trisent’s technology is definitely unique in providing a low-cost software-only solution to determine continuous location.  Google’s My Location provides spot location presented on the phone as a map, whereas Trisent offers a sophisticated alternative with automatic continuous location,” said Professor Stephen McLaughlin, University of Edinburgh.

The Trisent technology, the Tri-Cell Intelligent Location System, offers real-time tracking service like GPS (Global Positioning System), but does not use satellites or require equipment to be installed on the network.  The technology works by using standard phone handsets and offers several advantages over GPS, including significant cost savings, lower battery requirements, increased indoor coverage (an advantage for social networking) and ‘always on’ status (GPS can be turned off). 

Based in Dunfermline, Scotland, Trisent was founded by Gordon Povey PhD, inventor of the Tri-Cell Intelligent Location System.  Previously, Dr. Povey was a founder and managing director of Elektrobit (UK) Ltd., a subsidiary of Elektrobit Corporation based in Finland.  There are currently two patents filed for the Trisent technology. 

About Artilium:
Artilium develops software in the heart of the telecoms network. ARTA, the company’s IMS-compliant service delivery platform, first converges and then intelligently controls networks to enable fast, efficient deployment and monetization of innovative, differentiated mobile unified communications solutions for operators.

Founded in 1995 and recognised for its engineering talent and unique combination of IT and telecom expertise, Artilium has completed more than 40 installations serving tens of millions of end-users in 11 countries.  The company is a Microsoft Gold-Certified Partner.  Artilium plc is a publicly listed company on AIM: the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE/AIM: ARTA). For more information, please visit: www.artilium.com

About Trisent
Trisent Communications Limited creates software products that enable mobile network operators to deliver services to subscribing customers based on the geographic location of their mobile phone or device connected to the cellular network.

Trisent has created unique software technology that provides automatic continuous location monitoring and requires no specialist equipment or modifications to the mobile phone or the network equipment. The Tri-Cell Intelligent Location System offers a low-cost alternative to satellite GPS and creates a platform on which mobile network operators can provide a range of location-aware services to business customers and consumers. The company obtained investment capital from Sigma Technology Group plc to bring the product to market.

# # #

Contact:

Artilium at Mobile World Congress: with Dialogic on Level 1 of Hall 2 - 2.1 B81; and in the Mobile Innovation Zone in Hall 7, Stand IZ23. 

Anne Walker
+44 (0)20 7402 7349 (forwarding to mobile)
anne.walker@artilium.com
www.artilium.com

*Gartner Group Dataquest Insight: Location- Based Services Subscriber and Revenue Forecast, 2006-2011 29 January 2008

** Strategy Analytics:  North America Consumer Location Based Services (LBS) Forecast.  3 August 2007

London, UK February 6, 2008 – Artilium plc (LSE/AIM: ARTA), a European leader in advanced telecommunications software will be showcasing new mobile unified communications solutions including mobile click2dial which drives mobile calls from the Internet/desktop; and enhanced mobile presence, which is location-aware and offers status and connectivity information.

Artilium will be featured in two locations at Mobile World Congress: with Dialogic on Level 1 of Hall 2 - 2.1 B81; and in the Mobile Innovation Zone in Hall 7, Stand IZ23.

Artilium will feature a range of solutions at Mobile World Congress.

• ARTA Service Delivery Platform: a modular, flexible framework which delivers real-time control and intelligence to manage communications across mobile, fixed, IP and ATM networks. It enables operators to improve margins, reduce revenue-leakage and launch differentiated services.

• Mobile click2dial: drive up minutes by pushing online calls to mobile phones.

• Mobile presence: an enhanced presence solution that enables operators to deliver customized and contextually aware mobility services.

• Intelligent real-time routing: drive up margins by as much as 35% with real-time least cost routing and dynamic call control.

• MVNO: Artilium’s multi-tenancy platform offers independent real-time controls, automated subscriber processes and intelligent cross-network management.

“Over the past decade, Artilium has innovated at the leading edge of convergence to enable operators to boost revenues, reduce costs and deliver new services,” said Robert Marcus, CEO of Artilium.  “At Mobile World Congress, Artilium continues to push the boundaries of wireless/wireline convergence with some exciting offerings which put the power of mobile unified communications into the hands of operators.”

About Artilium

Artilium develops software in the heart of the telecoms network. ARTA, the company’s IMS-compliant service delivery platform first converges and then intelligently controls networks to enable fast, efficient deployment and monetization of innovative, differentiated mobile unified communications solutions for operators.

Founded in 1995 and recognized for engineering talent and innovative solutions which unify fixed, mobile and IP networks, Artilium has completed more than 40 installations serving tens of millions of end-users in 11 countries. The company is also a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.

London, 17 December /PRNewswire-GNN/—

DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release
(2007/136) issued by The Government News Network on 17 December 2007

Secretary of State for Business, John Hutton, today announced a comprehensive review of developments in the postal services market since its liberalization two years ago.

Mr Hutton today appointed Richard Hooper, Deirdre Hutton and Ian Smith to carry out the review which will report in the summer next year.

John Hutton said:

“We are committed to maintaining a universal postal service that meets the changing needs of consumers and businesses.

“We believe that opening the market has brought considerable benefits for users of postal services but there can be no doubt that the market has evolved, with new technologies such as email and text messaging having a huge effect on the way we communicate.

“In the light of these market developments we are launching a review to examine the impacts of liberalisation of the UK postal services, trends in future market development and the likely impact of this on Royal Mail, alternative carriers and consumers.”

Richard Hooper, who will chair the Review said:

“I welcome the opportunity to lead this Review. Postal services in the UK are steeped in history and remain an important part of the UK’s national infrastructure. There have been rapid developments in recent years and it is clear that this is a good time to look at these developments and future trends”.

The Review will consider how the universal postal service can be maintained in an increasingly competitive market. The independent panel will undertake a thorough analysis of the effects of all the changes in the sector, and identify future likely trends and their implications.

The provision of a universal postal service at affordable prices, which was enshrined in legislation in 2000, remains the top priority for the Government.

The Review will take evidence from all interested parties including Royal Mail, Postcomm, Postwatch, the CWU, UNITE, other licensed postal operators, the National Federation of SubPostmasters and customer representatives such as the Federation of Small Businesses. A general call for evidence for the Review has been issued so that the Review Panel’s analysis of the market can take into account the views of the widest possible range of interests.

Notes to Editors

1. The review’s terms of reference are:

* To assess the impacts to date of liberalisation of the UK postal services market, including on the Royal Mail, alternative carriers and consumers.

* To explore trends in future market development and the likely impact of these on Royal Mail, alternative carriers and consumers

* To consider how to maintain the USO in the light of trends and market developments identified.

2. Panel members biographies

Richard Hooper CBE was Deputy Chairman of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) between 2002 and 2005. He stood down as Chairman of Informa plc in May 2007. He is currently Chairman of Artilium plc and a non-executive Director at YELL Group plc. He was Chairman of the Radio Authority for 3 years until 2003. Previous directorships include non executive director of MAI plc (1993 to 1996), non executive director of United News & Media (1996 to 1997), non executive director of Superscape plc (2000 to 2002) and non executive Chairman of IMS Group plc (1997 to 2002). He was also Director, Prestel, at Post Office Telecommunications between 1980-81 and Chief Executive Value Added Systems and Services, BT (1982-86).

Dame Deirdre Hutton was appointed Chair of the Food Standards Agency in 2005. She has served on a number of public bodies and has considerable experience of corporate governance, risk-based regulation and consumer policy. She was a Board member, including Deputy Chair, of the Financial Services Authority between 1997 and 2007. For five years she was Chair of the National Consumer Council, having formerly chaired the Scottish Consumer Council. Prior to her appointment at the Food Standards Agency, she was a member of the Better Regulation Task Force since1999.

Ian Smith was Chief Executive of Taylor Woodrow prior to its merger with George Wimpey. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the General Healthcare Group in September 2004 and was previously CEO, Europe for Exel, Group Commercial Director of Ocean Group (before its merger with NFC to form Exel) and prior to that, Managing Director of Monitor Company Europe, a strategy consulting firm. Ian began his business career with the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of companies working with them for 10 years mainly in the Middle East. He has undertaken some ad hoc advisory work to Government on industrial policy. He is a non-executive Director of Galiform (which owns MFI).

3. In his statement to Parliament, the Secretary of State issued a call for evidence from interested parties. The closure date is 28 March 2008. More details are available on the BERR website
(http://www.berr.gov.uk/sectors/postalservices/index.html).

4. Allan Leighton, Chairman of Royal Mail, will stay on in his role for an additional 12 months, to March 2009. The extension has been approved by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA). His remuneration will remain unchanged at £20k basic salary.

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