MSFT: Telenor (TELN) Selects Microsoft Connected Services Framework to Facilitate Its Services Strategy

Today at ITU Telecom World 2006, Microsoft Corp. and Norwegian telecommunications provider Telenor ASA announced that Telenor has selected Microsoft® Connected Services Framework as a foundation to deliver a range of services that will attract new subscribers, excite existing customers, build customer loyalty and drive new revenue streams. The first service to be delivered using the new platform will be delivered using the Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration, a carrier-grade platform for offering enterprise-class e-mail and document-sharing services to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The service will be offered in the first quarter of 2007 to 30,000 existing SMB customers who are migrating from UNIX to Microsoft Exchange.

Operators continue to face challenges to their businesses, both from traditional competitors and from new entrants to the industry. Telenor is tackling these head on by implementing Connected Services Framework as the platform for creating and combining profitable services that will complement the company’s existing offerings of voice and broadband connectivity, and provide new revenue streams.

“Microsoft Connected Services Framework has helped us create a simplified service delivery architecture, enabling us to provision, manage and amalgamate multiple services, and more easily achieve rapid time to market,” said Rolv-Erik Spilling, business division manager at Telenor Nordic. “Connected Services Framework is a fundamental component of our service delivery strategy on which we plan to create a range of services to help our customers communicate and collaborate more effectively across PCs and mobile terminals.”

Typically, SMBs have little or no IT staff; therefore, it can be challenging to deploy the latest applications that may require an in-house IT infrastructure. As a result, they frequently search for bundled solutions that are easy to use, have strong security and are scalable for growth. By utilizing a service provider such as Telenor, these types of businesses are able to experience all the benefits of enterprise-class IT services while still being able to focus on their core competencies.

“SMBs are demanding new and different types of services, and Microsoft Connected Services Framework provides the basis for Telenor to rapidly deliver service combinations that address the unique requirements of this audience,” said Michael O’Hara, general manager for the Communications Sector at Microsoft. “This deployment is designed to allow Telenor to offer SMB customers a range of flexible, cost-effective communications services, starting first with combined e-mail, messaging and collaboration services.”

Telenor will initially offer customers a choice of a basic or premium e-mail package. The basic e-mail service will consist of Webmail and IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). Users of the premium e-mail service will benefit from all the features of Microsoft Office Outlook® and will be able to share folders and calendar information. The premium e-mail service will support automatic synchronization of e-mail and calendar information to mobile devices.

About Telenor

Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Telenor is an international provider of high-quality telecommunications, data and media communication services. Telenor is one of Norway’s largest companies, with revenues in 2005 of approx. NOK 68.9 billion and a work force of 27,600 domestically and abroad. Telenor is listed at the Oslo Stock Exchange (TEL) and Nasdaq in New York (TELN).