ECT, European market leader for value-added services based on softswitching technology, has now realized its new Ring Back Tone Service at a leading mobile carrier in Germany. The launching of this service in Europe comes after several, highly successful ECT projects at Asian mobile carriers. The ECT Ring Back Tone Service is rapidly becoming a major moneymaker, and mobile carriers in Europe are already expecting the demand for the service to grow here even more quickly than in Asia. Hanover, Munich, the 18th March 2004 – Vodafone has based its new consumer service in Germany, Ring-up-Tones, on the complete turnkey solution for Ring Back Tone Service of the European Computer Telecoms Group (ECT). The Ring Back Tone Service was first implemented using ECT technology one year ago in Asia, e.g. for Hutchison. "We always assumed that this service would be just as popular in Europe as it has been in Asia, and now this new project in Germany proves we were right," explains Dr. Marshall E. Kavesh, Chief Executive Officer of ECT. "We are very pleased with the development of this new service and are currently working on ring back tone projects for leading mobile carriers throughout Europe."

The ECT technology allows every mobile subscriber to decide what each caller hears before the subscriber answers his/her call. Instead of just the standard ring back tone, the caller can hear a personal message or a hit song with the standard ring back tone in the background. The mobile subscriber can set up his/her personal ring back tones using several, user-friendly interfaces.

ECT's technology offers mobile carriers several ways of billing the service, from a monthly fee to transaction-based charges. Mobile carriers interested in this previously unknown service can also take advantage of ECT's business case consulting.

ECT realizes customized and highly scalable solutions for Ring Back Tone Service based on either their AutoCarrier® Softswitch or their INtellECT® Intelligent Network (IN). The ECT solution includes the user portals, an interface for content providers, a complete data warehousing and mediation device as well as the billing interfaces. In particular, ECT is proud of the user interfaces: interactive voice response (IVR), an SMS interface, WAP portals and web portals are all available. The subscriber can use any of these interfaces to set up the service and assign specific ring back tones to specific callers or groups of callers. ECT provides mobile carriers with their own individual Ring Back Tone Service in under 12 weeks, including the portals tailored to each carrier's specification as well as the integration of the ECT technology in the existing mobile network architecture.

"Our new application for the Ring Back Tone Service offers mobile providers a completely new service: it gives them a competitive edge and helps them win new subscribers from the competition, while at the same time decreasing churn, " says Dr. Christian Kühl, Chief Sales Officer of ECT. "We've all seen the enormous profits being made with ring tones. Ring back tones represent a similar revenue source with one big difference: ring back tones are played in the mobile network, giving the mobile provider complete control over the revenue generated by this service.

About the European Computer Telecoms Group
The European Computer Telecoms Group, or ECT for short, was established in Munich, Germany in 1998, shortly after the German telecommunications market was liberalised. Today ECT encompasses the mother company European Computer Telecoms AG as well as the European Computer Telecoms Ltd. in London and the ECT Vertriebs- and Servicegesellschaft mbH in Munich. In addition, there are registered ECT Sales and Service Centres in Paris, Strasbourg, The Hague and Vienna. ECT is also affiliated with Interactive Technologies Holdings Limited in Hong Kong and has a direct sales and service presence in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Manila.

ECT enables highly profitable value-added services via software applications running on its own complete line of open platforms for public switching, service nodes, intelligent networks, intelligent peripherals and next-generation networks based on the Internet Protocol (IP). ECT's customers include major incumbents, such as BT and Deutsche Telekom, major mobile carriers, such as Vodafone and Hutchison, alternative carriers, such as Tele2, Completel and Versatel, Internet service providers, such as the United Internet AG, as well as larger providers of prepaid telephone cards and service, such as Alpha Telecom, the Calling Card Company Ltd., Kertel and Mox Telecom. In the recently liberalized markets of Eastern Europe, ECT also provides cost-efficient and low-maintenance public switching with interconnection. In the Czech Republic, for instance, ECT has equipped virtually all the alternative carriers including PragoNet, the local subsidiary of the Deutsche Telekom Group.

ECT has developed a large family of applications for value-added services, such as number portability, free-phone and premium-line service numbers, Ring Back Tone Service, teleconferencing services, personal-number services, virtual call centres and prepaid services. Additional service applications are introduced on a regular basis, all of which run on both the ECT AutoCarrier® and INtellECT® platforms. The AutoCarrier® is a class 4 softswitch that can be utilised for both interconnection to the public telephone network as well as intelligent value-added services. Via its INtellECT® Service Control Point, ECT realises intelligent networks with the Intelligent Network Application Protocol (INAP) CS1 and CS2.
For further press information

European Computer Telecoms AG
Hagen Gutsfeld
Marketing and PR
Ridlerstraße 55
80339 Munich
Germany
Tel.: 0 89/ 55 29 47 - 169
Fax: 0 89/ 55 29 47 - 111
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

European Computer Telecoms AG
Albrecht Faber
Head of Marketing and Sales Strategies
Ridlerstraße 55
80339 Munich
Germany
Tel.: 0 89/ 55 29 47 - 911
Fax: 0 89/ 55 29 47 - 111
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.