Ericsson has successfully delivered the Operator Payment and Connection Service (OPCS) of its Internet Payment eXchange (IPX) to several network operators in Spain and Norway. OPCS manages a network operator's content-provider activities, allowing them to focus on their core business.

IPX, part of Ericsson's Managed Services offering, has been delivered to Ventelo in Norway and Euskaltel in Spain, while Ericsson has provided the commercial, contract and technical interfaces to Yoigo, R and Telecable  in Spain. OPCS includes Launch Advisory, Content Provider Access, Settlement and Invoicing, Commercial and Contract Management and Extended Messaging services.

IPX facilitates the distribution of and payment for mobile content by seamlessly interconnecting content providers and mobile operators. OPCS takes this a step further, bringing an operator's entire content-provider interface under Ericsson IPX management. This means the network operator can focus on their customers and brand while Ericsson takes responsibility for all the platforms, investment, operation and technical resources needed to manage content providers.

Viktoria Granqvist, Product Management Director, Yoigo, says: "We are a new organization and needed to offer our subscribers a lot of choice in content, quickly and seamlessly. We didn't want to slow our market rollout with all the technical, contractual and platform details, so we were looking for a partner to take responsibility for that part, and one that could do it fast. Ericsson IPX managed this in record time and we could offer our subscribers the latest in mobile digital content from the day of our launch."

Johan Rosendahl, Managing Director of Ericsson IPX, says: "Using the existing IPX platform, OPCS is a natural next step to offer mobile operators. Given the success of the rollouts with Ventelo in Norway and Yoigo, R, Telecable and Euskaltel in Spain, we will be rolling out these services globally to other operators wishing to outsource some, or all of their content-provider management."

About Ericsson's Managed Services Offering

Ericsson has the telecom industry's most comprehensive managed services offering. It ranges from designing, building, operating and managing day-to-day operations of a customer's network, including end-user services and business support systems, to hosting service applications and content, as well as providing network coverage and capacity on demand. As the undisputed leader in managed services, Ericsson has officially announced more than 100 managed services contracts with operators worldwide since 2002. In all current managed services contracts, excluding hosting, Ericsson is managing networks that together serve more than 160 million subscribers worldwide.

Ericsson IPX is an award-winning, non-branded, white-label service that comprises mobile billing and connectivity via SMS, MMS, web and WAP. The premium service, IPX Payment, is available to more than two billion mobile subscribers in 24 countries, and new markets are being added continuously. With the non-premium service, IPX Messaging, clients can deliver to and receive SMS messages from mobile subscribers worldwide.

The Payforit scheme is governed by 'The Trusted Mobile Payment Framework' rules which outline how merchants, accredited payment intermediaries and operators co-operate. With Payforit, all payment pages are hosted by Accredited Payment Intermediaries (aggregators); not the merchant hence the payment mechanism and the merchant are separated. The payment intermediary is responsible for auditing all transactions therefore creating a secure, reliable payment mechanism, where consumers purchasing mobile content can feel reassured.