SVYAZINVEST 

Open Joint Stock Company

119121, Moscow, ul. Plyushikha, d.55 str.2;

www.svyazinvest.ru

INFORMATION DEPARTMENT

telephone: (095) 727-0418, fax: (095) 727-0475;

pr@svyazinvest.ru

October 28, 2004                                         Moscow

A meeting was held on October 28, 2004between Svyazinvest and representatives of minority shareholders under the boards of directors of the companies of the holding. The main topic on the agenda was a discussion of plans to introduce an automatic billing system (ABS) at the company based on software produced by AmdocsBillingSuite.

 

A discussion was held at the meeting concerning the need to install a single ABS at the holding’s enterprises, the results of work conducted by the tender commission, and the main stages in implementing the project.  Participants of the meeting were notified that Svyazinvest plans in November to raise the issue before the boards of mega-regional companies (MRCs) and Rostelecom of signing service provisioning agreements with IBM as general consultant and contractor to form a single ABS for all the holding’s operators.

 

Sergei Kuznetsov, first vice general director of Svyazinvest:

 

“Introducing a unified ABS at the holding’s companies will make it possible to form a single technology for the provision of telecom services, which, in turn will raise the settlement transparency of our operators and reduce their traffic losses.  In addition, our operators will be able to switch to a single tariff plan structure and introduce new services throughout Russia.  We are counting on the understanding and support of all interested parties, which is why we have made the process public in order to ensure that everything is out in the open and clear for the shareholders of the holding”.

 

 

Fact Sheet

 

In March 2004 a meeting of the tender commission was held to select the supplier and general consultant to phase in a unified billing system at the subsidiaries of Svyazinvest. 

 

The selection process was executed in a number of stages.  The solutions of about 20 domestic and foreign suppliers were examined.  In the final stage, the tender commission narrowed the range of contenders for ABS to Amdocs, Convergys, CSG and selection of the general consultant and contractor to Accenture, A.T. Kearney, Ernst&Young, IBM and KPMG.

 

The tender commission, which was composed of representatives from Svyazinvest, MRCs and Rostelecom, picked the following winners of the tender competition:  

 

- the consulting division of IBM BusinessConsultingServices (IBM BCS);

- Amdocs, which made a bid to overhaul the billing system with IBM BCS as the general consultant and contractor.

 

In August 2004 a meeting of the supervisory board of Svyazinvest was held on the issue of implementing a single technical policy to roll out automated billing systems at the holding’s companies.  The following resolutions were passed at the meeting:

 

-to approve the results of the tender commission in selecting the ABS and general consultant of the project to phase in a single ABS;

- to phase in the Amdocs  automatic billing system with IBM BCS as general contractor;

- to commence  discussion of  this issue at meetings of the BoD of Rostelecom and MRCs in accordance with the established procedure.

 

Svyazinvest consists of seven mega-regional telecom companies: CenterTelecom, North West Telecom, VolgaTelecom, Southern Telecommunications Company, Uralsvyazinform, Sibirtelecom, and Far EastTelecom as well as national LD and ILD operator Rostelecom, four telecom operators that did not take part in the nationwide merger process, and industry research institute Giprosvyaz.  The company holds licenses and provides local, LD, ILD, voice and data transmission, ISP, ISDN, wireless subscriber access and mobile telecom using GSM, NMT-450, AMPS and DAMPS standards. At present, the holding employs 338,000.  For more detailed information, please refer to https://www.svyazinvest.ru.

 

Amdocs(NYSE: DOX) is a world leader supplying software and services for complete and integrated management of client operations and helps global service companies build stronger and more profitable relations with their clients.  Amdocs provides a full range of solutions for the clients of service companies and assists them in consolidating their business processes, which include: marketing and research, sales and orders, delivering orders and their execution, billing and debt repayment, service and support.  With more than 20 years of market experience, Amdocs enables companies in various sectors to achieve rapid and strong performance in their specific spheres of business activity.  At present, nearly 10,000 people are employed in 22 countries around the world.  Amdocs works with clients in over 40 countries around the world.  For more complete information, please see

https://www.amdocs.com.

 

IBM is the global leader in information technology with over 90 years of experience in developing and implementing innovative business solutions. 

IBM Business Consulting Service, a division of the company, features teams of consultants in over 160 countries and is one of the largest consulting companies in the world. 

IBM Business Consulting Service offers expertise to its clients in the area of business processes, business structure optimization in a number of sectors and its ability to transform this expertise into integrated business solutions in order to enhance overall corporate efficiency. For more detailed information see:https://www.ibm.com/ru/services