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Openet wins major deal with US mobile firm

Openet Telecom, the Dublin software firm backed by Benchmark Capital, has won an eight-figure deal with an American mobile phone operator, believed to be Sprint/Nextel.

The deal is Openet's biggest to date, and is understood to be worth between €10million and €15 million to the company in its first phase this year. A similar-sized second phase is expected to follow next year.

Openet confirmed it had signed a 'landmark deal' in the United States. It said a 'Tier 1 wireless operator in North America has signed a multi-million dollar contract', but would not name the customer 'for reasons of commercial confidence.'

The biggest mobile operators in the US are Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless and Sprint, which last month completed a $36 billion merger with Nextel.
Verizon and Cingular are already customers of Openet, according to the company's website. Openet's software is used by telecoms operators to manage and charge for a range of services.

It is understood that, in the first phase of the deal, the US operator will replace all its existing mediation software with Openet's technology.
John Rainger, the chief executive of Openet, said the deal meant that about 90 per cent of US mobile traffic was now processed using the Irish firm's software. He said the deal put Openet at 'The pinnacle of wireless mediation and charging solutions'.

Late last year, Rainger said Openet had won eight new deals worth between €1 million and €1.5 million each.

The deals have come after a tough trading period for the company, which missed its financial targets last year.

It had expected to have turnover of about €29 million in the year to the end of June 2005, but it is understood the figure was below €20 million after contracts were delayed.

Openet has since changed its financial year to coincide with the calendar year. Its next set of accounts will cover the 18-month period from July 1, 2004 to December 31, 2005.

Openet has about 140 permanent staff, including 45 in the US. It has raised more than €30 million from investors including Benchmark and Orange Ventures.

The company's last accounts show it made a pre-tax profit of €85,000 on turnover of €16.7 million in the year to the end of June 2004. The previous year, it lost €3.9 million on turnover of €9.5 million.