Link2One and Telecom Italia Sparkle Signs Strategic Agreement

MADRID, February 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Link2One, provider of the world's fastest growing multi-lateral roaming hub, announced today announces a strategic partnership with Telecom Italia Sparkle based on Link2One's roaming hub - a hosted solution which enables connected operators to accelerate the provision of roaming services to customers worldwide.

Link2One provides a simple and cost-effective alternative to bilateral roaming agreements. With just one agreement and one connection, operators can be up and running almost instantly on a single IMSI Roaming Hub, giving maximum roaming coverage not only on Voice but also Camel, GPRS and 3G - with the same service level and capabilities as with traditional bilateral roaming agreements.

Announcing the agreement, Miguel Calvo, Vice President, Link2One, said:

"This landmark partnership brings international roaming capabilities to subscribers all over the world, extending reach to areas normally only covered by bilateral roaming agreements. We have a unique solution that allows mobile networks to interconnect seamlessly, enabling international roaming without any extra investment".

Fabrizio Gelli, Mobile Services Marketing Director of TI Sparkle, added:

"The unique combination of TI Sparkle Global coverage and Interoperability Solutions and Link2One roaming hub enables mobile operators to expand their roaming footprint, and to increase traffic and revenues faster and more economically than ever before.

Link2One has an exceptionally experienced team with an outstanding track record in the GSM industry. Telecom Italia Sparkle has been at the forefront of developing new and innovative services for the GSM industry since the introduction of GSM networks.

Link 2 One and TI Sparkle aim has always been to build a business not only to make roaming more efficient but also to deliver new revenue streams to mobile operators - without increasing costs. We now have a scalable service that has been designed to provide unrivalled flexibility and performance to meet the demands of existing and new requirements in roaming hubbing.

Today's priority is to create a seamless end-to-end service for customers, in addition to reducing their costs of infrastructure, set-up and expansion. The emphasis of our Roaming Hub solution is on reducing the customers' costs, both internally and externally, increasing roaming coverage and attracting valuable inbound roaming revenues to their networks. . Identifying services that can deliver revenue and attract new customers without increasing costs is the primary focus of key decision makers.

Link2One is proud to announce the TI Sparkle partnership - a major step forward in expanding and growing the market for roaming hubbing - which will help optimizing the management of roaming relationships for all Link2One members.

Operators now have more time to focus on their core businesses, leaving the handling of the less profitable partners to the Roaming Hub while keeping the most profitable relationships outside the hub. Moreover, operators have the freedom to negotiate the most favorable deals, as we will facilitate agreements across hub members. As a result, Operators save time and money as there is no need for separate agreements or to organize and maintain bi-lateral testing.

About Telecom Italia Sparkle

Telecom Italia Sparkle Sp.A (a wholly-owned Telecom Italia Group subsidiary) is a leading global telecommunication service provider, offering a complete range of Voice, Data, Internet and Consulting solutions designed to meet the ever-changing needs of Fixed and Mobile Carriers, ISPs, Content Providers, Multimedia Players and Corporate Customers.

Through a global portfolio of services, a state-of-the-art worldwide network, advanced OSS, BSS and customer care capabilities, and an extensive global commercial presence, Telecom Italia Sparkle is able to fulfill its mission of providing customers with the best value and highest quality services in the international telecommunications market. Find out more about Telecom Italia Sparkle at www.telecomitaliasparkle.com

About Link2One

Founded in February 2008, Link2One is the fastest-growing multi-lateral GSM/3G roaming hub. It provides signalling, clearing and settlement, plus partner management for network operators worldwide. In addition, the Link2One Roaming Hub will provide new connectivity services on an ongoing basis. Its multilateral approach enables operators to have worldwide coverage for voice, data, SMS and CAMEL with just one agreement and one link to the Link2One Hub. http://www.l2one.com.

    Contact:
    Ingbritt Lindroth
    T: +352-27-756-426
    M: +352-661-756-426
    E: [email protected]

SOURCE MACH