Bharti Telesoft Takes India’s Color Ring Back Tone Success Story to Areeba Syria, Brightening the Caller Experience for Syria’s Mobile Subscribers

New Delhi, February, 2007: Bharti Telesoft, a leading global supplier of Content Based Services for wireless and wireline carriers, has successfully deployed enhanced features of its Color Ring Back Tone (CRBT), a service originally developed for the Indian market, and a huge hit with millions of mobile subscribers in India, at Areeba Syria, bringing a livelier call experience for callers to Areeba Syria’s 280,000 CRBT subscribers.

Areeba Syria, has over 2 million subscribers, just under 15% of whom are already subscribing to the CRBT service. With the introduction of more value added features, the subscriber base is expected to further grow.

This CRBT deal was signed in association with Darts, a major content service provider and partner to telecom operators in the Middle East. For Bharti Telesoft, the solution being implemented in three phases – this Phase marking the half-way stage in the overall deployment of value added ring back tone services in Areeba Syria.

Whereas Phase 1 of the implementation involved deploying basic features such as allowing subscribers to select relevant content by browsing, as well as providing subscribers with the option of sending ring back tone gifts – to name a few, Phase 2 deals with advanced features. These include enabling the specification of groups of callers, with each group member hearing a ring tone especially chosen for that group. Subscribers can also chose certain songs to be played at certain times of the day or on specific dates. The subscriber can even set his own business hours, with a ‘business’ tune being played to callers as they wait for call connection during defined times. The subscriber can then choose a more personal song to be played out of office hours.

According to Naji Bouhabib, GM, Darts, “Darts had a defined roadmap for Bharti Telesoft’s CRBT service with our partners in the telecom space in the Middle East and Gulf region, as we wanted to deliver the benefits of ring back tones to subscribers quickly and simply, and avoid launching too many features, which might complicate the service and limit uptake. The phased approach was therefore a part of the plan.”

“CRBT has been a major success story with Areeba Syria and with the completion of Phase 2, we believe Areeba will be set to further dramatically expand its CRBT subscriber base. Indeed, Bharti Telesoft’s CRBT services are proving very popular in the wider EMEA region, and more such deals are expected in Yemen, Sudan, and Cyprus,” elaborates Sanjiv Mital, CEO, Bharti Telesoft.

“We are glad to concretize our partnership with Bharti Telesoft with the deployment of CRBT at Areeba. We see tremendous potential for Areeba’s subscribers to enjoy a variety of content-based offerings and value added services in the near future and look forward to further collaboration with Areeba in Syria and throughout the region,” remarked Naji Bouhabib.

About Areeba Syria
In just over three years, Areeba Syria has become a pillar of the Syrian mobile telecommunication market, rapidly connecting people via its extensive mobile network, and gaining the market leader position in the country. Areeba is a subsidiary of the Investcom Holding Group, an international telecommunication group operating through a number of subsidiaries in the emerging economies of the Middle East and Africa, as well as in the more developed markets of Europe. Investcom is one of the leading organizations in the telecom field and is involved in various telecommunication activities through its worldwide associated and affiliated companies. Founded in 1982, Investcom's mission is to be a leader in the telecom space by continuing its expansion into new geographies, using the latest technology and advances in mobile and wireless telephony systems.

About Bharti Telesoft
Bharti Telesoft enables wireless and wireline carriers to unlock the revenue potential of their networks by delivering best-in-class, Content, Mobile Commerce, VAS and BSS solutions. Bharti Telesoft’s flexible, carrier-grade applications span key areas of an operator’s business: Content Based Services, VAS, such as Messaging, Call Management, and Roaming, and BSS, such as Prepaid, Provisioning and Customer Care, and Billing solutions. Bharti Telesoft has extensive, proven experience in deploying solutions in over 50 countries, on 100+ networks, serving 150 million global subscribers. For more information, please visit www.bhartitelesoft.com

About Darts
Darts SAL Offshore, part of Global Call, is a young and dynamic company. It combines the skills of an Application Service Provider, Content Provider, and a Consulting Firm, supporting telecom operators in building their businesses, particularly through the implementation of value added services. With sister companies and partnerships with a group of service providers in a number of geographies, Darts is present in over fourteen countries located in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and North America. For more information, please visit www.globalcallholding.com

Media Contacts
Andrea Stone
Head - Marketing Communications and Sales Support
Bharti Telesoft International Ltd.
F-13, Okhla Phase 1
New Delhi - 110020
Switchboard: +91 (0) 11 4161 1666 (Ext. 206)
Mobile: +91 98 1865 0410
Fax: +91 (0) 11 4161 1777
andrea.stone@bhartitelesoft.com

Shivang Mehta
PR and Corporate Communications
Bharti Telesoft International Ltd.
F-13, Okhla Phase 1
New Delhi - 110020
Switchboard: +91 (0) 11 4161 1666 (Ext. 377)
Mobile: +91 98 7138 4780
Fax: +91 (0) 11 4161 1777
shivang.mehta@bhartitelesoft.com