A P U B L I C A T I O N O F S Y N I V E R S E T E C H N O L O G I E S N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0

THE PATH TO MOBILE’S FUTURE

MESSAGING IN AFRICA MMS EXPLOSION FINANCIAL CLEARING UPGRADES

T hose of us who are part of the mobile communications industry are some of the most

fortunate people in the world. Why? Because we stand on the front lines of a global com-

munications revolution that has been propelled by our day-to-day work. Our industry has helped

empower the world’s disadvantaged citizens, increased business productivity, stimulated econo-

mies and connected communities in ways never imagined even one decade ago.

Momentous change also brings momentous challenges. We all must address how to prepare

for tomorrow’s business and technological changes while simultaneously providing superior service

for today’s customers during a period of unprecedented growth.

Consider the following statistics from industry analysts:

• Last year, global mobile data traffic reached the 1 exabyte

(that’s 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes or 1018 ) milestone.

Traffic likely will hit 1 zettabyte, which is 1,000 exabytes,

sometime in 2016.

• 32 percent of all global operators – about 219 of them – have

LTE in service, planned or in trials.

• SMS and MMS volumes continue to shatter industry records.

Syniverse alone has processed more than 1 trillion since 2007.

• In 2009, the number of apps downloaded globally was

approximately 7 billion. By 2012, that number is expected to

reach almost 50 billion downloads per year.

This issue of Synergy touches on a number of important topics our industry faces today and

in the future. On page 6, Syniverse’s CTO Jeff Gordon discusses new challenges for operators

that have come about because of fundamental changes in how we use mobile. You’ll also find an

article on page 4 that focuses on how enterprises can use

SMS to engage untapped audiences in Africa. And page

8 gives you an update about what we’re doing to make

financial clearing more efficient, secure and accurate.

In closing, I want to mention our exciting announce-

ment that Syniverse has entered into a definitive agree-

ment to be acquired by global alternative asset manager

The Carlyle Group – a transaction that will benefit our

employees, our customers and our shareholders, and means we will become a private company.

At Syniverse, we take great pride in our role as part of the mobile revolution, both in how

we make mobile work today and in what we’re doing to prepare for tomorrow. We thank you for

allowing us to work side by side with you to help make our world a better place for all. J

E X E C U T I V E C O R N E R

2

Inside SYNERGY

VOLUME 4 NUMBER 3

Tony HolcombePresident & CEO

“We all must address how to prepare for tomorrow’s business and technological changes while simultaneously providing superior

service for today’s customers.”

6 Winning the Mobile

Revolution

Three operator challenges

to overcome

3 Regional Update

Latest highlights from our

global team

4 Enterprise Messaging

in Africa

SMS empowers consumers

at lowest cost

5 Employee Spotlight

Meet Ranga Jagannath

8 Financial Clearing

Automation upgrades add value

to Syniverse services

9 Customer Connection

Pinger’s app capitalizes on

popularity of messaging

11 Multimedia Messaging

Demand expected to skyrocket

R E G I O N A L U P D A T E

3

We are gaining significant traction with data and financial clearing, and SCCP signaling ser-vices with GSM operators across Asia Pacific (AP), having recently signed multi-year data clear-ing deals with leading operators in India, China and Taiwan. We’ve long provided similar services to CDMA operators in AP, and now we’re seeing more GSM operators electing to move to Syni-verse away from other providers. We also have strengthened our AP sales team, with Veni Folta now leading sales in the north-ern part of the region, including China, Korea, Japan and Guam. Mahgan Zand Farid also has joined Syniverse to lead our sales teams in Oceania, includ-ing Australia and New Zealand.

One of our newest roam-ing solutions, Syniverse GAIN Roaming Business Management Services, recently was selected by Telefónica for 11 of its properties across Latin America. GAIN provides operators of all sizes and types with roaming specialists and resources to help accelerate and enhance operators’ roam-ing revenue and speed time to market to meet subscriber demand. We also have seen significant messaging success in the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA), where we’ve signed almost 20 messaging contracts this year. One is Open Mobile of Puerto Rico, a long-time network customer that now relies on us for both in-country and international SMS interoperability.

A number of opera-tors across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) are migrating to Syniverse from other providers for both data and financial clearing, driven partially by our recently upgraded Finan-cial Clearing Services. You can read more about these upgrades on page 8. Solidifying our in-region sales support function, Mike Furey has relocated to London to lead our so-lutions engineering team in EMEA. Additionally, Giorgio Miano, based in Rome, has transitioned into a new role as Vice President of Sales and is focused on delivering the solutions operators in this region need to meet subscriber demands and remain competitive in the marketplace.

Syniverse continues to grow in the enterprise messaging space in North America (NA), having recently added a number of significant Mobile Enterprise Services con-tracts, including another leading global financial services company plus one of the world’s largest international logistics companies. Our momentum also continues to grow with new entrants to the mo-bile space. M2M leader Numerex recently signed multi-year agreements for Syniverse network, roaming and messaging solutions that expand its reach globally. Finally, as the leading IPX gateway into NA, we’ve won more than 20 IPX contracts in the region, including four of the largest mobile operators.

Asia Pacific Caribbean & Latin America

Europe, Middle East & Africa

North America

At Syniverse, we

make mobile work

in every way,

everywhere in

the world. From

Tampa to Hong

Kong, Mexico

City to Dubai, we

maintain offices

in every region of

the globe to ensure

we have expert

staff located on

the ground where

our customers do

business.

4

E X E C U T I V E C O R N E RM E S S A G I N G I N A F R I C A

Daniel CoheurVice President Global Business Development

“The message to enter-

prises and operators

in Africa is simple:

SMS represents an

opportunity to better

empower consumers

at the lowest cost”

Seizing Opportunity in Africa’s Enterprise Messaging Market

There’s no doubt that mobile has changed

the way people communicate, work and

play around the globe. And nowhere

are its effects more evident than in Africa, where

mobile penetration growth is skyrocketing.

“Mobile has emerged as an ideal communica-

tions channel in the region, due to factors such

as the ubiquity of mobile, the lack of fixed-line

infrastructure in Africa’s

expansive rural areas and

the relative affordability

of mobile devices, versus

televisions or PCs,” said

Daniel Coheur, Vice Pres-

ident, Global Business

Development.

With even the

most inexpensive, basic

feature phones, millions

of people in developing

areas of the continent are

empowered with access

to news, health informa-

tion, banking and more.

But, Daniel said, enter-

prises have only reached the tip of the iceberg

when it comes to mobile’s potential to engage

with untapped audiences on the continent.

“Nearly every mobile device is capable of

sending and receiving SMS messages,” he said. “As

a result, application-to-peer (A2P) SMS messaging

can be used to reach target audiences and build

brand loyalty, all while driving network traffic to

boost operator revenues.”

The unique characteristics of mobile make

it a particularly compelling tool for marketers,

many of whom view enterprise messaging as a

customizable, direct channel that enables two-

way communications between brands and consum-

ers – all at a low cost that typically produces higher

return on advertising investment than traditional

media campaigns.

At the same time, the primary operator benefit

of enterprise messaging comes down to increasing

revenue. Because mobile data usage has yet to see

the same astronomical growth as in more developed

markets, driving existing

revenue streams is essential

for operators in Africa.

“An increase in SMS

traffic due to the widespread

adoption of enterprise mes-

saging campaigns represents

huge revenue potential for

African operators,” Daniel

said. “They simply need to

communicate its benefits to

drive demand.”

Operators have several

options for encouraging

the growth of enterprise

messaging, such as using

case studies of successful

implementations in other regions to illustrate the

benefits of a campaign. Offering enterprises A2P

solutions that are optimized to their needs, such

as by providing full reporting on outreach efforts,

also makes it easier to justify an investment in

mobile tactics.

“The message to enterprises and operators in

Africa is simple: SMS represents an opportunity

to better empower consumers at the lowest cost,”

Daniel said. “As familiarity grows and campaign suc-

cesses build momentum, mobile messaging will be-

come a major part of enterprises’ communications

strategies as well as operators’ revenue streams.” J

5

E M P L O Y E E S P O T L I G H T

Ranga Jagannath, Senior Product Manager

“If technology can

help complete a task

faster and more

efficiently – use it!”

That’s the motto

Ranga Jagannath

lives by and embraces

as Senior Product

Manager for

Syniverse’s Mobile

Enterprise Services

(MES) in Bangalore,

India. Ranga joined

the Syniverse team as

part of the VeriSign

messaging business

acquisition in 2009,

and he recently spoke

with Synergy about

his life and work at

Syniverse.

Synergy: Tell me a little

about your transition to

Syniverse.

Ranga: The transition has

been quite smooth for me,

and I’m pleased that I’ve

been able to contribute

to the company in my

short time here. My co-

workers – both those

who joined Syniverse

with me and those who

were onboard prior to the

acquisition – continually

inspire me with their

depth of knowledge. I also

am extremely proud to be

a part of an organization

with such a strong focus

on putting its customers

first.

Synergy: How has your

background helped you be

successful in your current

position?

Ranga: Discipline was

a core value in my

household growing up,

so I’ve always instilled a

strong sense of discipline

into my work. Later in life,

I was a part of a start-up

company that showed

me how experimentation

and taking the path

less traveled can pay

off with great success.

Combining the best of

these experiences and

taking a disciplined

approach to exploring

innovative, new ideas have

been integral to both my

past achievements and my

current role at Syniverse.

Synergy: How do you help

keep Syniverse’s customers

satisfied?

Ranga: I consider myself

the eyes and ears of the

customers in my region.

By providing cross-

functional support to

teams like sales, customer

support and operations, I

am able to understand and

translate the market needs

into the MES product

roadmap and portfolio

that I manage.

Synergy: What’s your life like

outside of Syniverse?

Ranga: In addition to work,

I also am in the process

of earning my master of

business administration

degree, so free time is

extremely precious! My

world revolves around my

amazing wife and daughter

with whom I love spending

time whenever I can. I

also really enjoy reading, as

well as anything outdoors,

especially playing sports

like cricket and field

hockey. J

6

By Jeff GordonChief Technology Officer

6

WINNING THE MOBILE REVOLUTIONThree Key Operator Challenges to Overcome

We’ve all heard the word “evolution” used to describe changes in the mobile ecosystem. However, I believe that we’re seeing something much bigger and more far-reaching than an evolu-tion. Our society is actually experiencing a full-fledged mobile revolution that’s changing how billions of people around the globe think and behave.

7

Cont. on page 10

7

WINNING THE MOBILE REVOLUTION

In just a few years, mobile phones have

morphed from brick-sized luxuries used for

voice calls into multi-purpose devices that are,

in essence, irreplaceable mobile life manage-

ment systems.

Today’s use cases are vast and evolving quick-

ly. We take photos and videos, and send them to

families, friends, colleagues and customers. We

make purchases with mobile wallets, check in for

flights and join live video calls. I even have an app

that identifies the planets and constellations in the

night sky visible from my exact location.

Such radical change in the way we exchange

information has presented clear opportunities for

mobile operators. However, with the constant ap-

pearance of new ecosystem players looking for their

share, operators must tackle three key challenges to

make the most of this revolution.

Each month

millions

of voice,

messaging and data

roaming transactions

that require financial

clearing and settle-

ment services occur

between operator

roaming partners.

With growing

demand for seamless global connectivity by

subscribers, the average number of roaming

partners per operator has climbed to more

than 300. To address the associated increas-

ing complexity of financial clearing, many

operators

around the

world offload

this task to

Syniverse

– a neutral,

trusted third

party.

“Clearing and settlement is one of Syni-

verse’s specialties, and our top priority is

meeting the diverse and evolving needs of our

customers,” said Mary Clark, Vice President

of Clearing and Fraud Control. “We recently

invested heavily in strengthening the automa-

tion capabilities of our Syniverse MORESM

Financial Clearing Services to ensure we can

successfully meet this objective.”

The newly upgraded clearing platform

ensures reliability by leveraging financial

industry best practices and state-of-the-art

work-flow tools. Syniverse’s financial clearing

team is highly experienced, and Mary pointed

8

Automation Upgrades Add Value to Financial Clearing Services

Mary ClarkVice President Clearing and Fraud Control

F I N A N C I A L C L E A R I N G

out that the newly implemented tools minimize

human intervention, resulting in fewer errors.

“Our staff is now focusing on exception

management and customer requests,” Mary said.

“As a result, our customers can expect a higher

level of support with the newly upgraded plat-

form that delivers fast, secure and controlled

financial settlement.”

The recent improvements also have

resulted in greater efficiency and accuracy,

with 80 percent of receivable positions allo-

cated automatically and 90 percent of payable

invoices reconciled automatically. These high

percentages lead to quick and consistent trans-

action processing. In addition Syniverse has

adapted its dynamic reporting tool Analyzer

for financial

clearing, materi-

ally increasing

transparency,

functionality

and custom

reporting

capabilities.

Ultimately, Mary said the upgrades to

Syniverse’s financial clearing solution ensure a

customer can focus on its core roaming busi-

ness, instead of spending time performing

manual, routine processes.

“The changes we’ve made will significantly

improve the way operators manage their roam-

ing businesses, enabling them to be more ef-

ficient and effective,” she said. “By handing off

the huge task of clearing roaming transactions

to Syniverse, our customers can rest easy know-

ing their transactions are being settled with

the right partner, for the right fee, and on time

each month.” J

“The changes we’ve made will significantly improve the way operators manage their roaming businesses, enabling them to be more efficient and effective”

9

C U S T O M E R C O N N E C T I O N

Greg WoockCEO and Co-Founder of Pinger

App Maker Pinger Capitalizes on Messaging Popularity

The popularity of mobile messaging is un-

deniable, especially among teenagers. In

fact, teens that own mobile devices in the

United States are sending an estimated 3,146 text

messages per month, according to Nielsen – prefer-

ring this medium to traditional voice calls. Unfor-

tunately for those

footing the bill,

the rate at which

these heavy users

are sending and

receiving SMS

messages can re-

sult in enormous

monthly charges,

especially if users

surpass their allotted maximum

amount of texts.

Pinger, a member of Syni-

verse’s growing customer roster of

new entrants to mobile, is helping

to eliminate this with its Textfree

Unlimited application for the

iPhone and iPod Touch. This free

app allows users to send and receive

an unlimited number of SMS mes-

sages over an Internet connection.

“What sets Textfree apart

from the hoard of other texting

applications is that each user is issued an actual

10-digit phone number from which the messages

are sent, rather than an email address,” said Greg

Woock, CEO and co-founder, Pinger. “And with

Syniverse’s SMS-IP solution as the power behind

the app, the messages can be sent to or received

from any mobile operator in the United States with

the high quality of service and delivery they expect

when sending an SMS.”

Greg said Pinger selected Syniverse for its SMS

interworking needs because the company offered a

highly scalable, cost-effective solution with a quick

implementation timeline, and because of the unpar-

alleled reliability that Syniverse’s carrier-grade call

processing platform brought to the table.

“Our users know messages sent via Textfree will

reach their destination, which is not always the case

for other similar apps that use less-dependable deliv-

ery solutions,” he said.

Thanks to Syniverse-ensured reliability, and

Pinger’s innova-

tive ad-supported

business model

that keeps the app

free for consum-

ers, Textfree has

become wildly

popular. In fact,

Pinger distributed

1.6 million Textfree

phone numbers to

users in the first

two months it was

introduced. The

app also has been

consistently ranked

among the top apps

in the Apple iTunes

store, and was a runner up in the TechCrunch Disrupt

Cup conference.

The Textfree story continues to evolve as Pinger

incorporates new functionalities and looks to expand

geographically. As it does, Greg said Syniverse will play

an important role.

“We’ve really enjoyed our experience working

with Syniverse, and look forward to continuing our

relationship together as we grow,” he said. J

R “What sets Textfree

apart from the hoard

of other texting

applications is that

each user is issued an

actual 10-digit phone

number from which

the messages are sent,

rather than an email

address.”

10

Cont. on page 11

REVOLUTION Cont. from pg. 7

Jeff GordonChief Technology Officer

“Almost any operator

can look to thrive in

this dynamic environ-

ment by establishing

an indispensable role

as the ecosystem’s

‘smart pipe’ ”

Challenge 1: Maintaining relevancy in the ecosystem

New players are entering the mobile ecosystem on a daily basis, including cable MSOs, M2M, Internet

and VoIP providers as well as thousands of over-the-top application developers. And just as operators are,

they’re all focused on achieving end-user interaction and tapping into the revenue streams that have been

created by the mobile revolution.

Fortunately, almost any operator can look to thrive in this dynamic environment by establishing an

indispensable role as the ecosystem’s “smart pipe,” delivering value to its subscribers, other operators and

new mobile players.

The road to “smart pipe” status requires an operator to become an ecosystem partner rather than

standing alone. This means working with these new entrants and thinking about how an operator can add

value to the relationship.

By sitting in the middle of the industry’s tremendously complex communication structure and having

the proper business intelligence tools in place, an operator can analyze the massive amount of data flowing

through its systems to create value for its ecosystem partners and customers. As a result, the operator is

well-positioned to offer its partners valuable, actionable information, such as presence and location. More-

over, the operator is able to create a superior user experience by proactively managing operations.

Challenge 2: Transitioning to LTE

The transition to 4G is at the forefront of the mobile industry right now – and rightfully so, as this

next-generation technology opens up bandwidth highways to take the mobile revolution to the next level.

Without a doubt, moving to LTE is much more complicated than simply launching a new net-

work. Success depends heavily on how customer experience and business operations are addressed.

First, operators must ensure subscribers have seamless interoperability, both horizontally and vertical-

ly. A 4G transition has to provide users with a seamless experience across all flavors of mobile network

technologies, including the legacy systems of traditional mobile operators as well as a growing number

of new entrants. Just as importantly, an operator moving to LTE has to provide its subscribers with

flawless interoperability with its own legacy network and with future

network iterations.

Another key tenet of LTE transition

is roaming. If LTE is to be successful, each

operator must be able to give its subscribers

the ability to roam and access a full array of

LTE benefits beyond that operator’s own

network islands.

Finally, an operator’s legacy network

likely will be operating in parallel with its

LTE network for many years. Running in-

dependent operation silos for each network is not only expensive, but

also creates significant complexity from a customer support perspective, which will be unac-

ceptable to subscribers. To overcome this, the rollout of LTE needs to be accompanied by a set of

business operations fully integrated with the operator’s legacy business systems to create a simplified,

seamless user experience.

Challenge 3: Maximizing customer experience

These first two challenges clearly lead into the third because it’s all about the end user. The most

120 billion messages sent in 2009.

While it’s easy to see why MMS is growing,

it’s also clear that operators must be able to keep

up with the increased volumes and message sizes.

“Our operator customers are scaling their

network capabilities to better meet subscriber

demands via investments in

redundant data centers and

dedicated circuits to man-

age the increased bandwidth

required for MMS traffic,”

Ric said.

Ric was quick to point out

that capacity is only part of the

equation, with reach playing a

vital role.

“Just as they do with

voice and SMS, subscribers expect to be able to

send MMS to any user anywhere, regardless of

what network the recipient is using,” he said.

“It falls to the operator to address the issue of

off-network connectivity and interoperability

to provide a seamless user experience, and at

Syniverse, we’re all about simplifying complexity

to make mobile work.” J

Although the

concept of

multimedia

messaging has been

around for more than

a decade, its uptake

was initially slowed

by obstacles such as

lack of MMS reach, a

need for greater net-

work capacity and a limited number of MMS-

capable devices. These challenges are similar to

the ones that first faced SMS before it exploded

into popularity, and now that they’re being

overcome for MMS, Senior Product Manager

Ric Lwin expects the results will speak for

themselves.

“MMS is rapidly becoming a vital compo-

nent of the mobile lifestyle,” Ric said. “Sub-

scribers are becoming accustomed to sharing

pictures and videos with each other in real time

all the time.”

Portio Research predicts subscribers

around the world will send 385 billion MMS in

2014, a 223 percent increase from the almost

M O B I L E E N T E R P R I S E S E R V I C E S

11

Ric LwinSenior Product Manager

REVOLUTION Cont. from page 10

M U L T I M E D I A M E S S A G I N G

MMS: Demand Expected to Skyrocket

effective way an operator can solidify loyalty is to

ensure a positive customer experience.

Subscribers don’t want to know how a

device or service works, or what has gone wrong

if there’s a glitch. They just want everything

to work seamlessly on their terms. And in an

always-on world, they demand immediate access

to their own services as well as to the newest

ones entering the marketplace.

This means that operators must implement

proactive customer service systems so they can:

•Discoverandsolveproblemsbeforethesub-

scriber even knows something is wrong

•Increaselevelsofpersonalizationandpreference

•Providemoresubscriber-levelmanagement

capabilities to give end users more control

As the pace of advancement rapidly transforms

the way people leverage mobility, it’s easy to see

that the move to a mobile lifestyle is nothing short

of a revolution. The winners in the marketplace will

be the operators who drive a compelling, seamless

customer experience. By working with vendor part-

ners to future proof their technology investments

in support of a network roadmap, operators can

make the most of this unmistakable opportunity. J

www.syniverse.com

© 2010 Syniverse Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. Syniverse and the Syniverse logo are registered trademarks, and Syniverse MORE is a service mark of Syniverse Technologies, Inc. To subscribe to this magazine, email synergy@syniverse.com.

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