Comverse wins deal in Indonesia - why it is odd
Posted on June 26, 2008
Filed Under Economy, Israel, Israeli-Muslim Conflict, News, Politics, Religion
On June 24, Comverse - the world’s leading provider of software and systems enabling network-based messaging and content value-added services - issued the following press release:
Comverse, the world’s leading supplier of software and systems enabling network-based multimedia enhanced communication and billing services, today announced that Indonesian wireless operator Excelcomindo, with more than 19 million subscribers, has selected Comverse for a major SMSC expansion to handle its rapidly growing personal and application-related text messaging needs and to be able to quickly implement new SMS services.
Dian Siswarini, Director of Network at Excelcomindo said, “After voice, SMS is the highest revenue-generating service in our market, accounting for nearly 30% of total revenue. We are currently experiencing a dramatic, rapid expansion of our user base and we are also working to increase our market share, so it is mission-critical for us that our SMSC provides superior performance. Comverse SMSC meets our demanding requirements in terms of its capacity and ability to handle extreme usage during peak hours, and in terms of ability to support our roadmap vision to improve the messaging experience by adding exciting SMS services. Comverse also met our requirement for fast time to market to enable us to handle heavy holiday messaging traffic.”
A market leader deployed by hundreds of operators all over the globe, Comverse SMSC’s highly flexible multi-layered environment supports IP-based networks and is ready for IMS.
Eitan Achlow, President of the Comverse Asia Pacific (APAC) Division said, “Comverse SMSC is ideally suited help this rapidly expanding operator achieve its goals of providing the best possible value and user experience for its current users and for the many millions of new subscribers it expects to gain in the coming years. Comverse looks forward to working closely with Excelcomindo to increase its success in its marketplace and to fulfill its vision of bringing to life innovative SMS services and applications that boost user satisfaction and sharpen its competitive edge.”
It is odd because Comverse is an Israeli-based company, and Indonesia have no diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. Indonesia - the largest Muslim country - opposes Israel’s policies and vows not to establish diplomatic relations with Israel before the issue of “Palestinians” is resolved.
However, it did not stop the Indonesians from expressing their interest in Israeli advanced agricultural and telecommunication technologies, exchanging the experts’ delegations (on a special entrance-visa permit), and cutting deals with the Israeli companies, including on the consulting level for agricultural and telecommunication sectors of Indonesia.
I guess one can say that politics is one thing, and business is another, but in light of increasing calls for boycotting the companies from Denmark and Netherlands in the Muslim world, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day the similar calls will reach Comverse reps in Indonesia.
Indonesian government has a bitter record of succumbing to the pressure from the local radical Muslim groups. The latest example: imposing a ban on a peaceful Muslim sect “Ahmadyya”, the members of which are viewed by the radical and moderate Muslims alike as apostates (apostasy is punishable by death in Islam.)
So…to Comverse - don’t get too comfy over there.
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