Released on: March 31, 2008, 1:19 am

Press Release Author: Kate Stoney

Industry: Telecommunications

Press Release Summary: Sicap today officially revealed the extent of its long-term
partnership with Vimpelcom in Device Management (DM). Systems deployment across all
regions of Russia, and in two CIS countries, now enables device management to the
vast majority of the operator’s 51 million plus subscribers.


Press Release Body: Sicap, leader in Device Management, initially implemented its
Device Management Center (DMC) in the Vimpelcom (TM «Beeline») Russia network in
2005. Considering the scale and potential of the device management tasks scheduled,
Vimpelcom needed the assurance of a specialist with a proven track-record in
large-scale implementations and with a modular and sustainable architecture capable
of accommodating future service and platform evolutions.



The power and capacity to handle large numbers of device updates was rapidly proven
in the Russian network, totalling more than 42 million subscribers. The advanced
Automatic Device Detection feature of Sicap DMC streamlines the configuration
process for the operator, by identifying devices as they arrive in the network for
an automatic provisioning of WAP, MMS or GPRS service settings. In July 2006
Vimpelcom ran an advertising campaign with the slogan “GPRS for All” to promote the
service. DMC management of devices over-the-air has proved highly successful both in
stimulating data traffic and in reducing customer care time spent on configuration
queries.



Vimpelcom has since started operations to share the master DMC in Russia by
installing homogenous and connected Sicap platforms in subsidiary networks in CIS.
To date, no fewer than eleven platforms in Russia and in Ukraine and Kazakhstan
operate to correctly set up millions of Vimpelcom subscribers’ devices, whatever
their brand or model.



In Kazakhstan, more than 4.6 million customer devices are under remote control since
2007. In Ukraine, Vimpelcom has recently connected a Sicap DMC platform for its
approximately 2 million customers. More Vimpelcom CIS countries can be easily
connected as market demands develop .



According to Ilya Axelrod, Head of Service Network Development Department at
Vimpelcom, “Sicap technology is helping Vimpelcom streamline the device management
process across the board. The ability to centralize and control all our member
company platforms offers obvious advantages in terms of consolidation and
rationalization for the Group”.



Simon Hofer, Managing Director of Sicap Eastern Europe commented that the software
was, “built on a sustainable framework and updated regularly with new advanced
features for application and firmware management. Our partnership with Vimpelcom
will evolve in time to accommodate more subsidiaries and help the Group meet device
and network interoperability challenges as they evolve”.





About Sicap

Specialized in mobile technologies, Sicap enables operators to achieve real time
converged business, whether by dynamically charging subscriber accounts or by
directly updating their device and SIM configurations. The product portfolio extends
to include software which facilitates business between mobile network operators and
their partners.




About Vimpelcom

The VimpelCom Group is a telecommunications operator, providing voice and data
services, covered through a range of wireless, fixed and broadband technologies. The
Group includes companies operating in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan, Georgia and Armenia, in territories with a total population of about 250
million. VimpelCom was the first Russian company to list its shares on the New York
Stock Exchange (\"NYSE\"). VimpelCom\'s ADSs are listed on the NYSE under the symbol
\"VIP\".





Web Site: http://

Contact Details:

For further information about Sicap, please visit www.sicap.com

Contact Corporate Communications: Kate Stoney

kate.stoney@sicap-france.com
50 rue de marseille 69007 Lyon France