Excel Switching Corp. (www.ExcelSwitching.com) today announces the availability of its new Multi-Signaling Platform (MSP) 1010, the first in its recently announced 1010 family of compact and highly scalable Excel platforms that converge legacy and next generation architectures. The MSP 1010 lowers capital and operating costs while improving network performance for the delivery of signaling-intensive applications.

Mobile operators worldwide are enhancing their service offerings with personalized applications like SMS, televoting, Personalized Ring Back Tone (PRBT), and prepaid voice and data services that are proven to have a high subscriber take-rate, resulting in additional revenue opportunities. For example, PRBT, a service that allows mobile subscribers to customize the ring back tone that callers hear when they dial the subscriber's number, is predicted to generate $4 billion dollars in revenue alone by 2006, according to research firm Datamonitor.

However, many application developers and service providers face significant challenges while creating and deploying these services: mainly the high cost of capital equipment to get started and the ability to handle large spikes in volume of mobile activity that can occur around the holidays or special televoting events, for example. Excel's MSP 1010s can be distributed at the edge of the network as flexible application servers for a more economic alternative to the large, costly centralized systems currently deployed. This distributed architecture can be the basis of new mobility services or can work in conjunction with existing mobility networks to increase a carrier's capacities, improve their efficiencies and lower operating costs.

"Operators need to be flexible to act new opportunities as quickly as possible," said Phil Marshall, director of Mobile and Wireless Services at the Yankee Group. "The Excel MSP 1010 provides developers and OEMs with a highly flexible and scalable service creation platform that reduces the cost and risk associated with signaling intensive services."

The MSP 1010 functions as an integrated SMS-C and services gateways that can offload SMS data packets during peak event activity periods. As an open and scalable signaling platform supporting standardized signaling protocols, the MSP 1010 offers immediate integration with 2G and 3G networks supporting existing mobile networking standards such as TDMA, CDMA and GSM. The MSP 1010 enables service providers to adapt their network to meet the constantly changing needs of their customers. With its multi-purpose, multi-protocol design, the MSP 1010 enables application developers and carriers to both deploy new services, and grow existing ones, quickly and cost-effectively.

"Excel is truly a pioneer in signaling and has built a solid reputation on its ability to provide a carrier grade connection between packet, mobile and the PSTN network for voice and data," said Kari Kailamaki, CEO at Exomi, a wireless messaging and mobile internet pioneer. "With the MSP 1010 we now have the scalability we need to deploy optimized, SMS and SMS-C services to the targeted markets of our customers."

"Customer acceptance and feedback on the MSP 1010 has been tremendous," adds JC Murphy, Excel's president. "Our customers who are developing and deploying new services are seeing an incredible value and opportunity in the ability to leverage a single platform to support a variety of networks worldwide."

About Excel Switching Corporation

Founded in 1988, Excel Switching Corporation is a leading provider of carrier-class, open services platforms deployed as differentiated media gateways, media servers, signaling gateways and enhanced service platforms for original equipment manufacturers, value-added resellers, and self-developing service providers worldwide. As a profitable company with over 125 customers worldwide, Excel provides the leading open services platform that addresses carriers' needs for profitable applications by bridging wired, wireless, and IP networks. By working closely with its application partners, Excel provides customers with highly reliable, localized solutions designed to meet their immediate and future needs. For more information, visit www.excelswitching.com.