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Tatara Systems has worked successfully with Vodafone Ireland to enable the launch of Wi-Fi services to Vodafone customers. Vodafone Ireland deployed Tatara Systems' Mobile Services Convergence Platform to enable its customers to use third-party Wi-Fi networks that complement Vodafone's own GPRS and 3G networks.

By choosing and deploying Tatara Systems' platform, Vodafone Ireland is now able to offer Vodafone branded Wi-Fi service across Ireland without having to build a Wi-Fi network of its own. This move, by the largest mobile operator in Ireland, highlights the need for mobile services providers to partner with independent Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) in order to provide customers with access to significant Wi-Fi footprint coverage.

Vodafone will initially offer a browser-based Wi-Fi service in Ireland, Northern Ireland, the UK and Euorope, which will be billed to customers' mobile phone bills. The operator also plans to launch a combined GPRS, 3G and Wi-Fi Mobile Connect Card this summer, providing a single branded Vodafone user experience across GPRS, 3G, and Wi-Fi networks.

David Madden, Wi-Fi Product Manager of Vodafone Ireland said, "Using Tatara Systems' technology we can broaden our Wi-Fi network to give the sort of access that our customers demand. Customers want secure access to their data and a consistent seamless Vodafone user experience across all networks. Tatara Systems' solution enabled us to maintain a consistent user experience and provide high confidence levels on security to our customers and WISP partners".

Tatara System's solution for Vodafone Ireland provides guaranteed secure authentication, real-time customer support and diagnostics, collects data on customer connection durations, and passes the information to Vodafone Ireland's M-Pay system, enabling the company to invoice customers for both WLAN and wide area wireless services on the same bill. In addition, Vodafone Ireland is positioned to capitalize on Tatara's real-time location and presence based technologies to offer advanced converged mobile services well into the future.

Evelien Wiggers of IDC says "Demand for mobile data access is growing and mobile operators need to provide as a broad range of access services to serve their customer base and maintain their competitive edge. With its strong uptake of Vodafone Mobile Connect Cards, Vodafone is one of the world's leading providers of wireless data services and adding WLAN footprint to its portfolio is a natural extension for it to stay in a market-leading position."

The implementation marks Tatara's third major contract with Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator. Steve Nicolle, President and CEO of Tatara Systems said: "Service providers are aware that they need to offer not only bundled services to remain competitive, but a suite of converged mobile services over multiple networks and devices, Tatara's solution allows Vodafone to immediately offer converged mobile services across WLAN and 3G networks with a single branded Vodafone experience, including secure authentication, subscriber management, and partner management. For the long term, Vodafone Ireland is now positioned with to utilize Tatara's platform for advanced value-based converged service capabilities, including a full range of IMS-related services."