IDEA Cellular Selects Oracle’s Siebel CRM

Ø IDEA’s strategic outsourcing partner, IBM, to implement Siebel CRM across all channel & customer facing departments in 11 existing and two new circles of operations

Ø Adoption of the scalable Siebel CRM, a part of the IT adoption initiative by the company to address the fast expanding customer base of the company

Ø To enable delivery of a unique service experience to pre- and post-paid customers

NEW DELHI, India, February 5, 2008: Oracle announced today that IDEA Cellular Limited, a leading cellular operator in India and a part of the US$ 24 billion Aditya Birla Group has selected and will implement Siebel CRM applications to deliver a unique customer service experience to pre- and post-paid mobile subscribers across its entire operations in India. IDEA’s strategic outsourcing partner, IBM, will undertake the implementation, which on completion is expected to address challenges arising from IDEA’s extensive channel and dealer network and meet its fast-expanding customer base.

IDEA is focusing on enhancing the customer experience and service delivery, and plans to rapidly increase its customer base over the next three years from its existing 22 million subscribers. The company currently provides mobile services in 11 circles with plans to expand into two new circles – Mumbai and Bihar. With the help of its IT infrastructure outsource partner, IBM, IDEA decided to adopt an enterprise-wide CRM system spanning all lines of business in India. This implementation is a proof point of convergence – this is the first time where a communications company in India [g1] will uses a single CRM solution to provide customer service to both its pre- and post-paid customers.

IDEA chose Siebel CRM from amongst a host of other competing applications offerings for several reasons including the extensive out-of-the-box communications-specific functionalities coupled with superior architecture, flexibility and scalability provided by Oracle.

“IDEA has been on the forefront of adapting cutting edge technology to exceed customer service expectations. In doing so we have adopted a collaborative approach to partner with the best-in-class application technologies available to streamline and enhance our business processes. I am confident that all IDEA customers will benefit significantly from our selection of Oracle’s Siebel CRM, which will undoubtedly be another first in the Indian communications industry,” said Prakash Paranjape, chief information officer, IDEA.

“IDEA’s selection of Oracle is yet another proof point of our CRM market leadership in the communications industry in India, and around the world. With Siebel CRM, IDEA will have the ability to provide a single customer experience, rapidly introduce new products and efficiently manage sales campaigns. Oracle is pleased to be working with IDEA and IBM to fully enable IDEA to capitalise on the high-growth India mobile market,” said Ash Khalek, vice president, Communications, Media and Utilities business, Oracle Asia Pacific.

“IBM’s global leadership in telecom solutions has led to innovative partnerships with leading telecom service providers in competitive markets helping them develop comprehensive solutions to drive new revenues while maintaining focus on operational efficiencies. It gives me immense pleasure that today’s announcement allows us to further strengthen our existing partnership with Idea Cellular to capitalize on a proven alliance and time-tested solutions,” said Amit Sachdeva, Partner – Communications Sector, IBM India/ South Asia .

IDEA will implement several Communications applications modules from Oracle’s Siebel CRM including Siebel Loyalty, Siebel Marketing, Siebel Service and Siebel Partner management. The applications will enable the seamless integration of the mission-critical business and customer interface of the company with the growing third party dealer systems. By providing a real-time single, accurate view of the customer and sharing customer data across all channels and customer facing departments (Sales, Service, Call Center, Marketing etc), the solution will provide a 360-degree, single and a unified access across multiple interfaces. This will enable the company to aggressively acquire and retain customers across the various circles of operations.

About IDEA Cellular

As a leading GSM Mobile Services operator in India, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in 13 circles. With a customer base of over 22 million, IDEA Cellular has operations in Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, HP, and Kerala. IDEA Cellular’s footprint currently covers an estimated 60% of India’s telecommunications-market. IDEA also has licenses to operate in these service areas of Mumbai and Bihar.

Customer Service and Innovation are the drivers of this Brand. IDEA is the only operator in the world to launch Pay Easy that is a bill payment system through the effective use of the pre-paid channel. With GPRS currently available on all its’ networks, for both pre and post paid customers, IDEA Cellular was the first company to commercially launch next generation EDGE technology for its Delhi circle.

The latest feather in the IDEA cap is the GSM Association Award for the second year in a row, making it the first cellular operator in India to win such recognition on an international platform.

More about IDEA Cellular Limited at www.ideacellular.com

About Oracle Communications
Oracle is #1 in Communications globally with 20 of the world’s top 20 communications companies running Oracle applications. Oracle Communications integrates industry-specific BSS and OSS solutions with the capabilities of Oracle’s industry-leading enterprise applications, business intelligence tools, and carrier-grade middleware and database technologies. Oracle Communications enables service providers to deliver next generation convergent services rapidly, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, and reduce costs in the business and the network. For more information, visit http://www.oracle.com/industries/communications

About Oracle India

Oracle entered India in 1987 and set up an India Development Centre in 1994. Today, Oracle has two India Development Centres as well as Indian hubs for Oracle’s global support, consulting and financial services operations. Through its extensive network of more than 400 channel and alliance partners under the Oracle PartnerNetwork, Oracle India markets the complete range of Oracle products and services across India. Oracle India has more than 6,700 customers in the communications, banking, insurance, manufacturing and utilities industries, across the government and private sector. Oracle India is a major partner for E-Governance initiatives of Central and State Government bodies in India. Oracle-HP E-Governance Centre of Excellence, Oracle Asia R & D Centre and Oracle Partner Solution Centre are located at Oracle India’s head office in Gurgaon, near New Delhi. Oracle’s Retail Centre of Excellence is located in Bangalore.

About Oracle Corporation

Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world’s largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com/.

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