US TELECOM AND BELLCORE SIGN AGREEMENTS TO PROVIDE ENHANCED CUSTOMER CARE, RATING AND BILLING SYSTEMS TO SERVICE PROVIDERSUS TELECOM'S TELEMAX-U PRODUCT TO BE INTEGRATED WITH BELLCORE'S RATER 'T' TOOLFOR A POWERFUL, FLEXIBLE RATING ENGINE THAT ENABLES SERVICE PROVIDERS TO OFFER ENHANCED SERVICES HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- US Telecom Advanced Technology Systems, Inc. (ATS), a wholly owned subsidiary of US Telecom Holdings, today announced it has executed a Software License and Distribution Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding with Bellcore to provide incumbent and emerging telecom service providers with integrated customer care and billing products and services. Today's agreement allows the Bellcore-developed Rater "T" billing support system, an advanced, event-based, real-time rating and discounting software tool, to be integrated with ATS' Telemax-U(TM) Operation Support System, a comprehensive system designed to automate business operations. Bellcore's Rater "T" tool allows the system to do rating and discounting for a variety of billing-related services such a telephone, Internet, cable TV, and video-on-demand. By integrating Rater "T" with Telemax-U the system is intended to provide the kind of powerful customer care, rating and billing system required by telecom providers, as well as support new service offerings. The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two companies will allow them to jointly market customer care and billing solutions to telecommunications providers worldwide. According to Robert McGuire, President and Chairman of US Telecom Holdings, today's agreement will make it easier for telecommunications service providers to gain or maintain their edge in today's competitive marketplace. "ATS and Bellcore share the belief that the future of competitive differentiation for telecommunications providers will be based on features, flexibility and quality of customer care and billing services that can be offered to their customers," said McGuire. "Our shared vision is to provide the type of services and software solutions that will meet these service providers needs. The combined ATS/Bellcore system will allow our customers, the service providers, to rapidly and easily create, deploy and bill the kinds of advanced services their customers are seeking. This ability to rapidly respond to the needs of the market is the key to success in today's highly competitive environment." "Bellcore and ATS bring together a powerful combination of resources," said Joan LaBanca vice president of Strategic Market Planning for Bellcore. "It is our mutual expectation that significant efficiencies will result from the blending of ATS' core competency in billing and customer care software with Bellcore's depth of experience in developing mission-critical communications software and delivering consulting services that define billing and customer care best practices. With the addition of the ATS software to the in-depth software and services Bellcore presently provides, we now offer a complete end-to-end customer care and billing solution to our customers." ATS is a wholly owned subsidiary of US Telecom Holdings and located in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA. For more information about US Telecom Holdings or ATS, please contact ATS at 803-341-7000. ATS is located at 32 Office Park Drive, Suite 212, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928. Bellcore, headquartered in Morristown, NJ, is a leading provider of communications software, engineering and consulting services based on world- class research. Bellcore creates business solutions that make information work for telecommunications carriers, businesses and governments worldwide. Bellcore has sales offices throughout the U.S., as well as international offices in Europe, Central and South America, and Asia Pacific. On November 21, 1996, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) announced that it has agreed to purchase Bellcore once requisite regulatory approvals have been obtained. More information about Bellcore products and services is available at http://www.bellcore.com or by calling 1-800-521-CORE. CONTACT: Hank Herman, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, US Telecom Advanced Technology Systems, Inc., 803.341.7040, or [email protected] WEB SITE: http://www.bellcore.com