ORLANDO, Fla.-Software companies Mobile Systems International and Metapath Software Corp. last week announced plans to merge in an effort to help carriers create “customer-adaptive” networks.
“Bringing these two companies together will allow us to provide the wireless operator with an integrated suite of products that … links the planning and management of the network directly to the needs of wireless customers,” said Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, chairman of MSI. “That’s what we mean by `customer-adaptive,’ and that’s what our customers are telling us is the key to success in today’s intensely competitive wireless business.”
Headquartered in London, MSI specializes in network planning and management application software for wireless carriers. Metapath, based in Bellevue, Wash., focuses on real-time customer management products.
Tom Butler, chief executive officer of MSI and CEO-designate of the new company, said the companies’ products fit together well. Linking Metapath’s Ceer customer management database with MSI’s Planet network planning application, for example, would “allow wireless operators to design network buildout and optimization around the behavior and experience of particular sets of customers,” he said. “We believe this sort of tight coupling between customer and network is the wave of the future in this business.”
Andrew Sukawaty, CEO of Sprint PCS, a customer of MSI and Metapath, said, “Adapting network planning to very current customer data would enable us to evolve a customer driven network, which would be a major component to a customer-centric focus.”
The combined company also will have a bolstered global presence, combining the strengths of MSI’s customer base and sales and service organizations internationally with Metapath’s strengths in the United States.
The new company will be named Metapath Software International and will market its products and services under the existing MSI logo, said the companies.
