WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 26, 2006 – TeleGeography Research anounces a strategic partnership with RampRate, the authority on Information Technology Outsourcing Services. Together, both companies will leverage an IT services data sharing relationship, providing immediate value to enterprise customers. Only RampRate’s SPY Index™ and TeleGeography’s continuously updated repositories provide clear guidance on the availability and pricing of IT services with in-depth data on how specific deals shape the actual market. “TeleGeography’s studies can model buying scenarios on the way that real market movers from RampRate’s customer base are buying connectivity for low-latency, high-reliability uses and how the total cost for these services is impacted by the negotiation process and contract provisions,” said Jason Kowal, Managing Director, TeleGeography. “Our partnership with RampRate marks a critical milestone in TeleGeography’s services for corporate users.”

Increasingly, enterprise buyers are turning to industry sourcing advisors, such as TeleGeography and RampRate, for the expertise and due diligence they have neither the time nor resources to commit internally. As a result, companies speed the IT services decision making and procurement processes, accelerate time to market and improve quality. “Communications services are no longer defined simply by costs. Service levels, performance guarantees, risk, flexibility, availability, scale and corporate culture all play a part in price and strategic differentiation,” said Tony Greenberg, CEO of RampRate. “Our business is to provide our customers with the right information to ensure they make fast, smart and informed decisions about sourcing IT processes and services. Our partnership with TeleGeography allows us to better identify custom solutions that fit our customers’ needs perfectly, regardless of whether it’s a top-notch data center in Kentucky or TV-quality stream connectivity to Dubai.” As a result, customers will benefit from understanding gaps between list prices or default contracts and actual market costs or custom-built SLAs for top customers, thus improving the bottom line.

U.S. RBOCs have been losing 150,000 subscriber lines per month so far this year. At the same time, Voice over IP (VoIP) service providers are adding about 100,000 subscribers per month. It appears that most of these — about 100,000 per month — are being picked up by new Voice over IP (VoIP) service providers. The balance of local service subscription losses — about 50,000 — are moving to wireless-only plans or canceling their secondary household lines.

TeleGeography predicts that VoIP service providers will capture 22 percent of all local exchange carriers’ existing customers, contributing to a cumulative loss of $18.2 billion in local service revenues between 2006 and 2010. Loss of revenues from access charges and consumer long-distance services will result in several billions of dollars of additional damage to traditional telephone service providers.

About TeleGeography’s U.S. VoIP Research Service

The analysis above is drawn directly from TeleGeography’s new U.S. VoIP Research Service, which brings clarity and a data-driven perspective on the market by surveying the service providers and potential consumers of voice over broadband services in the United States. Subscribers to the service receive:

• Comprehensive report on market size, competition, consumer preferences, and regulations
• Quarterly spreadsheets and analysis on subscribers, revenues, market shares, and forecasts
• Access to our subject matter experts

To learn more about this area of research and download the Executive Summary, please visit our web site:

U.S. VoIP Research Service
http://www.telegeography.com/products/us_voip/

You can also send queries or request a more information by replying to this email or contacting your regional account manager.

Looking for VoIP Research in Other Regions?

Please also ask your account manager about our upcoming coverage of other regions, as well as other new TeleGeography projects, including:

• European VoIP Research Service
• WiMax Tracking Service
• World Broadband Yearbook
• Interactive Submarine Cable Map
• Global Bandwidth Forecast Service
• Enterprise Network Pricing Service

China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC), the state-owned parent of China Mobile and the largest mobile operator in the world by total subscribers, has agreed to a deal to acquire Millicom International Cellular (MIC) for approximately US$4 billion. It is widely expected that the required final regulatory approval from Beijing will be granted. The agreement follows weeks of speculation over MIC’s future and comes only after rival suitor Investcom dropped out of the bidding.

The acquisition of MIC marks CMCC’s first investment outside of Asia and only its second outside mainland China. The first came in the fourth quarter of 2005 when it agreed to buy People’s Telephone, Hong Kong’s third largest cellular operator by subscribers, for approximately US$300 million. Despite soaring demand in its domestic market for mobile services, rumors have circulated for some time that CMCC has ambitions to establish itself on the world stage. The purchase of Luxembourg-based MIC paves the way for entry into 16 developing markets throughout Africa, Central America, South America and South Asia. According to TeleGeography’s Wireless Operator Metrics Research Service, at the end of 2005 MIC claimed 8.9 million total subscribers worldwide, while revenue for the fiscal year stood at US$1.1 billion, up 18 percent from 2004.

CMCC Rankings Unchanged: 1st by Subscribers, 6th by Revenue
Despite the clear signal of intent, CMCC’s move changes little in terms of its relative position on the global scene. The acquisition solidifies its place as the largest mobile operator in the world by total subscribers, with over a quarter of a billion customers at the end of the first quarter of 2006, but leaves it unchanged as the sixth largest in terms of revenue (US$30.8 billion for fiscal year 2005, including MIC). Ahead of CMCC stands Verizon Wireless (US$32.3 billion), Cingular Wireless (US$34.4 billion), T-Mobile International (US$35.5 billion), NTT DoCoMo (US$44.8 billion), and Vodafone Group, the world’s largest mobile company by revenues (US$62.6 billion).

Contrast to Vodafone’s Current Path
While CMCC targets overseas expansion, interestingly the reverse appears to be taking place at Vodafone. After mounting shareholder pressure to formulate a more coherent and strategic approach to its overall business, Vodafone sold Japanese subsidiary Vodafone KK to Softbank earlier this year. Many industry watchers believe the Newbury-based holding company will follow that up by offloading its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon for a rumored US$50 billion. Vodafone’s massive global expansion began in the late 1990s and continued into the early part of the new millennium, driven by ex-CEO Sir Christopher Gent. However, those days appear to be over. Current CEO Arun Sarin is taking the company more in the direction of fixed line broadband services in countries closer to home — namely Germany (via existing subsidiary Arcor) and the U.K. — to complement its own cellular offerings.

About TeleGeography’s Wireless Operator Metrics
The data above, as well as the thousands of other financial and operational data points updated each quarter, are sourced from TeleGeography’s new Wireless Operator Metrics Research Service. For more information, please visit our web site:

Wireless Operator Metrics
http://www.telegeography.com/products/wom/index.php