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CPqD Transports Brazilian Know-How to U.S. Market
By Paula Bernier
XCHANGE Magazine
A company called CPqD that got its start as Brazil’s answer to Bellcore
is now in the U.S. hawking its tools, training and consulting related to
operations and business support systems.
Like Bellcore, the former research arm of the monopoly-era Bell companies
in the U.S., the operation now known as CPqD was cut loose from its parent
after the market for telecom was opened to competition. As a result of its
spin off during Brazil’s telecom privatization in June of 1998, CPqD began
to look for business opportunities beyond the 27 state-based Brazilian
telcos it served under the old regime. So CPqD in 2000 entered the U.S.
market, which COO Torsten Ralf Bojlesen notes is 40 percent of the worldwide
market.
Despite the gloomy state of affairs in U.S. telecom, it made perfect
sense for CPqD USA to enter the market when it did, Bojlesen says, because
OSS can help lower operating costs, which is an imperative for service
providers in this environment. “Our big differentiator is the focus we
bring to our customers,” he adds. “We expect to grow slowly here with a
high customer satisfaction rate.”
The company, which this fall completed the formation of its North
American sales team, is now looking for integration partners in the U.S., is
targeting service providers of all sizes. Over the past three years, CPqD
has sold four billing systems to U.S. carriers. RuralTel of Lenora, Kansas,
and Nex-Tech of Hays, Kansas, are using CPqD’s customer care and billing
solutions to deliver bundled services. “RuralTel needs an EBPP, so we
developed that on the fly because we had the resources,” says Bojlesen,
adding that J.D. Edwards introduced CPqD to RuralTel.
Jeff Lundberg, Eastern region sales manager, says CPqD’s goal is to
have its four customers as reference accounts and be ready for new
opportunities in the U.S. when the market turns around.
Bojlesen emphasizes the depth of CPqD’s technical know-how relating to
OSS/BSS.
Lundberg adds that in 2002 CPqD invested $50 million in research and
development and that 20 percent of that was focused specifically on U.S.
efforts. “We have amazing technology, amazing R&D and amazing
stability in Brazil,” says Lundberg, while Bojlesen fishes what looks like
a calling card out of his pocket.
Inside the card are inductive coils that burn based on usage, Bojlesen
explains. These cards, developed by CPqD for use outside the U.S., could be
used at amusement parks, cybercafes or anywhere, he says, and it’s 20
percent less expensive than using a card with a magnetic strip. Bojlesen
says he only mentions this card because it’s indicative of the kind of
innovation CPqD is positioned to deliver.
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