LONDON -- Cramer today announced the successful operational deployment of its software enterprise-wide at Dutch carrier KPN. The “go-live” marks a major milestone in one of the telecoms industry’s most ambitious next generation network transformation programs.

KPN’s next generation network transformation, likened to BT’s 21st Century Network initiative, aims to cut annual operating costs by some €850m ($1bn) by 2010. The use of Cramer significantly contributes to the overall savings.

Han Wijns, General Manager of Operator Transmission Services, who is responsible for some IT elements of KPN’s transformation program, said: “Cramer is the central application of our Network Inventory Manager (NIM) program that underpins a complete organisational transformation. Going live operations wide is a reflection of our original evaluation: Cramer’s unique technology is instrumental in enabling us to deliver significant value to the business.”

The completion of this phase will see KPN switch off the two major legacy systems used to manage its national transmission network, and move instead to a single, enterprise-wide Cramer system.

One of the systems being retired has been operational since the mid-1970s, and the move to Cramer has involved a massive data migration. Information on over 40,000 locations, nearly 3 million devices, 4 million cables, and half-a-million circuits has been loaded into the Cramer system.

Throughout the deployment, Cramer worked closely with KPN’s internal systems integration group. Wim Helgers, Program Director Network Information Management program, who led the implementation for KPN, commented: “The quality and professionalism of the support from the Cramer team has been superb. It mirrors the capabilities of the Cramer product set.”

Cramer Systems Ltd.

KPN Telecom NV