Amdocs Scores Big in Russia

Billing giant Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX) has won a billing system contract reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian telecom player Svyazinvest.

The vendor's marketing chief, Michael Matthews, confirmed that "Amdocs has won the tender offer to provide the subsidiary companies of the SvyazInvest joint-stock company a unified billing system," but added that Amdocs is in "no position to divulge any details about the scope of this project, size of the deal, or its schedule."

Svyazinvest, the holding company for national long-distance carrier Rostelecom (NYSE: ROS) as well as a number of regional network operators, did not respond to questions regarding the deal. However, it has published a report on its Website that cites the carrier valuing the deal at hundreds of millions of dollars, compared with the $500 million reported in a Russian newspaper. It also names IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) as Amdocs' partner in the deal.

Amdocs is believed to have beaten its main rivals, CSG Systems International Inc. (Nasdaq: CSGS) and Convergys Corp. (NYSE: CVG), to the three-year deal.

Amdocs also announced today the extension of an standing deal with Russian mobile operator JSC Vimpel-Communications (VimpelCom) (NYSE: VIP) (see Vimpelcom Extends With Amdocs).

The company recently posted encouraging first-quarter financials; and its share price, at $26.25, is currently trading near the top end of its 12-month range of $29.74 to $12.59.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Editor, Boardwatch