MORRISVILLE, N.C. -- Tekelec (NASDAQ: TKLC - News), a leading developer of telecommunications products for next-generation fixed, mobile and packet networks, today announced Valley Telecom Group will deploy two EAGLE® 5 Signaling Applications Systems and a suite of traffic management applications to reduce operational costs of its signaling network and generate new revenues.

Valley Telecom Group is a cooperative of four rural independent operating companies (IOCs), including Valley Telephone Cooperative, Copper Valley Telephone, Valley Connections LLC and Valley Telecommunications, delivering telephone, wireless and Internet services in Arizona and New Mexico. With Tekelec's EAGLE SAS platforms, the consortium will gain greater control of its signaling network and expand capacity to offer signaling capabilities to additional IOCs in these states. It will also lower operational costs by reducing the amount spent with other signaling system 7 (SS7) carriers.

Tekelec's traffic management applications will provide Valley Telecom Group with additional revenue assurance and protection and enable it to generate new revenues by offering applications such as "phantom traffic" identification to other carriers. Traffic management applications manage interconnection traffic to provide operators with real-time data. Optimizing access to the network and traffic analysis helps customers efficiently reduce churn and manage subscriber needs.

"We reviewed several signaling systems and found the EAGLE platform was superior in every regard, including advanced technology, service and maintenance," said Chanse Bruns, network manager, Valley Telecom Group. "Tekelec's traffic management applications help us and our customers protect revenues and market new applications like identifying un-billable phantom traffic."

Tekelec Inc.