SFR, France’s second cellular telephone operator, is to buy voice mail systems from Comverse. The systems are developed and produced by Comverse’s Israeli subsidiary Efrat. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but "Globes" has learned that it is estimated at $35 million.
SFR is a subsidiary of the French infrastructure and communications conglomerate Generale des Eaux. In addition, British telecommunications companies British Telecom and Vodafone, SBC of the US, and Mannesman of Germany, hold shares in SFR.
Efrat has finished the first stage of installing its systems in SFR’s network, which currently has two million subscribers. The equipment installed provides telephone answering and short text message services. The messages can be read on the telephone screen. During 1998, further installations will be carried out enabling these services to be provided on the entire network.
By means of Efrat systems, subscribers to SFR’s cellular network will be able to receive messages in a voice mail box. At the same time, a message appears on the subscriber’s screen informing him that there is a message in his mail box. The message service enables text containing letters and numbers to appear on the screen of the cellular telephone instrument.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on April 13, 1998