Oracle buys eServGlobal's mobile billing system

Oracle has announced plans to acquire the Universal Service Platform from eServGlobal, an Australian provider of transaction management software for mobile communications firms.

The software giant will pay up to US$93.75 million ($113.4 million) for the business unit and its products.

The move could be a response to SAP's decision to buy mobile commerce software company Sybase earlier this month.

The Universal Service Platform comprises a pre-paid charging application, network-services platform and messaging gateway, and is already in use at more than 25 tier-one customers.

Oracle will look to combine these with its own communications applications, such as Communications Billing and Revenue Management, to offer what it claims will be a flexible and easy to deploy system with a lower cost of ownership.

"The majority of mobile phone users worldwide use pre-paid plans, and that number is growing," said Liam Maxwell, vice president of products at Oracle Communications.

"Oracle communications applications combined with the pre-paid software assets from eServGlobal will provide highly available and scalable carrier-grade, pre-paid software on an open, convergent platform."

Maxwell claimed that customers will be able to deliver traditional pre-paid voice services and easily introduce hybrid pre-paid and post-paid plans with targeted pricing, promotions and service bundles that include voice, data and network services.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year.