World's first Roaming Broker announces opening Key2roam® partner after successful completion of tests

Comfone launches Key2roam® at 3GSM World Congress and names Atheer Telecom Iraq as the first strategic partner to be connected to the broker platform, helping to reconnect Iraq with the international community

Cannes, France – 24 February 2004 - Comfone has completed the final tests of its roaming broker concept - Key2roam® - and has secured its first strategic partner network. The innovative solution, where Comfone plays the role of broker, allows an operator to have access to all roaming partners already commercially roaming via Key2roam® once a single roaming agreement with Comfone has been concluded. This is a major step towards the goal of a plug and roam solution.

Having secured Atheer Telecom Iraq as its first strategic Key2roam® partner, Comfone's solution brings the Iraqi coalition government's aim to internationally reintegrate Iraq through rapid worldwide roaming closer to reality. Atheer Telecom was one of the three operators awarded a GSM license to provide Iraq with mobile telecommunications in October 2003. With Key2roam®, mobile operators across the globe can now easily set up roaming within Iraq in a very short lead time.

Oscar Derrer, Comfone CEO, commented that "Key2roam® is set to revolutionise international roaming as we know it today. The strength of Comfone's concept is its simplicity, ensuring mobile operators fast and efficient connection to operators worldwide, all through one single contract and without any change to existing signalling and clearing standards and practices."

The final testing of the Key2roam® concept was successfully executed with Comfone's 3 partners - Orange (Liechtenstein) AG, Monaco Telecom and IMC Island, together with EDS, the clearing solutions partner of Comfone.