In 1996, Eric Pillevesse was pondering the solutions to an interesting problem: how do you price Internet services? In the old days of telephony, monopoly companies charged on a minute-of-use (MOU) basis. But with the preponderance of internet service providers, content providers, intellectual properties holders, advertisers, portals, and search engines, how would you price a transaction or service? How to allocate the revenues across the value chain? How to simulate different pricing models to reduce the risk of offering an unprofitable service?
By 1999, Eric and his team at the R&D labs of France Telecom completed the development of a beautiful solution: a pricing and rating technology which enabled service providers to create and implement successful pricing strategies. To commercialize the technology, HighDeal was spun out from France Telecom. Dr. Ossama Hassanein joined the Company as chairman of the Board and led two successive rounds of financing in 2000 and 2001, raising a total of $25M.
It was tough at the beginning. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) market collapsed shortly after the Company was launched. The market appeared poised for a long slump; it was time to diversify. Upon reflection, it became evident that the technology was perfectly suited to appeal to diverse customers competing in dynamic environments requiring real-time rating and transaction management. These customers’ need would grow with the increasing complexity of online business transactions between unrelated parties (customers, intermediaries, banks, suppliers).
HighDeal proved its versatility by developing software with implementations targeting a wide range of high-growth markets. These markets included mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), broadband wireless service providers (WiMAX), on-demand service providers, and triple play service providers. The Company also delivered unique solutions to less obvious target segments including travel and transportation, parking meter operators, telematics and logistics. While more than half of the contracts signed in 2006 were for broadband and on-demand providers, HighDeal continued to build momentum in the wireless sector. New deals were signed with innovative service providers around the world supporting leading edge services such as quad-play and MVNO.
HighDeal is recognized for its product excellence. In 2006, the Yankee Group named HighDeal the fastest growing billing and rating vendor with a growth rate exceeding 2000% over the last five years. In 2006, the Company counted 33 new customer wins across Europe, the Americas, North Africa and the Middle East. HighDeal now has 170 deployments in more than 50 countries. Customers include AOL, Ericsson, and France Telecom. Strategic partners and OEMs include Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia and SAP. Over 30 million broadband, mobile and on demand service subscribers around the world are charged through HighDeal.
