BANGALORE: European telecom major, Vodafone Information Systems has forged a strategic outsourcing agreement with telecom solutions provider Opus Advance Business Solutions (Opus ABS) for strengthening its billing services.

Announcing the details of the alliance to reporters, Opus' founder director Sunil Jalihal said that Opus would build, operate and run customized solutions around Vodafone's existing in-house billing product BILLIT.

"We will work on enhancing BILLIT, set up a data center and market the product to more customers in Europe along with Vodafone," said Jalihal. He added that both companies would work on a revenue sharing model and expects Opus to earn around $ three million with this deal. Opus is looking at doubling its revenues to $ six million this year.

This is the first time that Vodafone has tied up with an Indian company to outsource its services. The telecom major aims to market the enhanced BILLIT to customers in countries like UK, USA, France and Germany.

With the deal, Opus plans to expand its Bangalore employee headcount from 20 to 100 by the end of 2005 and move to a new facility in Bangalore. The company, which is headquartered in the UK, currently handles projects for ISPs, financial services, telcos and utilities.

"Opus is positioned as a BPO and solutions provider focused on providing billing solutions for telecom companies and this deal will help us to scale up our operations in Europe," said Jalihal.

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