(TECH) Amdocs, AT&T Launch Israel Center

"In a joint initiative, Amdocs and US telecommunications giant AT&T are setting up the Amdocs Innovations Center, which will enable Israeli companies to develop products and solutions with Amdocs for AT&T.

Upon announcing the new initiative in Israel on Sunday, Amdocs president and CEO Dov Baharav said it was 'a historic day.'

As part of AT&T's "Rethink the Possible" program, the company has set up centers in the US and in Israel, with strategic partners Ericsson AB, Alcatel Lucent SA and Amdocs.

Amdocs and AT&T called on Israeli start-ups to approach them. 'We've seen that there are smart people even outside of Amdocs,' said Baharav. 'That's why we developed this program to work with start-ups, and to enable them to grow through joint projects or investment.'

Without disclosing the amount they intend to invest or how many employees they will hire, Baharav and AT&T CTO John Donovan, both of whom came to Israel, said that activity has already begun, and that full operations are slated to begin before the end of the year, according to reports in Globes, Israel's financial daily.

Amdocs develops billing and customer management relations solutions for telecommunications providers. The innovations center aims to foster collaboration with telephone, mobile phone and smartphone manufacturers, applications developers, and network equipment makers to expedite the development of next-generation broadband applications for wireline and mobile devices." (source)