Sigma Systems Appoints Arata Hirao as Regional Director, Asia Pacific

TORONTO--(Marketwire - Jul 17, 2012) - Sigma Systems, the authority in provisioning converged broadband solutions, today announced that Arata Hirao has been appointed Regional Director, Asia-Pacific (APAC) based in Tokyo and focused on the Japanese Service Provider market. Hirao-san brings over 30 years of experience to the role from a variety of technology sectors, including cable, broadband, mobile, software and applications.

"Hirao-san has extensive experience working with major service providers to realize new revenue opportunities by deploying leading-edge internet and communication technologies," said Tim Spencer, Sigma Systems President and COO. "His presence will help us to intensify our focus on enabling our customers to leverage their Sigma OSS solutions, and to expand our relationships with service providers and key partners throughout Japan."

Hirao-san most recently served as general manager and representative director of OpenTV's Japanese operations. Prior to OpenTV, he served as president and representative director at Critical Path Japan, Inc., a hosted service solution provider. He has held management and sales positions in-region with IBM, Openwave Systems Japan Co. Ltd., Invisix Asia Pacific, Inc. and Nortel Networks Japan.

"The importance of an extensible back-office that can automate the delivery of new services is growing. Operators in this region are leading the world in the delivery of new services and must have the ability to introduce, personalize and bundle these services faster than ever before," said Arata Hirao. "I look forward to working with Sigma's customers and partners to ensure a beneficial experience with Sigma Systems and to facilitate our local and global team to meet and surpass our customers' quality expectations."

Hirao-san holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

About Sigma Systems
Sigma Systems is the proven global leader in delivering converged broadband services. Sigma Systems' powerful solutions enable the world's Next-Generation Operators (NGOs) to deliver a rich consumer experience through communications and entertainment services -- over any access technology to any device. The company's award-winning solutions include order management, provisioning and activation, and active mediation of residential and business VoIP, broadband, video, and triple-play and quad-play services. With the support of Sigma's Professional Services, NGOs around the globe -- including Charter, Cox, Rogers, TELUS, Cogeco Cable, YouSee, Tiscali, NET Servicos, Technology Networks, iTSCOM and ZON Multimedia and more -- are leveraging Sigma's solutions for service transformation and rapid, reliable delivery of today's -- and tomorrow's -- new services. For more information about Sigma Systems, visit http://www.sigma-systems.com and follow the company on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sigmasystems.