CONTACT INFORMATION

MDSI
www.mdsi-advantex.com

RICHMOND, B.C. and DUBLIN, IRELAND, January 10, 2001 - BUSINESS WIRE - MDSI Mobile Data Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq:MDSI)(TSE:MMD.) and eircom Plc the largest communications provider in Ireland, have agreed on a US$10 million contract for the installation of MDSI's market-leading Advantex™ r7 wireless workforce management solution.

Advantex will support approximately 2,000 mobile workers who install voice, data, and multimedia services for eircom's customers. The contract comprises software, implementation services, and a maintenance and support agreement.

"Telecommunications companies are fighting a new, highly competitive battle for customers, so they need software like Advantex that can provide substantial, measurable improvements in customer service. Without a doubt, Advantex r7 is the most modern, flexible and scalable wireless workforce management solution available. It lets companies quickly and easily deliver brand new service offerings, adapt to changes in the competitive environment or in business practices, and grow without limit," stated Rob Cruickshank, President and COO of MDSI®. "Global deregulation of the telecommunications market will continue to Increase competition for the foreseeable future. Ultimately, companies like eircom that take advantage of cutting-edge technology like Advantex r7 will be the winners at the end of the day."

Michael Tracey, Director of Service operations in eircom, said, "We are always looking for ways to make our customers happier, and Advantex will help us do just that. It will help us more efficiently fulfill customer demand for the latest services by providing customers with specific appointment times and managing our workforce to ensure that we meet each commitment without fail. Greater customer satisfaction and more efficient operations will help us minimize customer churn, and shorten our time to revenue through quicker service activation and service repair. We performed a very careful review of available solutions and visited a number of Advantex installations before making this decision. It is clear that MDSI's proven technology and ability to Deliver is unmatched in the industry."

Advantex r7 will help eircom achieve higher standards of service assurance by optimally delivering the latest in voice, data, and multimedia services to its growing subscriber base throughout Ireland. The solution will schedule customer appointments in real-time, and use wireless communications over a GSM network to efficiently and effectively manage the day-to-day operations of approximately 2,000 eircom mobile workers who provision services for eircom's customers. Advantex r7 will be integrated with eircom's customer care and billing system and, as eircom grows, will easily scale to Support new subscribers and new types of services.

The eircom contract is among the largest in MDSI's corporate history. More than 100 telecommunications, broadband, utility, and other service companies worldwide rely on Advantex to manage and direct the effort of their mobile workforces.

"This contract award further reinforces our leadership position and ability to Deliver abroad and at home," Cruickshank stated. eircom joins an impressive roster of international telcos that have contracted for the Advantex solution, including Belgacom (Belgium), Telenor (Norway), TeleDanmark (Denmark), and Cable&Wireless Optus (Australia). Combined with wins in the international utility markets, including British Gas, Yorkshire Water, Nesa, Nuon, and Manila Electric Company (Meralco), MDSI is establishing its dominance in wireless workforce management overseas, as it has done in North America.

The eircom solution will be supported by MDSI's European operations. MDSI has offices in Cambridge, U.K.; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Copenhagen, Denmark.

About Advantex r7
Part of a service company's suite of operation support systems for end-to-end service management, Advantex r7 is a next-generation wireless workforce management system that lets service providers meet the requirements of their most demanding customers. By optimally managing service appointments and the workers that execute them, Advantex r7 helps companies initiate and maintain service so that their customers stay in the revenue stream. Advantex r7 is based upon open, industry standard technologies such as CORBA, Java, XML, and WAP instead of the proprietary technologies of most legacy systems. This improves Advantex's operational flexibility by enabling it to seamlessly integrate with other systems and to easily scale with a service company's growth to meet and manage ongoing customer demand for new services. Advantex r7 is implemented on-site as an enterprise application, and as a service delivered over the Internet from either MDSI's state-of-the-art hosting center, or from other Application Service Provider (ASP) partners' sites.

About eircom
Established in January 1984, eircom Plc, (NYSE: EIR; ISE, LSE: EIR.I) Ireland's largest communications company, is the principal provider of fixed line and mobile telecommunications services in Ireland, offering a wide range of advanced voice, data and multimedia services. The company's consolidated turnover, also known as revenue, was 1,955 million Euros for the financial year ended 1 April 2000. The company was floated on the Irish, London and New York stock exchanges on 8 July 1999 and changed its corporate identity from Telecom Eireann to eircom on 6 September 1999. Eircom's principal business is the supply of domestic and international fixed line voice and data communications services.

About MDSI
By uniting the power of wireless communications, advanced service management applications and the Internet, MDSI Mobile Data Solutions Inc. is revolutionizing how companies sell and deliver services and how people purchase them. MDSI enables companies of any size in any service market to manage mobile and on site service workers to Deliver better and more efficient services, and empowers those workers via reliable, wireless links to enterprise or Internet applications. MDSI enables consumers and businesses alike to schedule, confirm and track service appointments online without any human intervention, providing the ultimate in convenience and efficiency. MDSI accomplishes this through a suite of wireless connectivity, service management, and other mobile solutions that can be delivered over the Internet or through traditional on-site implementations. Founded in 1993, MDSI is the most experienced and trusted wireless applications company operating today. MDSI has over 100 major, blue chip customers worldwide with operations and support offices throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. More information is available at www.mdsi-advantex.com and www.eservice.com.

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in our industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. MDSI disclaims and intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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