Microcell Telecommunications Prepares for Future Growth with Ascential's Information Asset Management Solution

— Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Company Improves Customer Acquisition and Retention with Ascential DataStage XE —

WESTBORO, Mass. — October 17, 2001 — Ascential™ Software Corporation (NASDAQ: ASCL), the leading provider of Information Asset Management (IAM) solutions, today announced that Microcell Telecommunications (NASDAQ: MICT; TSE: MTI.B), a leading Canadian wireless operator, is using DataStage™ XE, Ascential's industry-leading data integration solution, to increase Microcell's understanding of its customers' needs. Using DataStage XE to populate its terabyte data warehouse with daily customer data and wireless call records, Microcell has more than tripled the bandwidth of its nightly update process. DataStage XE is also stabilizing the company's data warehouse production environment and ensuring the firm's ability to use up-to-date business information to sustain last year's 58 percent growth of its customer base.

Previously, Microcell used hand-coded programs to load customer data and call detail reporting files (CDR) into an Oracle enterprise warehouse on a Sun Solaris server. As Microcell grew in 2000 the data volume in each nightly update soared from two to eight million records and the warehouse grew to nearly one terabyte. By replacing manually written code with DataStage jobs, and using DataStage to populate a new subject area in the data warehouse, Microcell is now processing up to eight million rows of data into the warehouse in a third of the time previously required.

"DataStage is improving Microcell's competitiveness by allowing us to quickly and reliably make available massive amounts of data regarding our customers' calling preferences and needs," said Pierre Bonin, Microcell's vice-president and chief information officer. "Using the Ascential solution, we're able to more rapidly and cost-effectively develop strategies to retain and acquire customers using accurate, timely information."

Strategic Information Asset Management
DataStage is extracting a full range of file types from the firm's Oracle and Sybase databases, including files containing records for all calls made over the Microcell wireless network as well as customer account, subscriber profile and call center usage data. Upwards of 50 users from Microcell's marketing, finance and fraud groups then use Seagate business intelligence tools to query the warehouse and generate reports that are designed to help Microcell improve customer acquisition and retention, reduce churn and increase the average revenue per user. Network engineers also use the warehouse to quickly view data regarding network usage patterns and guide network design.

DataStage also provides higher stability and bandwidth for Microcell's production environment. By allowing the firm's IT team to start the warehouse update later at night and finish it sooner, Microcell is improving its record of on-time warehouse delivery and is able to add new capacity in the overnight update window. Likewise Microcell has been able to reduce costs and increase data accuracy by using less expensive contractors and redirecting efforts toward adding stability features such as error checking, faulty record handling and failure condition recovery. Collectively, these enhancements strengthen Microcell's capacity to add new customers and meet data loads expected to increase significantly without requiring new processing power.

"DataStage maximizes our ability to use data as a strategic asset to advance our business objectives," concluded Bonin. "The more we use it the better it gets, and the more it helps our company."

About Microcell Telecommunications
Microcell Telecommunications Inc. is a leading Canadian provider of wireless communications services. A public company since October 15, 1997, Microcell is headquartered in Montreal and employs more than 2,300 people across Canada. Microcell Telecommunications has several operating subsidiaries, including Microcell Connexions, Microcell Solutions Inc., Microcell Labs Inc., Microcell Capital II Inc., Inukshuk Internet Inc. and Microcell i5 Inc

About Ascential Software
Ascential Software Corporation is the leading provider of Information Asset Management solutions to the Global 2000. Customers use Ascential products to turn vast amounts of disparate, unrefined data into reusable information assets that drive business success. Ascential's unique framework for Information Asset Management enables customers to easily collect, validate, organize, administer and deliver information assets to realize more value from their enterprise data, reduce costs and increase profitability. Headquartered in Westboro, MA, Ascential has offices worldwide and supports more than 1,800 customers in such industries as telecommunications, insurance, financial services, healthcare, media/entertainment and retail. More information on Ascential Software can be found on the Web at www.ascentialsoftware.com.