The mobile broadband industry is in an interesting growth phase from earlier
voice-driven consumption trends as smart devices such as 3G-enabled handsets
and tablets cause a huge explosion in data traffic. This is leading to extra
pressure for next-generation service providers who are forced to stretch their
network capacity to accommodate the rising data appetite of smartphone users.
Clearly, there’s a huge revenue opportunity; according to a Gartner forecast,
worldwide mobile app store revenues will triple from $5.2 billion in 2010 to
$15 billion in 2011, and keep growing to a remarkable $58 billion by 2014.
While device manufacturers and App players like Apple, Android Market, RIM,
Nokia, etc. corner a major share of this market, the operator is left out of
the entire value chain, being forced to become little more than a transport
mechanism for OTT players.
If they continue to offer mobile broadband services as an all-you-can-eat
model, it will simply erode operator revenues while leading to exponential
increase in data consumption. Basically, traditional mobile broadband solutions
suffer from a silo-ed thinking where each critical component is independent of
the other, being possibly managed by different vendors. This poses a stiff
challenge for operators when they want to speedily roll out new plans and
services based on which” subscriber is doing what” and how”.
To succeed in the emerging marketplace, mobile operators must transform their
service offers, partnerships, operational models and organizational structures
to position themselves to capitalize on key areas where they can create
sustainable value. As the move to 4G gives rise to ever more open mobile
ecosystems, it heralds the onset of a plethora of business models.
Some of the new Business Models that have emerged in recent years are:
* Two-sided revenue model
* Partnership with OTT Providers
* Partnership with smartphone manufacturers
*Machine to Machine
Traditional business and operational support systems must evolve to enable a
dramatic increase in service speed and an end-to end view of user experience
over 4G. This requires considerable upgrades from the siloed infrastructure.
Integrated BSS & Subscriber Management to address Next-generation
IP-based Services
A pre-integrated platform addresses the challenge of visibility at subscriber
end by unifying different components of the mobile broadband system:
1) Subscriber management,
2) Billing,
3) Charging and
4) PCRF.
The system gives a converged view of the subscriber in
terms of billing plans, policy, session and balance (refer attached figure),
therefore, enabling the operator to roll out use cases like upselling turbo
boost, ARPU-based targeted promotions and shared family wallets.
Basically, what a pre-integrated platform does, as shown above, is to offer a
converged View of the Subscriber —Bill, Policy, Session, Balance, thus,
offering a synergy between Subscriber Management Platform & BSS (Network
& IT Convergence). An Integrated Platform that includes convergent billing,
mediation, charging, voucher management, PCRF and subscriber management
solutions onto a single close-knit platform.
Such integrated platforms will offer much needed respite to operators wanting
to roll out Next generation services. It allows operators to more quickly
and easily roll out new use cases while also enable them to derive better value
from their new network infrastructures whether those are 3G or 4G by reducing
the IT complexity associated with creating and deploying new services. A
single-platform approach mitigates the risk and time associated with
integrating multiple solutions, and helps reduce opex by reducing license,
support and maintenance costs which is crucial need of operators.
Key benefits of an integrated platform
Faster roll out of innovative &
differentiated services as a result of centralized database & Centralized
Product management enabling one-time configuration of plans rules &
policies for Billing, PCRF and Charging, thus enabling service providers to
create, launch & provision all offerings with reduced efforts and time to
market. Moreover, it extends much needed support for new business models and
capabilities to enable desired personalization for smart phone subscribers for
extracting utmost value from devices like PDAs & iPads
Enables ease in integration with new
partners in the ecosystem and develop flexible business models and charging
plans as a result of end to end compliance and support
Enables in desired accuracy and capability
in applying the knowledge of real-time network information pertaining
subscriber content usage, device, location etc into profitable business action
Advice of Charge – With pre-integrated Service Selection
Portal (SSP), PCRF & Charging systems, subscribers get to know applicable
pricing & product benefits in real-time while opting for suitable schemes
& promotions from the SSP; there is no separate integration effort needed
for Advice of Charge feature
Cohesive business intelligence reports for Billing, AAA,
Charging unlocks precious network and subscriber behavior information and
produces a bigger picture for aligning service strategy
Conclusion
Elitecore’s Integrated BSS and Subscriber Management platform is geared towards
giving telecom service providers an end-to-end picture of their business. By
bringing together all key aspects of service delivery such as Authentication,
Billing, CRM, Policy, SSP, Rating and Charging and Analytics, such a platform
offers service providers a deeper understanding of the network resources along
with customer behavior and expectations.
By taking converged business intelligence to the next level, the Elitecore
platform allows service providers to grow more customers centric over the
rapidly emerging next-generation networks. Through a single one-stop vendor,
the pre-integrated platform drastically reduces cost and time (up to 50-60%) at
all stages of the operator monetization cycle from vendor evaluation, proof of
concept to new service product launches.
By Vaibhav Mehta, vice president, Elitecore
[email protected]
