Tecnotree has recently introduced a whole new OSS/BSS
solutions category; the Digital Marketplace Solutions. This category is
specifically addressing both the business and operations needs of agile and
forward looking Communications Service Providers. Timo Laaksonen, vice
president – Sales, Marketing and Solution Management, Tecnotree, shares his
strategies for the emerging telecom markets.
What are the latest trends in OSS market in
emerging nations such as India, Brazil, China, Africa and the Middle East?
Services designed for initial introduction in mature
markets, such as entertainment or downloadable content, are spreading into many
emerging markets in response to customer demand. As a consequence of the
increased number of products and services to be offered, projects for more
flexible OSS/BSS systems have emerged. In certain emerging markets
political risk is contributing to lowering/ loss of revenues and forcing
Service Providers to revisit their Capex and Opex plans. Price erosion in
emerging markets is rapidly accounting to strong.
Subscribers growth but also falling ARPU. Number portability
is gaining popularity and therefore centralized database solutions are being
rolled out.
What are the new demands of telecom service
providers?
As voice and basic messaging services have become more or
less commodity, CSPs have shifted their focus on new convergent services.
Today, CSPs are clearly looking for new revenue streams from 3rd party
products, new business models and processes to cut costs and improve agility,
and solutions to retain and increase the revenue per subscriber.
What are your new challenges and
opportunities in emerging nations such as India, Brazil, China, Africa and the
Middle East?
With deregulation continuing CSPs are allowed to open new
lines of business to their service portfolio. An example of such is Wimax. As
the convergent service mix increases, for example our Bundle solutions become
highly relevant.
Do you expect market revival in 2011-12 for
OSS/BSS?
Transformation towards Digital Marketplaces is really the
driver for the revival.
How are you avoiding bill shocks”?
If bill shocks” refers to unexpectedly high consumer
bills as a result of extensive data usage there are various ways to be
prepared. One such solution is to bundle data to actual service charge making
the total cost transparent and predictable to the consumer.
Our competitive advantage lies strongly in us enabling a
new business paradigm for CSPs. It allows our customers to grow their top line
albeit very competitive market situation. At the same time, they can clearly
step-up their level of customer service and service offering. From the
solutions architecture point of view, our products do confirm to industry
standards and processes and are based on scalable, reliable and cost efficient
technologies.
How complex is billing for data centric
applications?
Telecom operators who have adopted in the past the role
of bit pipe, the move towards Digital Marketplaces provider is a challenge yet
an opportunity. Data centric applications can increase the value per transaction
and the complexity depends on the configuration. For the consumer, the
complexity should be hidden however.
Is convergent billing taking off in emerging
markets?
Again, deregulation and easier license options in many
countries allow today triple (voice, video and data) and quad-play (fixed line
voice, broadband internet, mobile and IP/Cable TV). These changes are creating
demand for convergent billing also in the emerging markets.
By TelecomLead.com Team
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