Nokia Siemens Networks has implemented its data charging system to support
Vodafone India subscribers.
The data charging system will assist Vodafone India to
boost its data subscriber take-up, capture new revenue streams, and reduce
operating costs through simplified operations. Unified charging and billing
will also allow data subscribers to enjoy greater transparency of their usage
and spending patterns with real-time notifications to their handsets.
Vodafone India’s data revenue growth
Recently, the group reported a year-on-year increase in
India data subscriber numbers of 189 percent, totaling 16 million data
subscribers in India till the end of June. This shows a steady growth in mobile
internet uptake in India, propelled by 3G.
Since its India launch in February this year, 3G is
available in 147 towns and cities across 12 circles. Vodafone’s 3G subscriber
numbers have increased from 2 lakh subscribers in March to almost 5 lakh at the
end of June 2011.
Service revenue in India grew by 16.8 percent, driven by
a 29.8 percent increase in Vodafone’s customer base, stabilization of mobile
voice pricing in the market and a 70.4 percent growth in data revenue. The
growth in India was driven by an increase in sales of data-enabled handsets and
the continued impact of successful marketing campaigns. Whilst competition in the
market remains high, the effective rate per minute is stabilizing as a result
of a focus on promotional offers rather than further ongoing price
reductions.
As a whole new generation of subscribers uses mobile
data services more frequently, our aim is to better understand data consumption
patterns and accordingly offer truly customized data tariffs. As our long
standing partner, Nokia Siemens Networks clearly understands our needs. Its
unified charging and billing portfolio will help us launch new, flexible data
tariff plans across multiple consumer touch-points,” said Vishant Vora, chief
technology officer at Vodafone India.
Nokia Siemens Networks will build and operate its data
charging system, integrating prepaid systems and other elements in a
multi-vendor environment. It will also provide its NetAct network management
system to help Vodafone efficiently monitor, manage and optimize its
network.
As a partner for Vodafone’s pan-India deployment, we are
unifying the data charging capabilities for its subscribers across India with
one platform. This will result in a much higher flexibility in creating new
tariffs, in addition to simplified operations, and will lead to savings in
operating costs,” said Sandeep Girotra, head of India region at Nokia Siemens Networks.
