On industry, the market and competition
The market is one where convergence between fixed and mobile networks is taking place (FMC), but also between these and internet service providers, and media companies. This will place exponential demands on interoperability, interconnection, and especially inter-operator billing services.
An important aspect of FMC is providing converged billing for bundled services, or in other words producing a single set of billing data by integrating existing mobile and fixed billing, rating and analytical applications as necessary. This is a tall order in fast moving competitive markets where survival increasingly depends on quick reactions to demand for innovative next-generation products and services.
Replacing and upgrading legacy platforms and architectures is a radical and costly move for operators, so the shorter-term objective should be to provide operators the in-house flexibility and control they need to manage their own data more effectively. From a service perspective, over time, this would also imply a progressive substitution of the more traditional outsourced data processing services with more secure, reliable and cost-effective on-line Web-based tools and applications for data transformation and management.
New standards-based applications based on the SOA architectures can be quickly created, combined and reused in innovative ways so that operators can meet market demands for billable new services at a fraction of current costs. SOA can help businesses respond more quickly and cost-effectively to changing market conditions.
Target customers in the first phase would be tier-two and tier-three mobile network operators who have not or do not intend to invest in convergent billing platforms, or do not necessarily have the know-how to implement advanced software solutions in the areas of billing and rating.
However, this technology is potentially attractive to other telecoms operators in a converging marketplace (fixed-line network operators, mobile virtual network operators, ISPs, telecom service providers, content providers) and possibly even other industries (financial, utilities, media, transportation…) in the future.
Strong pressure on roaming IT budgets continues in line with the overall desire to cap IT capital spending (measured as a percentage of revenue) and to reduce IT operating costs. Operators are continuing their strong focus on cost reduction which is bound to drive further supplier-side consolidation in the coming years, and possibly slowing market growth.
In addition to reducing costs in many areas, businesses must harness information to create competitive advantage, and it is not possible to do that without the right technology and processes. In the future, the real-time enterprise will make far better use of information to improve response times and integrate business processes, conferring a distinct advantage over legacy, outdated information processing environments.
An example in the roaming world is the ability to clear traffic data between mobile operators within hours and not days, offering the prospect of daily or even hourly financial settlement between roaming partners. Maybe have we yet to realize that real-time roaming data processing will become essential to the continued growth and profitability of our industry?