Are CSPs at the heart of the digital economy? · PDF fileAlcatel-Lucent and Cap Gemini. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Ericsson acquires Telcocell to broaden BSS ...

Are CSPs at the heartof the digital economy?How CSPs can make money from BSS – not just collect it

REVENUE & FRAUDNew models raise thestakes for CSPsVanillaPlus Insightout October 2013

CEM CUSTOMER CAREDifferentiate forcompetitive advantageVanillaPlus Insightout December 2013

4GHow to spread theinvestment burdenVanillaPlus Insightout February 2014

BIG DATA ANALYTICSDoes big data mean bigmoney? Read ourVanillaPlus Insightat www.vanillaplus.com

POLICYHow to safeguardprofits. Read ourVanillaPlus Insightat www.vanillaplus.com

PLUS: Sigma Systems buys Tribold for enterprise product management • Ericsson acquires Telcocell • KPN Googles Syniverse for Android payments• AsiaInfo-Linkage launches Veris C3 Big Data Engine • Amdocs scores Vodafone Group five-year managed services deal • Comverse hires Alcatel-Lucent'smanaged services chief • Tecnotree survey scopes customer loyalty opportunities • Read the latest news online at www.vanillaplus.com

August / September 2013Volume 15 Issue 4

We’re CSG, and we excel at delivering revenue and customer management solutions to progressive CSP clients around the globe. Clients just like you. Our unparalleled set of business support solutions and services can help you launch new services, strengthen customer relationships, optimise revenue and stay competitive in today’s transforming environments. Simply put, our solutions and services can help you accelerate business anywhere.

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4 EDITOR’S COMMENTThe CSP market shake-out continues but will it kill the dream ofconsolidated OSS/BSS, asks George Malim

5 INDUSTRY NEWSSigma Systems acquires Tribold to enhance catalogue-driven capability,Ericsson bulks up on integration skills with Telcocell purchase

6 MARKET NEWSTecnotree scopes customer loyalty potential, Infonova and Tech Mahindraform CSP transformation partnership

8 PRODUCT NEWSAsiaInfo-Linkage launches Veris C3 big data appliance to enhancecontext awareness

10 THE CONTRACT HOT LISTThe latest vendor deals listed

11 CONTRACT NEWSSyniverse implements direct operator billing at KPN, Amdocs scoresfive-year Vodafone Group managed services deal

12 PEOPLE NEWSWho’s on the move

13 EXPERT OPINIONJohan Görsjö says operational transparency is a must for multi-screensuccess

15 VANILLAPLUS BILL & CHARGE INSIGHTThe third of our VanillaPlus insights starts here with 40 pages examininghow CSPs’ ability to bill and charge is enabling them to take up positions atthe heart of the digital economy and make money from their BSScapabilities rather than just collecting it.

The Insight contains a VanillaPlus-commissioned analyst report fromanalyst firm Current Analysis and includes features, interviews and casestudies to help you gain a wider understanding of the potential CSPs havewithin their bill and charge capabilities.

55 DIARYWhere to go and what to see

57 CLOCKING OFF!Nick Booth’s struggles with cloud telephony give him a new appreciation oflandline quality

C O N T E N T S

18

34

CASE STUDY

3

IN THISISSUE

Are CSPs at theheart of thedigital economy?

BILLING FOR BYOD

BILLING FOR PROFIT

42

CLOCKING OFF

57

TALKING HEADSAndreas Opelt andAndreas Gabriel ofInfonova talk multi-tenantBSS with Helene Graham,the CTO of eircom

47

George Malim,editor, VanillaPlus

C O M M E N T

EDITORGeorge Malim

Tel: +44 (0) 0208 292 4036

[email protected]

DIGITAL EDITORNathalie Bisnar

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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTDIRECTORCherisse Jameson

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[email protected]

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Mark Bridges

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OPERATIONS DIRECTORCharlie Bisnar

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PUBLISHERJeremy Cowan

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[email protected]

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EDITORIAL ADVISORS

John Aalbers,chief executive,Volubill

Dan Baker,ResearchDirector,TechnologyResearchInstitute

AndreasFreund, VPMarketing, OrgaSystems GmbH

Louis Hall, chief executive,CerillionTechnologies

GabrielMatsliach,generalmanager, BSSProduct Line,Comverse

Pat McCarthy, VPof GlobalMarketing,Service DeliverySolutions,Ericsson

Simon Muderack,senior vicepresident formarketing andalliances,Sigma Systems

David Heaps,senior vicepresident,strategy, CSGInternational

Mac Taylor,CEO, TheMoriana Group

Chris Yeadon,director of ProductMarketing,Ericsson

Dr ReinhardZuba, CMO,Vipnet (TelekomAustria)

© Prestige Media Ltd 2013

CULTURE CLASHES, STRANGE BEDFELLOWSAND THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD As we go to press, the long running issue of who is going to wrest full control of VerizonWireless, the US mobile operator, owned by Verizon Communications and Vodafone, looks tohave reached an end. Since the CSP’s inception it has been 45% owned by Vodafone and theUK company has been frustrated that it has had no control over such a prime telecoms asset.Verizon has felt the same even though it controls the company with 55% ownership.

either side has been willingto do a deal so – until now –the stalemate has draggedon. Verizon has offeredapproximately US$130bn forVodafone’s 45%. Vodafone

appears to have wrangled a means bywhich to handle the potential capitalgains taxation burden associated with asale through one of its many taxstructures and now looks likely to returnaround US$70bn to investors. With sometax inevitably to be paid, it will still walkaway with what, by any measure, is asubstantial acquisitions war chest.

A break up of the business may follow,with still more cash returned toshareholders or the mobile group mightcontinue with its acquisitions of cableproviders. It has bought Cable & WirelessCommunications in the last year and ispoised to complete a deal to buy KabelDeutschland. Deals like these, in the €3-7bn range will barely dent the cashVodafone will have on hand but they dohighlight that the industry’s currentconsolidation is seeing unlikelybedfellows join hands.

A mobile operator buying cable assets isone example but other cultural andtechnological examples are springing up.In the US, Japanese mobile operatorSoftbank is buying Sprint and it is yet tobe seen how the cultures of the mid-

western upstart, led by a man whoseldom wears a tie, will mesh with aJapanese corporate hierarchy.

In Europe, things are equally in flux.América Móvil, owned by Carlos SlimHelu, the wealthiest man in the world, ismaking two moves. It holds just under30% of Dutch former incumbent KPNand has assembled a significant, thoughminority, holding in Telekom AustriaGroup. Moves to gain to control of bothare underway and it’s clear that Slim feelsEuropean telecoms assets are under-valued. In the case of KPN, hismotivation may be partly focused onforcing Telefónica – his main LatinAmerican rival – to pay more for Germanmobile operator E-Plus, which it isacquiring from KPN.

So, we have cable blending with mobile,upstarts being bought by giants fromother regions and Northern Europeanformer incumbents being acquired by aLatin market leader. Two things arecertain as a consequence of thesemoves: The concept of a consolidated,standardised back office across theentire business is still further away fromreality; and bankers will make a lot ofmoney.

Enjoy the magazine

George Malim

N

4

I N D U S T R Y N E W S

Sigma Systems has completed theacquisition of UK-based Tribold, a providerof enterprise product management (EPM)software.

Sigma's acquisition of Tribold bringstogether two product lines to create acomprehensive, multi-channel solutionstack that offers a true Idea-to-Installplatform. Sigma's expanded solution setnow offers catalogue driven capability forthe complete Idea-to-Install process, from

the point of creating and deploying newproducts and services, to creating andconfiguring the customer's order, throughto delivering the order with installation andactivation.

By maintaining the modularity and openintegration of the individual softwareproducts in the broader stack, Sigmacontinues to promote an agile approach toimplementing the capabilities for customers.

"Service providers need to accelerate theiridea-to-install timelines for new services, inan increasingly multi-channel environment.To do this, they must break out of silosolutions and simplify the management oftheir products, services and service deliveryresources. Sigma now has the completesolution they need to accomplish this,"said Tim Spencer, president and COO ofSigma Systems.

Today, Tribold powers over US$150bn ofproducts and services for its customers,accelerating speed to market for newofferings, improving conversion rates, andincreasing efficiency in the fulfillment oforders. Tribold is headquartered in Londonwith regional support offices in Australia,the United States and Europe to support itsglobal customer base.

"Sigma and Tribold have worked togetherclosely over the last several years to ensureinteroperability between our solutions. Wehave also collaborated on several serviceprovider cloud projects, including therecently announced deployment withTiscali in Italy," said Simon Muderack, CEOand founder of Tribold. "Sigma's acquisitionof Tribold enhances its overall portfolio andwill allow for rapid integration of the EPMand CPQ products along with Sigma'sSMP portfolio. In addition, Sigma'sgeographic diversity and depth of industryexpertise offers immediate benefits toexisting Tribold customers."

Under the acquisition agreement,Muderack will assume the role of seniorvice president of market development andalliances for Sigma. Catherine Michel,Tribold's CTO and co-founder, will becomethe chief strategy officer for Sigma.Tribold's customer base spans WesternEurope, the United States, Africa andAustralia and includes BSkyB, TeliaSonera,Orange, Teracom, Unitel Angola, ComHem, Level3, CenturyLink and TelecomNew Zealand. Tribold also enjoys strongpartner relationships with Microsoft,Alcatel-Lucent and Cap Gemini.Terms of the transaction were notdisclosed.

Ericsson acquires Telcocell to broaden BSSsystems integration capability in North America

Ericsson is to acquire the entire business ofTelcocell, a Canada-based consulting andsystems integration company specialisingin Business Support Systems (BSS), aswell as its subsidiaries. Approximately 200services employees and consultantsprimarily based in Canada and the UnitedStates are expected to join Ericsson.

The acquisition is expected to close by theend of the third quarter of 2013, subject tocustomary closing conditions.

Ericsson will benefit from Telcocell'sconsulting and systems integrationexperience in converged charging, customdevelopment, quality assurance and

production support for BSS. Theacquisition complements Ericsson'sexisting comprehensive BSS productportfolio and expertise in these fields andwill further strengthen the company'scustomer relations and BSS transformationcapabilities, primarily in North America.

Paolo Colella, head of Consulting andSystems Integration at Ericsson, said:"Multi-vendor business support systemsintegration and consulting is of highstrategic importance for Ericssonworldwide. Acquiring capabilities fromTelcocell will further strengthen our ability tooffer full ICT transformation capabilities toour customers, and Ericsson's

competitiveness at the intersection whereIT meets telecom."

Mickey Weizmann, CEO, founder andmanaging partner at Telcocell, added: "Totruly transform operators' businesses andimprove consumer experience, acombination of strong services capabilitiesand a comprehensive software portfolio isneeded. Telcocell's multi-vendor BSSconsulting and systems integrationexpertise will broaden Ericsson's servicescapabilities. From Telcocell's side, the teamwill benefit from joining a company ofapproximately 64,000 services employeeswith global scale and presence."

Tim Spencer: Idea-to-install timelines must accelerate

Sigma Systems acquires Tribold for undisclosed sum

5

IT solutions provider Tecnotree hasrevealed its latest research on howcommunications service providers (CSPs)can increase revenues by creatingcompelling customer bundles that willencourage increased loyalty and spend. Thewhitepaper, called ‘Operator perspectiveon bundling, monetisation and loyalty’, isthe third of a series of reports exploring therelationship between customer loyalty andCSP revenue generation.

The Tecnotree research highlights howCSPs are addressing this opportunity bymoving to smaller and more frequentOSS/BSS investment projects, based onan overlay approach. Managed servicesare also being looked at to support theseinvestments. The report also reveals thelikelihood of pre-packaged offerings being

offered to drive revenue, by deployingtraditional business models for digitalcontent and services based on real-timeand QoS-based billing.

Timo Ahomäki, chief technology officer atTecnotree, said: "CSPs are demandingmore versatility in the telco market to offermore compelling personalised packages.In this economic environment, not tomention the challenge from OTT (Over-The-Top) players, when a CSP makes adecision, it needs an OSS/BSS providerthat can deliver flexibility and versatility, andrapid deployment. That is why Tecnotreeconcentrates on creating a platform for allCSPs that guarantees a personalisedservice and drives customer loyalty."

The need for CSPs to provide this level of

granularity to its customerbase has massivelyincreased in the face ofthe ongoing challengeposed by OTT serviceproviders, to maintain theirbilling relationship as a key differentiatorfrom the OTT players.

LTE was also highlighted as an outstandingopportunity for CSPs to encourage theircustomers to spend more on dataconsuming richer content – which couldpotentially offset some of the lostcommunications revenue (voice andmessaging) to OTT service providers.Therefore, it is essential that CSPs maintaincustomer loyalty and encourage themigration of existing customers onto4G/LTE when commercially available.

Anite claims industry first withLTE-Advanced testing Anite has claimed it is first to release aflexible and comprehensive eICIC (enhancedInter Cell Interference Coordination) enrichedLTE-Advanced device testing solution.Verified through close collaboration with aleading Asian device manufacturer, thiscapability also allows other users toconfidently accelerate their LTE-A devicetesting programmes.

The data traffic growth witnessed by LTEmobile operators across the globe is leadingto the roll out of heterogeneous networkswhere a combination of macro, pico andsmall cells are deployed to maximisecoverage and capacity. Interference at celledge boundaries is intensified when lowpower small cells are added to macro cells in

the same channel. As a key feature of LTE-A,eICIC enables mobile operators to controlthis interference, ensuring that devices workoptimally on the cell edge boundaries.

“Working in close collaboration with leadingchipset and device manufacturers hasallowed us to achieve significant advanceswithin LTE-Advanced and develop supportfor key features such as eICIC and CarrierAggregation,” said Paul Beaver, productsdirector at Anite. “The availability of eICICunderlines Anite’s continued leadership incutting-edge technologies, enabling ourcustomers to deliver an enhanced customerexperience with the expected high data rates.”

Netsize direct billing connectedto all UK operators Netsize’s direct billing platform is now

connected to all five of the UK’s mobilenetwork operators allowing subscribers touse their existing phone bills or prepaidbalances to purchase digital content,applications and services direct from theirhandsets. Facilitating secure and convenientpayment via standard mobile phone bills, theNetsize system puts CSPs in direct contactwith a potential market of over 50 million UKsubscribers. Juniper Research expectsrevenues from this channel to rise from $2bnin 2012 to more than $13 billion by 2017.

Deployed by 160 CSPs worldwide, theNetsize direct billing platform overcomes theinflexibility and transaction limits typicallyassociated with charging via premium SMS.Service providers can therefore tailor pricingand subscription strategies to customerrequirements whilst maximising return oninvestment.

NEWS IN BRIEF

M A R K E T N E W S

Infonova and Tech Mahindra haveannounced a partnership to jointly helpCSPs accelerate their transformationbased on Infonova‘s R6 Concept-to-Cashplatform and Tech Mahindra’s industryexpertise and system integrationcompetence.

Infonova’s TMF compliant R6 BusinessSupport System supports the end-to-endconcept-to-cash process with product andorder management, CRM, billing andfinance. Infonova R6 can handle varioustraditional and new business modelssimultaneously on one platform. The end-to-end process for concept-to-cash can beused by each tenant in their own way

giving them the capability to fully managetheir own products, pricing and customermanagement.

Offered as a managed service ortransformation project, Tech Mahindra canprovide its current and future customersworldwide a strong business case byconsolidation of various business segments– fixed line, mobile, broadband, cloud, IPTVand xVNO – on one platform. Tech Mahindracustomers benefit from a significantlyreduced opex and IT risk. Tech Mahindra andInfonova will jointly support its customersto improve their competitive positioning.

Pritam Parvatkar, head of global alliances

at Tech Mahindra, said: “We are delightedto partner with Infonova as this partnershipcreates mutual value for our customers.Infonova’s multi-tenant concept-to-cashplatform R6 enriches Tech Mahindra’ssolutions portfolio and enables us toaddress our customer’s businessinnovation needs.”

Andreas Opelt, vice president of sales andproduct marketing at Infonova, added: “Weare excited to partner with Tech Mahindrato deliver our R6 platform to customersworldwide. This partnership widens thescope of business opportunities andassures to deliver innovative solutions toservice providers globally.”

Infonova and Tech Mahindra enter global partnership for CSP transformation

Tecnotree survey reveals customer loyalty opportunities for CSPs

6

Timo Ahomäki:CSPsdemandinggreater versatility

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P R O D U C T N E W S

Subex has announced the launch of itsROC Partner Settlement version 9.9. Theproduct has been designed to address thegrowing concerns of carriers worldwidesurrounding effectively managing andmaintaining partner relationships andnegotiating multi-party contracts.

According to the recent ‘WholesaleSystems for Advanced Services’ surveyconducted by Technology ResearchInstitute (TRI), Global Settlements CarrierGroup (GSC) and Subex, the boundaries ofwholesale have gone from rigid topermeable. It’s no longer just about buyingand selling of traditional voice traffic. CSPsnow have an entirely different set ofchallenges with respect to handling partnersettlement business processes across

services and business units, paving a wayfor more innovative contract services.

The survey further emphasises that LTEmobile services, VAS, cloud services forsmall and medium businesses, mobilebroadband services and consumer contentdelivery are some of the key wholesaleservices that will experience high revenuegrowth in the coming years. CSPs that usethese services and re-work on theirwholesale business strategies are bound tostay ahead of the herd.

Subex has launched version 9.9 of ROCPartner Settlement solution to manage nextgeneration content and data services inaddition to its voice services. With analyticsand intelligence being the key piece of this

release, the system is capable of providingwholesalers with better decision supportsystems as opposed to the traditionaloperational support systems.

John Brooks, vice president of productmanagement at Subex, said: “In a multi-content services market landscape,reduced time to market, increasedefficiency and profitability has always beenimportant, but heightened competition inthe advanced IP services is increasing thetime-to-market gap. Intelligence being thekey focus globally, the latest version ofROC Partner Settlement will transform theway Carriers perceive business supportsystems through innovation for nextgeneration content and data services.”

AsiaInfo-Linkage launches Veris C3 big data appliance

AsiaInfo-Linkage haslaunched its Veris C3 BigData appliance tointernational markets. VerisC3 uses real-timecontextual awareness toensure that offers are sentat the ideal moment foreach individual customerthereby giving mobile

operators the knowledge and the flexibilityto ensure they are delivering only relevantads and offers to their customers.

Existing deployments of Veris C3 in Asiahave shown the approach is more thantwice as effective as search-basedadvertising, claims the vendor.

Veris C3 processes data from operators’mobile and Wi-Fi networks to producesophisticated data behaviour insights.Customers who opt in will receive relevantand personalised marketing campaigns andpolicy changes based on real-timeknowledge of their mobile context. Veris C3further benefits customers by making theirdata usage transparent, so it is clear whichapps generated which data charges ontheir bills.

Yadong Jin, CTO of AsiaInfo said:“Information about customers’ behavioursis a hugely valuable resource for networkoperators, but they need to be careful howthey monetise this resource. Veris C3enables operators to be sure that their

customers will receive a good mobilemarketing experience with highly relevantoffers delivered at appropriate times, whilerespecting individual customers’ privacy.”

According to Justin van der Lande, senioranalyst at Analysys Mason, “Mobileoperators are seeking to unlock the value oftheir customer knowledge through mobileadvertising and making customer insightsavailable to third parties. However, they areaware of the risk of upsetting theircustomers by inappropriate use of theirpersonal data. Providing highly relevantcontext aware offers with systems such asVeris C3 that are perceived as a goodexperience by customers overcomes thisdilemma.”

CSG releases enhanced, integratedwholesale billing Solution CSG International has announced the releaseof its enhanced Wholesale BusinessManagement Solution (WBMS). Theenhanced WBMS offering enables CSPs toprofit from the increasing number of diversebusiness partnerships that allow them to offerinnovative voice, data, and digital contentproducts and services.

“Consumer demand for content and dataservices increases the need for complex,multilayered partnerships to deliver the bestconnectivity and content,” said Sean Brown,senior vice president of product managementat CSG International. “As CSPs see theirbusiness partners grow and multiply, theyrequire strategic solutions that provide

creative ways to share revenue betweenpartners, increase automation, and streamlineprocesses for increased transaction volumes.CSG offers the accuracy, flexibility, and scaleto handle myriad partner agreements to drivegreater profitably for CSPs.”

Starhome launches system to addresssilent roamers Starhome has launched its new SilentRoamers solution, which will enable operatorsto identify and approach silent and low usageroamers, tapping into this large, lucrativesegment. While silent roamers tend to refrainfrom using both voice and data, the realchallenge is to eliminate the fear of roamingcharges caused by the perceived higher costsof data.

It is estimated that revenue loss to mobilenetwork operators reached $1.2 billion in2012 due to silent roamers’ lack of phoneusage. Starhome’s Silent Roamers solution,based on the Sparx platform, allowsoperators to identify this segment among theiroutbound roamers and then reduce their fearof roaming usage in real time by sending theright message, ultimately increasing bothcustomer satisfaction and roaming revenues.

Many CSPs have experienced good resultswhen promoting the right packages to theirsubscribers. One such example is the O2 UKTravel European roaming package. O2reported a 200% increase in roaming datausage since its launch in July 2012, and thenumber of roamers using mobile data whenabroad has doubled.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Subex launches ROC Partner Settlement v9.9 for multi-party contracts

8

Justin van derLande:Relevant,context-awareoffers arerequired

Get back to your“to-do”list. Let us handle the billing.Creating innovative new offers and launching them quickly is apriority for marketers. In order for the idea to really work (andultimately make money), the billing system needs a rich set ofcapabilities and a wide range of different billing constructs.There’s no limit to new revenue opportunities when productscan be in customers’ hands in just a matter of days.

Cycle30's cloud-based billing platform enables marketers (andproduct managers) to get back to their to-do lists while leavingmission-critical billing operations in our hands.

Whether you are looking to leverage the latest innovations in billing technology, replace your legacy system, or build aproduct or service from the ground up, we're here to help.

It's time to love your billing provider.

C o n t a c t u s t o d a y a t + 1 8 8 8 5 01 4 2 2 0 • w w w. c y c l e 3 0 . c o m

H O T L I S T

Vendor(s) Client Country Product/Service Awarded

Amdocs LinkNet, Indonesia Indonesia’s largest cable operator upgrades to SmartPack 8.5 pre-integrated billing and customer care 8.13

Amdocs SIM TV, Brazil Amdocs CES Multi-Play Smart Pack deployed to shorten time to market and support SIM TV broadband and TV expansion 7.13

Amdocs Vodafone, global Five-year global managed services agreement for Vodafone’s customer care and billing domain based on Amdocs software 8.13

Aspect Software Melita, Malta Upgrade to Aspect Unified IP 7.1 contact centre and interaction management software at Maltese quad play provider 7.13

Astellia Bouygues Telecom, France Collaboration for LTE network trial using Astellia Nova monitoring system to monitor network performance 7.13

Axiros Vodafone, Iceland Axiros selected to manage and monitor customer premise equipment for Iceland’s largest wireline operator 7.13

Comarch SimpliTV, Austria Implementation of Smart BSS Suite in support of new digital terrestrial TV platform 7.13

Comarch T-Mobile, Poland Deployment of Comarch software package to empower introduction of cloud services 7.13

CSG International MTN, South Africa CSG Route and CSG Assure deployed to complement CSG Wholesale Business Management Solution 7.13

Infonova eircom, Ireland Irish operator to deploy Infonova R6 multi-tenant end-to-end concept to cash BSS platform 7.13

NetCracker Consolidated NetCracker OSS selected to support consolidation of existing operational environment 7.13Technology Communications,USA

NetCracker Vimpelcom, groupwide Migration of mobile resource inventory to NetCracker OSS system to provide single view of fixed and mobile networks 6.13Technology deal

NetCracker Vivo, Brazil Multi-year managed services contract to develop, implement and operate BSS solution for Vivo mobile service 7.13Technology

Nokia Solutions Beijing Mobile, China Implementation of quality of experience system to link network performance with user satisfaction 8.13and Networks

Redknee BH Telecom, Bosnia Upgrade to Redknee converged billing, charging, policy and customer care 8.13 Herzegovina

Subex Ethio Telecom, Ethiopia Subex ROC Revenue Assurance deployed with partner Softpro International 7.13

Syniverse KPN, groupwide deal Deployment of Syniverse direct operator billing to support Google Play for Android users 8.13

Volubill Orange, Mali Volubill Business System for policy and charging selected to support all services 7.13

WeDo Technologies Etisalat, Egypt WeDo Technologies’ RAID revenue assurance system selected to boost revenue assurance capabilities 7.13

VanillaPlus Hot List: September/October 2013

The Hot List below shows the companies informing us of recent contract wins or product deployments. If your contract is not listed here email the details to us now marked "Hot List" <[email protected]>

1 0

Beijing Mobile, a branch of Chineseoperator, China Mobile, has signed acontract with the newly re-named NokiaSolutions and Networks (NSN) toimplement an extensive Quality ofExperience (QoE) solution. The CSP willnow be able to improve its focus oncustomer experience by linking networkperformance with subscriber satisfactionand application behaviour.

Under the contract, NSN will collect fault,performance and configuration data fromthe network, to which it will add insightsfrom its Serve atOnce Traffica system. Thiswill allow Beijing Mobile to enhancecustomer satisfaction with voice, textmessaging, web browsing, instantmessaging and local social media services,such as Weibo. NSN will then develop anew service platform for the CSP to

address subscriber needs directly for asuperior customer experience.

Two years ago, NSN’s network optimisationteam and Beijing Mobile started to build thegroundwork for QoE with a smartphoneoptimisation service, which resulted inimproved network performance. NSNextended the successful approach toOperations & Maintenance (O&M) andCustomer Service, in alignment with BeijingMobile’s strategy. The QoE solutionprovides the necessary link between thesubscriber, application usage and networkperformance to improve visibility into end-to-end performance.

Beijing Mobile can now easily spot servicedegradations and prioritise correctiveactions in order to resolve issues affectingits customers. The solution enables a

transition from network-driven toexperience-driven operations. Instead ofreacting to alarms and network keyperformance indicators (KPIs), the operatorcan focus on what matters most: theperceived customer experience.

“Beijing Mobile is responding to the needsof the ever-growing number of mobileinternet users with a strategy that focuseson subscriber experience and ongoingO&M transformation instead of traditionalnetwork KPIs,” said Xue Rui, head ofDelivery in Greater China region at NSN.“NSN helps operators understand thebehaviour of their subscribers better sothat end user needs can be addressedquickly and directly with the new,sustainable customer service businessmodel.”

Beijing Mobile improves customer experience with NSN

Consolidated Communications selectsNetCracker for business transformation Consolidated Communications has selectedNetCracker’s OSS Solution to support thecompany’s goals of consolidating its currentoperational environment, streamlining itsservice fulfillment processes and continuing itstransformation into a next-generationcommunications company that providesleading-edge solutions, as well as wholesalecarrier services.

Founded more than a century ago,Consolidated Communications is a family ofcompanies providing advancedcommunications services to both residentialand business customers in the US states ofCalifornia, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Texas andPennsylvania. Consolidated Communicationsoffers a wide range of services over itstechnologically advanced IP-based network,including local and long distance telephone,high-speed Internet access and Digital TV.

Consolidated Communications selected

NetCracker to deliver its ResourceManagement and Service Fulfillment solutionthat will enable the company to retire andconsolidate legacy systems, automateprocesses and improve the company’s abilityto launch new services and products. This, inturn, will enable the company to keep a strongfocus on its goals of providing exceptionalcustomer experience, achieving growth throughorganic means and through acquisitions whiledelivering strong financial results.

Comarch implements cloud solutions atT-Mobile Poland Comarch has successfully implemented asoftware package to empower theintroduction of cloud services for T-MobilePoland.

The main elements of this solution include:Comarch Cloud Marketplace, a module thatintegrates the CSP’s own services with thirdparty services and offers them online, a self-service portal together with a mobile

application and a package of specialisedmodules of Comarch BSS, such as a centralproduct catalogue and an authorisationsystem. Aside from the Cloud ServiceManagement platform, Comarch also deliversbusiness applications, which can be madeavailable from the cloud, and includes anapplication for invoicing, warehousing andaccounting.

“Companies already know that the cloud isnot a technological revolution, but anevolution in using computer software. At themoment, over 28,000 of our clients are usingcloud services. Cloud-based products havebeen a part of our offer for 12 years now, butin 2012 the sales of these solutions increasedby over 30% in comparison with the previousyear,” said Zbigniew Rymarczyk, vicepresident and director of the ERP BusinessUnit at Comarch. “Companies are more willingto buy cloud services because it meansbenefiting from the latest IT software withouthaving to make large investments. Thebarriers to entry and to exit are low.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

C O N T R A C T N E W S

Syniverse has launched Google Play billingfor KPN Group.The Syniverse DirectOperator Billing solution has allowed KPNGroup to roll out a simple and securepayment option to customers with Androidphones while opening a new revenuestream from mobile content billing.

“KPN prides itself on delivering the bestpossible levels of service and convenienceto customers, and the availability of GooglePlay direct billing, powered by Syniverse, isan important step in delivering on this,”said Björn Jeurissen, vice president ofWholesale Mobile at KPN Group. “Androidhas become immensely popular with

mobile users, and by providing a simplifiedand streamlined Google Play shoppingexperience for them, we offer a strongvalue proposition.”

End users are increasingly looking for amore secure, seamless and convenientway of paying for mobile content comparedwith credit and debit card purchases orpremium SMS. Morten Brøgger, chief salesofficer of Syniverse, said that’s preciselywhat this solution delivers.

“With Syniverse Direct Operator Billing,KPN customers with Android handsets willbe able to purchase content on Google

Play, including apps andgames, through a simple,seamless paymentprocess that adds thecharge to their mobilephone bills,” Brøgger said.“Deploying this purchaseprocess has the potentialto deliver greatlyenhanced transactioncompletion rates andgives mobile service providers like KPNstronger roles in the rapidly growing mobilecontent market, which is expected to growto $65 billion by 2016, according to JuniperResearch.”

Vodafone Group awards Amdocs global managed services contract

Amdocs and VodafoneGroup have signed a five-year global managedservices agreement forVodafone’s customer careand billing domain basedon Amdocs softwareapplications.

For customer care andbilling based on Amdocs

software applications, Vodafone selectedAmdocs to be the managed servicesprovider to deliver applicationdevelopment, operations and

maintenance services.

As part of this strategic agreement,Amdocs will establish a dedicated SharedService and Development Centre forVodafone and this centre will start withservicing Vodafone’s local markets inGermany, the UK and the Netherlands.

Working with Amdocs in a managedservices model that centralises supportacross markets will enable Vodafone toimprove its business agility, simplifyoperations and reduce risk, says Amdocs.It also enables Vodafone to predefine

desired performance levels, and improveon them for maximum control.

“This agreement is testament to therelationship between Amdocs andVodafone that stretches over twodecades,” said Rebecca Prudhomme, vicepresident of product and solutionsmarketing at Amdocs. “Our managedservices model helps Vodafone to providea consistent customer experience acrossmarkets through standardised service-levelagreements, as well as leverage Amdocs’business knowledge and expertise todeliver service excellence and innovation.”

1 1

Morten Brøgger:Seamlesspaymentprocessenhancescompletion rates

Syniverse implements direct operator billing on Google Play for KPN

RebeccaPrudhomme:Vodafonerelationshipspans twodecades

1 2

P E O P L E N E W S

Andreas Herzog joins Comverse to head managed services Andreas Herzog has been appointed tolead the Comverse Managed Servicesorganisation. Herzog brings to ComverseManaged Services deep knowledge andindustry-recognised experience inmanaged and transformation services,from definition of the value proposition toproactive market creation anddevelopment, successful contractacquisition and implementation of a globalmanaged services delivery strategy andstructure.

"In today's competitive landscape, serviceproviders turn to managed services toenergize their business results, helpingthem to do more, faster and with less,"said Gani Nayak, Comverse senior vicepresident for systems and solutions."Comverse Managed Services hasgarnered vast experience deploying andmanaging systems over the years, and theaddition of Andreas Herzog, one of themost accomplished and respectedindividuals in the managed services field,positions us better than ever to serve our

customers and enable them to maximizetheir success."

"With an effective transformation andmanaged services solution, service providerscan get more from existing assets – enablinginnovation, improving the customerexperience and streamlining operations toreduce costs," said Herzog. "I look forwardto generating significant new growth andvalue for Comverse customers throughbusiness transformation and innovativemanaged services business models."

Herzog has more than 25 years ofexperience in the telecoms industry. Hewas most recently consulting for firmsneeding transformation and managedservices, drawing from his experience andbest practices to generate high value forhis clients. Prior to this, he served for nearlytwo decades at Alcatel-Lucent, mostrecently as the president of the ManagedServices Division. Prior to his work atAlcatel-Lucent, Andy served as the chieftechnical officer for United Telecom

Investment (UTI),implementing technicaland commercialoperations of state of theart fixed telecomsnetworks in Europe.

Comverse has alsoannounced that DwightDavis has joined thecompany to leadComverse Business Support Systems(BSS), including related professionalservices functions worldwide.

Davis is a veteran technology executivewith extensive experience implementingmajor transformational programmes andresolving complex business integrationissues in the telecoms and IT industry,including the direction of a large scaleinfrastructure and services project as partof a global converged core of an IPnetwork. He has held a range of key rolesthroughout his career in BSS, technology,operations and program management.

AndreasHerzog: JoinsComverse tolead managedservicesorganisation

Acision appoints Adolfo Hernandez as new chief executive Acision has appointedAdolfo Hernandez aschief executive,succeeding JorgenNilsson, who recentlystepped down from thebusiness. In his new role,the former Alcatel-

Lucent executive will focus on the day-to-day leadership of the company to ensureAcision can capitalise on the growingopportunities in the mobile market.

Hernandez will report directly to Acision’sexecutive chairman, Didier Bench, whocommented: “Transitioning our leadershipcame at a critical time for us, as we shiftour business in line with the changingmarket requirements, enhanced mobileCRM models and the new world of over-the-top (OTT) applications.”

Commenting on his appointment,Hernandez said: “I am excited to be giventhe opportunity to drive leadership in a

company recognised for its heritage whilealso taking on the challenge to contributemy experience and expertise as Acisionresponds to new mobile market trends anddemands. The people, products andtechnology that have established Acisionas the driving force in mobile messagingwill enable us to realise new opportunities,while driving more value in the fast-pacedmobile ecosystem.”

Prior to Acision, Hernandez spent fouryears at Alcatel-Lucent, with his mostrecent position being executive vicepresident, Global Software Services andSolutions, where he was also aninstrumental member of the ExecutiveCommittee, reporting to the group CEO.He has also held senior managementroles at Sun Microsystems, where hewas responsible for all aspects of itsservices business around the world. Hespent eight years with IBM in London andMunich where he held a variety of salesleadership positions in the areas of

eBusiness and Open Systems.

Acision has made two further newappointments to its executive leadershipteam. Jim Saunders has joined Acisionas its new executive vice president,engineering, while Matt Cockett has takenon the position of executive vice president,enterprise services.

Prior to Acision, Saunders held the role globalhead of capital market product developmentat Misys, responsible for more than 600employees across the globe and leading thedevelopment of their four flagship products.

Before joining Acision, Cockett held therole of group commercial director atMobile Interactive Group (MIG), wherehe led the rapid growth of the company. Healso spearheaded MIG’s drive into mobileoperators and brands including EE,Vodafone, Skype, EA Games, New Lookand Barclaycard. He was instrumental inthe sale of MIG to Velti at the end of 2011.

Alain Cockburn joins Neural Techologies Alain Cockburn has joined thecommercial team of Neural Technologiesas account and business developmentmanager, with specific responsibility for theEMEA region.

Cockburn has a wealth of experience inaccount management, consultative salesand international business developmentwhich he has gained during his careerworking at Cable Wireless, ntl (Virgin

Media), Deutsche Telekom and BT.Cockburn joins from American Express,where he was responsible for the growth ofone of their fraud prevention products intotheir customer base.

AdolfoHernandez:Looking to drivemore value

The author,Johan Görsjö, isdirector of productmanagement atAgama Technologies

Please don’t hesitate tocontact us to discuss howour expertise andsolutions can supportquality assurancestrategies and furtherempower TV businesses.

With operational transparency, service providers can work proactively and solve problemsinstantly – before customers start losing faith in the service, says Johan Görsjö

ver the last five years, the way customersconsume video has changedfundamentally, as has the technology usedto deliver it. The transformation is far fromcomplete and we see OTT and multiscreenservices still maturing, both in regards to

business models and technology.

In traditional, ‘main screen’ TV delivery, the customers’high quality expectations ensure that the customercare centre is swamped with calls in a service outage.In the OTT and multiscreen scenario the behaviourcan be somewhat different: upset consumers in somecases may vent their frustration on social media,rather than contact customer services. The differencesmight be cultural or driven by service providermarketing or payment models, but either way it risksleaving providers unaware of the customers’experience and their valuable feedback.

Regardless of how the customer acts on any servicehiccup, it is vital, now more than ever, that serviceproviders remedy it as fast as possible and workproactively. As a provider, you must respond beforethe customer loses faith in the service, sharesnegative experiences on social media or callscustomer support. If you can understand the actualservice quality in real-time, you can act to solveproblems instantly.

OTT technologies are complex with several links in thechain from service provider to consumer. The first stepis service creation in the head-end, where the differentprofiles are encoded and encrypted. Problems hereaffect all users. The next step is the origin server,where data gets pushed or pulled to the CDN. AsCDNs are typically outsourced, it’s essential to check

that handover of responsibilities, not least from an SLAperspective.

By monitoring these functions continuously, behaviourpatterns that are otherwise difficult to identify willbecome apparent. We refer to this as OperationalTransparency – having tools and systems in place thatcan not only visualise the monitoring information, butalso make it actionable. Customers of ours have, forexample, been able to optimise their network storagesetup and significantly shorten asset start-up time, afterdeploying Agama Analyzer OTT monitoring probes.

Also, by having quality assurance information from theend-device, the last step in the service delivery, youcan understand each individual customer’s serviceexperience. As today’s end-device environment is sofragmented, such a solution must support the differenttablets, phones, PCs, game consoles, smart TVs andSTBs that are out there.

With a solution that can aggregate quality and usagemetrics from millions of devices in real-time andcorrelate it with monitoring in the head-end andnetwork, it’s possible to quickly pinpoint any issuesand, perhaps even more importantly, to understandthe trends and customer behaviours that could have aprofound impact long-term.

Agama has long been a champion and pioneer in end-to-end quality assurance of video services. We’reconvinced that end-to-end quality assurance,including the actual customer experience, is the onlyway to create the operational transparency and real-time insight needed for service providers to be able tooffer great customer experiences and ultimately moreprofitable services.

Operational transparency– a must for OTT andmultiscreen success

O

www.agama.tv

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he other day I tried calling a contact from aCSP who, it turned out, was also workingfrom home. We still don’t know whoseequipment was playing up, but weabandoned our mobiles, swapped homenumbers and were amazed at the step up in

class you get from good old fashioned copper.

This is what phone calls must have been like beforeprogress got in the way: clear, crisp voice, nobackground noise, perfect reception.

It’s odd that in an age when only the highest definitionscreens and the highest fidelity speakers will suffice,that our expectations for business qualityconversations have been driven down.

Surely it’s as important to pick up all the nuances ofcommunication on a business call, as it is to pixelateyour goggle box or digitize the kitchen radio. Isn’t thisa message that the telecoms industry’s marketingcreatives should be putting across? Is there anargument to be made that the quality of aconversation is in direct proportion to the attention todetail being made by all parties? It’s hard to focus onthe details when there are so many distractions.

Perhaps if mobiles and tablets had been invented firstand landlines were the new inventions on the block,we’d all be raving about these magnificent systemsthat help concentrate our minds on the business athand.

Instead, we are gradually drifting into a world in whichcompanies adopt VoIP (voice over IP) systems in orderto make economies. Not that there’s anything wrongwith that, in itself, as you’re still sending voice wavesover copper wires (albeit after being digitized). But asnetworks become increasingly congested, more andmore compression is being used. That’s why, whenyou phone some big corporations, the music on holdsounds like it’s being played through a 1913gramophone in a fish tank at the end of a tunnel.

Guaranteeing the integrity of voice over IP could endup being an infrastructure conversation and boardmembers don’t want to have conversations about bigcapital expenditure. Investments can take seven yearsbefore you see any benefits. Coincidentally, that’sabout the length of time ago that many CSPs and integrators started to investigatecloud telephony. While phrases like servers,networking, power and air-conditioning are

guaranteed to send the board to sleep, it’s mucheasier to run an idea past them if it promises to knock30 seconds off every call and save them around£250,000 a year. Service providers that promise totake care of the servers, networking, power and air-conditioning and free their clients to concentrate onwhat they do best can easily win approval.

The only problem being that word: cloud. It’s a phrasethat is synonymous with nebulousness and vapour. Itcould be difficult to convince companies to starthaving conversations in the cloud when they won’teven countenance talking about the cloud.

All that is about to change, predict the marketanalysts. Cloud telephony is growing by 80% a yearaccording to Frost & Sullivan. Cloud IT applications (ofwhich voice is just one now) will create the integratedcommunications infrastructure that will make allconferencing instantly gratifying, they say. All the rightpresentations and documents will instantly pop up onscreen in response to every one of your contactsunique call line identities. Business will be transactedin a fraction of the time it used to take to navigate allthe complicated set up options for a web conference.

In turn, this will make it a lot easier for the IT orcomms manager to handle the integration of all thosetricky multiple sites. Remote and mobile workers,who’ve all been encouraged to bring their owngadgets to the network, will be a lot easier to manage,so the theory goes.

“Start with a proper network, add quality of service andSLAs and it’ll be as good or better than PSTN,” onecontact told me recently, when I queried whether cloudtelephony was worth the sacrifice of voice quality.

Then there’s all the pluses - location and numberindependence, scalability, flexibility, fast provisioning,low mean times to restore service (MTTR). Its time tosay goodbye to conferencing pain, I was told. Cloudmakes conferencing what it should have been allalong – quick to set up, interactive and time saving –by sharing applications, documents and real timevideo as well as voice. You’ll never need to beg someuppity office manager to book conferences in advance– and the sky high charges will be over. But again,quality of the underlying network is paramount.

The cloud telephony message came over loud andclear. Mind you, that’s probably because we werespeaking on a landline.

Cloud telephony – is itdoomed to remain thetechnology of the future?

C L O C K I N G O F F

The author,Nick Booth,is a contributor toVanillaPlus and atechnology journalist

TThis cloud telephony is great isn’t it? I said cloud telephony… can you hear me? Oh never mind,I’ll call you on a landline. Nick Booth questions the need for alternative voice technologies

“Cloud – it’s a

phrase that is

synonymous with

nebulousness and

vapour”

5 6

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