Archive for September, 2007

Billing Systems – The IP Competitive Weapon

Friday, September 14th, 2007

One of the key challenges for network carriers today is “How to Profit From Converged IP Billing”

Over the many years I have consulted in mobile technology marketing strategy, one of the main limitations we always faced when rolling out a new service was working around the constraints of the billing system. It was only 10 years ago that billing systems could only copy with time based items and not with unit based.

Whilst billing technology itself has progressed signicantly since 1997, have these systems sufficiently evolved to handle the impact of IP Convergence? This needs to include both changes in mobile operator service as well as how services are bundled for different marketing strategies.

For those operators who recognised that billing is the link to revenue, they are embracing the opportunities to create profitable new services. What range of service applications will be developed in the coming months and years remains to be seen; but for those that have left their run late, the technology upgrade path is very steep indeed.

Network technologies such as WiMax, WiFi, and 3G and IMS platform architecture has been receiving most of the attention, but wireless billing is at least as important to underpin all next-gen wireless services, regardless of which infrastructure technologies are deployed. For wireless carriers, billing systems are emerging as a major factor in their competitive positioning both short and long term.

Significant changes in the billing sector include:

  • A shift from offline to real-time to online billing
  • Replacement of separate pre-paid and post-paid billing systems with converged billing platforms
  • Billing systems that operators can configure themselves to respond quickly to changing competitive conditions
  • Billing systems encompass a variety of tasks – including rating, charging, and mediation

As billing systems continue to evolve they are morphing from back-office products into strategic marketing tools.

And it’s not just network operators who need to concentrate more of the likely IP roadmap. Suppliers of mobile billing products need strategic insight into the mobile billing sector to anticipate the needs of their clients.
For more information on billing systems that can manage services based on IP convergence:

  • Acision BV
  • Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX);
  • Comptel Corp. (Helsinki: CTL);
  • Comverse Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: CMVT);
  • Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC);
  • Formula Telecom Solutions, Ltd. (LSE: FTS);
  • Martin Dawes Systems Ltd.;
  • MIND CTI Ltd. (Nasdaq: MNDO);
  • Openet Telecom Inc.;
  • Telcordia Technologies Inc.;
  • Valista Ltd.

Posted in Billing Systems, IP Convergence | No Comments »

What’s Happening With Muni WiFi

Monday, September 10th, 2007

Current reports from various states seem to toll the bell for the demise of Muni Wifi before it even hit the boards”

Chicago has cancelled its plans for a muni-Wi-Fi network because “it is too costly and too few residents will use it.” and would take “massive public financing.”

Also in Chicago, EarthLink, announced it is cutting 900 jobs from a total workforce of about 2,000 and closing offices in various parts of the country.

Many major news magazines are broadcastin the perils of muni-Wi-Fi? – failures or stagnation of deployments due to high cost of the systems with no cities willing to be anchor tenant.

Muni WiFi relies on willing partners providing access points installed, in-building. This is failing to happen, and at the same time, the cost of cable and DSL continues to come down.

Is this the muni-Wi-Fi meltdown predicted for the past two years by several wireless technology experts?

At best network operators are going for dual coverage. T-Mobile’s new Hotspot @Home system relies on tightly integrated Wi-Fi access points for use inside homes and businesses within its wide-area network. I doubt T-Mobile will be the only company to roll out this type of dual coverage.

More free hotspots are being added all the time in cafes, transport depots, libraries, even laundromats. Surf whilst you soak!

Is there recovery for investment to date in Muni Wifi?

Sprint/Clearwire is providing wireless broadband coverage to Internet appliances in a bid to use smart wireless networks and smart wireless devices in a more efficient manner. This signals the return of Wi-Fi to what it does best – local-area wireless connectivity.

Both networks and devices are getting smarter; it only remains to see whether humans are smart enough to take advantage of this combination .

Posted in WiFi, Wireless Networks | No Comments »