Business communications often fail to keep pace with the demand for real-time communications to address mission-critical business needs. Unified communications offers new flexibility and manageability across multimodal applications to deliver unprecedented levels of connection for the distributed workforce. They unravel communication bottlenecks, tie together applications with a simple user interface, and support closer collaboration across the enterprise. Unified communications also provides a competitive differentiator by enabling employees to reach others more quickly and eliminate delays caused by the inability to reach key decision-makers. It’s also critical because if enterprises don’t understand what UC consists of, then they won’t know what they need, and therefore may not utilize all the available collaborative tools efficiently and effectively. Rate of VoIP/ telephony deployments has slowed, as a result of unforeseen challenges and perhaps, not enough value for the upfront costs of deploying VoIP/IP telephony. Those enterprises that have taken the initiative have left it in the testing phase, and those who have not taken the initiative, have given it thought, but not moving forward. As a result, IP telephony is at a standstill. UC may be the catalyst that VoIP/IP telephony needs to reach mass adoption.
Thus to analyze the market driver technology we need to go through the current market situation and analyse it from both perspective, first was from the Vendors perspective which help in understanding the vendors approach towards UC and their further vision towards UC and the second was from the Competitors perspective which helped in understanding that how other competitors are positioning themselves in this technology and their value proposition and selling points in UC which further helped in positioning a company in the UC market with unique selling points and recommending a commending further for its UC strategy.
To position a company and come up with UC strategy, it is important to go through both secondary and primary resources. Secondary reports and articles are considered to determine market size and doing competitors analysis of various system integrators in focus whereas through primary source information from the companies Business Units involved in UC helps in understanding their functioning, business and their further plans in this technology. This helps in understanding a companies approach towards UC and gaps which it has in this technology.
Now, talking about where the part of the problem is where vendors are confusing the market. Example on one side, we have the traditional infrastructure vendors, who are basing their UC platforms on VoIP/IPT, indicating that VoIP is the foundation of UC. On the other side of the camp, we have the non-traditional vendors, who believe VoIP/IPT is just another application on a UC platform. In their case, presence is really the foundation of a UC platform. The presence engine is the place from which all modes of communications can be launched. Neither one is right nor wrong, although each would like to say the other is inadequate The fact is that enterprises have different needs and requirements. Some enterprises would prefer to have their modes of communication be based on voice; others are more comfortable communicating through presence, and use voice as a secondary and tertiary form of communication. The good news for enterprises is that there is an option for everyone. There may even be instances in which traditional and non-traditional may have to share and co-habitate.. We are still a long way from making that co-habitation seamless, and interoperability still has strides to make. This nirvana is only as impossible as vendors make it. It’s time all learn to play in the same sandbox if we want to see UC take off. Ultimately both primary and secondary resource helped in positioning in UC and to recommend a company further for UC strategy.
POSTED BY : NEHA SAXENA
September 20, 2008
September 15, 2008
Mobile Value Added Services
Mobile services have always been alluring to the customers. In the beginning, when there was only voice, customer use to fancy mobility the voice as esteemed service. Although the prices were high and coverage was limited, it was a new experience for everybody.
Through the years, with the advent of new and innovation services in the market and equally innovative Tariff plans with day-to-day new schemes the mobile industry has been mutually benefiting to the customer as well as the operators. Also, the new mobile experiences coupled with new expectations from customers, business personnel and enterprise units, has given an opportunity for the content providers, equipment vendors and solution providers to come up with efficient and optimized mobility and VAS solutions.
Today, although voice services are still the prime concern of the customers, the market is clearly moving towards more value added services and richer customer experience. Each service provider has come up with a bundle of offerings accompanied with rich value added services and that too with falling prices. This has encouraged the whole industry to move towards a new era of mobility whereby consumers are ready to accept the new offerings at affordable prices, service providers are keen to improve their network and services, solution provider are ready with innovative VAS solutions and multimedia content. The onus also lies on the equipment vendors to come up with new architectural solutions to enable cheaper and richer mobile services.
Mobility and Virtualization are two trends that are changing the way people can access information while on the move. People are learning that mobile phones can be used for more than just making phone calls. Already now, mobile phone users can access a variety of useful value added services (VAS) for data. The future of telecommunication also promises diversified usage of mobile phones.
The telecom operators realize that like other operators in the world their voice revenues are getting reduced and that they will have to focus on non-voice revenues. The value added services are focusing the handset increasingly as an entertainer, an informer, a secretary, a guide, a companion, as an integral part of consumer life. Most operators have experimented with Value Added Services by launching aggressive components in specific services.
For example, the ring tone features have targeted the youth and the urban population. It became an instant hit amongst youth and the urban population. This was followed by cricket updates, motion pictures and film star information, news, astrology updates etc. Despite having to pay a premium on this content, the Indian subscribers are paying for perceived value. Service providers are already targeting for 35-40% of the revenue to come from data services and this can be done because the challenge posed by Value Added services does not call for huge investment.
The Mobile Value Added Services (Mobile VAS or MVAS) sector could be worth a billion dollars, around Rs 4,500 crore, by 2007-end.
This would be a increase of 58 per cent from its current size of Rs 2,850 crore, according to a report jointly prepared by the Internet And Mobile Association of India and IMRB International. A break up of the total market size reveals that P2P (person to person) SMS or text messaging, continues to dominate the industry with Rs 1,140 crore, followed by ringtones including caller ring back tones at Rs 1,026 crore, Person to Application and Application to Person at Rs 428 crore, games and data at Rs 171 crore and others
The P2P SMS revenue is accrued completely to the telecom operators. The remaining MVAS revenues are distributed among content owners, developers and the telecom operators on a revenue sharing basis. In the case of MVAS (except P2P SMS) the revenue sharing arrangement is heavily in favour of telecom operators. This model is significantly different from more developed markets such as China where typically the operators are entitled to 20-30 per cent only.
In the case of enterprise solution services the revenue share arrangement between operator and short code owner is typically 70 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.
The Indian users have gone way ahead in showing interest to the new technology and advanced services offered by the operators unlike many European countries. Today it’s not only the access technology, but also the applications provided on the same that are important. Customers don’t want to know what technology they are using, they are more concerned about what services are being offered and at what price.
POSTED BY : SUMAN MONDAL
Through the years, with the advent of new and innovation services in the market and equally innovative Tariff plans with day-to-day new schemes the mobile industry has been mutually benefiting to the customer as well as the operators. Also, the new mobile experiences coupled with new expectations from customers, business personnel and enterprise units, has given an opportunity for the content providers, equipment vendors and solution providers to come up with efficient and optimized mobility and VAS solutions.
Today, although voice services are still the prime concern of the customers, the market is clearly moving towards more value added services and richer customer experience. Each service provider has come up with a bundle of offerings accompanied with rich value added services and that too with falling prices. This has encouraged the whole industry to move towards a new era of mobility whereby consumers are ready to accept the new offerings at affordable prices, service providers are keen to improve their network and services, solution provider are ready with innovative VAS solutions and multimedia content. The onus also lies on the equipment vendors to come up with new architectural solutions to enable cheaper and richer mobile services.
Mobility and Virtualization are two trends that are changing the way people can access information while on the move. People are learning that mobile phones can be used for more than just making phone calls. Already now, mobile phone users can access a variety of useful value added services (VAS) for data. The future of telecommunication also promises diversified usage of mobile phones.
The telecom operators realize that like other operators in the world their voice revenues are getting reduced and that they will have to focus on non-voice revenues. The value added services are focusing the handset increasingly as an entertainer, an informer, a secretary, a guide, a companion, as an integral part of consumer life. Most operators have experimented with Value Added Services by launching aggressive components in specific services.
For example, the ring tone features have targeted the youth and the urban population. It became an instant hit amongst youth and the urban population. This was followed by cricket updates, motion pictures and film star information, news, astrology updates etc. Despite having to pay a premium on this content, the Indian subscribers are paying for perceived value. Service providers are already targeting for 35-40% of the revenue to come from data services and this can be done because the challenge posed by Value Added services does not call for huge investment.
The Mobile Value Added Services (Mobile VAS or MVAS) sector could be worth a billion dollars, around Rs 4,500 crore, by 2007-end.
This would be a increase of 58 per cent from its current size of Rs 2,850 crore, according to a report jointly prepared by the Internet And Mobile Association of India and IMRB International. A break up of the total market size reveals that P2P (person to person) SMS or text messaging, continues to dominate the industry with Rs 1,140 crore, followed by ringtones including caller ring back tones at Rs 1,026 crore, Person to Application and Application to Person at Rs 428 crore, games and data at Rs 171 crore and others
The P2P SMS revenue is accrued completely to the telecom operators. The remaining MVAS revenues are distributed among content owners, developers and the telecom operators on a revenue sharing basis. In the case of MVAS (except P2P SMS) the revenue sharing arrangement is heavily in favour of telecom operators. This model is significantly different from more developed markets such as China where typically the operators are entitled to 20-30 per cent only.
In the case of enterprise solution services the revenue share arrangement between operator and short code owner is typically 70 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.
The Indian users have gone way ahead in showing interest to the new technology and advanced services offered by the operators unlike many European countries. Today it’s not only the access technology, but also the applications provided on the same that are important. Customers don’t want to know what technology they are using, they are more concerned about what services are being offered and at what price.
POSTED BY : SUMAN MONDAL
July 26, 2008
Web-Telecom convergence for next-gen "communi-tainment" devices and services
Market Trend: Telecom-only NGN services are not enough
Operators are continuing to make significant investments in building-out next-generation networks, based on IMS, or in some cases, just SIP.These investments in SDP and NGN are tightly-coupled with operator demand for associated SDP/NGN middleware infrastructures, to allow for rapid service creation and execution, efficient service integration, orchestration and management, and flexible service exposure capabilities.
Based on my customer reactions, one thing is clear. Telecom-only services, whether they are VoIP telephony or conferencing, or whether they are SIP/IMS-based messaging or video telephony services, are not resulting in wide-scale consumer adoption of these services, and thereby the desired increases in ARPU and ROI. Whether the operator is in APAC or EMEA or Americas, the current portfolio of NGN services are focused on IM/presence, video telephony/sharing, VoIP, conferencing, group lists, or a combination of these features. For mobile operators, the lack of SIP/IMS-enabled handsets, or 3G/WiFi handsets, are delaying service launches.
Emergence of "Communi-tainment" devices and services
At the same time, consumer end-users are flocking by the millions to Web 2.0-based Internet social networks and communities, and to user-friendly consumer "communi-tainment" (i.e. communication and entertainment) devices, such as the Apple iPhone. Samsung and LG have recently publicly launched similar touch-based, consumer-friendly devices which provide "communi-tainment" capabilities. What social networking communities and "communi-tainment" devices have in common is the ability to easily create and share multi-media user-created content (MM-UCC), and the ability to communicate and discuss with their social networks about their MM-UCC.
In order for operators and service providers to meet this largely unmet consumer demand, it is clear that offering mobile devices which cannot converge the Web and Telecom experiences into a single application/service is going to be a significant challenge to capturing this next-gen "communi-tainment" end-user. Not only do fixed-mobile devices need to transform, but a fundamental evolution in the SDPs which support NGN-fixed-mobile-broadband access networks is required as well. The key to this evolution towards a next-gen SDP is the integration of Web and SOA middleware together with Telecom middleware, thereby creating a converged Web-Telecom services layer.
Need for Web and Telecom convergence in the "killer Service Delivery Platforms (SDP)"
In other words, operators and service providers must now think of new services, and the associated business models, in the context of Web and Telecom, and not just Telecom and NGN. IMS and NGN services need to integrate fully and comprehensively with Web-based services, thereby embedding Telecom capabilities to Web 2.0-based Internet social networks and communities. Likewise, Internet social networks and communities need to extend their large user bases with high value-add Telecom and NGN features, such as IM, presence, conferencing, group lists, location, etc.
"Communi-tainment" devices, whether they are fixed or mobile, can also better serve their end-users when the device's Internet, Web 2.0 and RIA (Rich Internet Application) capabilities can be tightly integrated and combined with the device's inherent 3G/WiFi communication capabilities. And as the telecom and Internet networks evolve to 4G and WiMax, the benefits of the converged Web and Telecom will become even more pronounced.
Also, mobile communication device manufacturers need to begin realizing that the definition of "mobile" and "communication device" is also transforming. High-end gaming devices, televisions, automobiles, audio/video entertainment devices, and much more, will increasingly be connected to fixed and mobile broadband Internet services, combined with IP communication capabilities. The concept of "communi-tainmennt" is are being realized by many non-telecom "device" manufacturers.
I strongly believe that network operators and service providers have an enormous business and market opportunity to provide the most "killer SDP" to as many "communi-tainment" devices worldwide, where the consumer end-users are not looking for a single killer application, but rather, a collection of killer services and features, which brings together the best of the Web domain with the Telecom domain, into the simplest, most friendly, user experience possible, regardless of whether the access was over fixed, mobile, broadband or satellite networks.
Posted By : SAURABH MITTAL
Operators are continuing to make significant investments in building-out next-generation networks, based on IMS, or in some cases, just SIP.These investments in SDP and NGN are tightly-coupled with operator demand for associated SDP/NGN middleware infrastructures, to allow for rapid service creation and execution, efficient service integration, orchestration and management, and flexible service exposure capabilities.
Based on my customer reactions, one thing is clear. Telecom-only services, whether they are VoIP telephony or conferencing, or whether they are SIP/IMS-based messaging or video telephony services, are not resulting in wide-scale consumer adoption of these services, and thereby the desired increases in ARPU and ROI. Whether the operator is in APAC or EMEA or Americas, the current portfolio of NGN services are focused on IM/presence, video telephony/sharing, VoIP, conferencing, group lists, or a combination of these features. For mobile operators, the lack of SIP/IMS-enabled handsets, or 3G/WiFi handsets, are delaying service launches.
Emergence of "Communi-tainment" devices and services
At the same time, consumer end-users are flocking by the millions to Web 2.0-based Internet social networks and communities, and to user-friendly consumer "communi-tainment" (i.e. communication and entertainment) devices, such as the Apple iPhone. Samsung and LG have recently publicly launched similar touch-based, consumer-friendly devices which provide "communi-tainment" capabilities. What social networking communities and "communi-tainment" devices have in common is the ability to easily create and share multi-media user-created content (MM-UCC), and the ability to communicate and discuss with their social networks about their MM-UCC.
In order for operators and service providers to meet this largely unmet consumer demand, it is clear that offering mobile devices which cannot converge the Web and Telecom experiences into a single application/service is going to be a significant challenge to capturing this next-gen "communi-tainment" end-user. Not only do fixed-mobile devices need to transform, but a fundamental evolution in the SDPs which support NGN-fixed-mobile-broadband access networks is required as well. The key to this evolution towards a next-gen SDP is the integration of Web and SOA middleware together with Telecom middleware, thereby creating a converged Web-Telecom services layer.
Need for Web and Telecom convergence in the "killer Service Delivery Platforms (SDP)"
In other words, operators and service providers must now think of new services, and the associated business models, in the context of Web and Telecom, and not just Telecom and NGN. IMS and NGN services need to integrate fully and comprehensively with Web-based services, thereby embedding Telecom capabilities to Web 2.0-based Internet social networks and communities. Likewise, Internet social networks and communities need to extend their large user bases with high value-add Telecom and NGN features, such as IM, presence, conferencing, group lists, location, etc.
"Communi-tainment" devices, whether they are fixed or mobile, can also better serve their end-users when the device's Internet, Web 2.0 and RIA (Rich Internet Application) capabilities can be tightly integrated and combined with the device's inherent 3G/WiFi communication capabilities. And as the telecom and Internet networks evolve to 4G and WiMax, the benefits of the converged Web and Telecom will become even more pronounced.
Also, mobile communication device manufacturers need to begin realizing that the definition of "mobile" and "communication device" is also transforming. High-end gaming devices, televisions, automobiles, audio/video entertainment devices, and much more, will increasingly be connected to fixed and mobile broadband Internet services, combined with IP communication capabilities. The concept of "communi-tainmennt" is are being realized by many non-telecom "device" manufacturers.
I strongly believe that network operators and service providers have an enormous business and market opportunity to provide the most "killer SDP" to as many "communi-tainment" devices worldwide, where the consumer end-users are not looking for a single killer application, but rather, a collection of killer services and features, which brings together the best of the Web domain with the Telecom domain, into the simplest, most friendly, user experience possible, regardless of whether the access was over fixed, mobile, broadband or satellite networks.
Posted By : SAURABH MITTAL
July 21, 2008
“Transportation is much more than Highways and Telecommunications is much more than communication”
Vehicle Tracking System is now one of the most popular technological changes in all over the world that is going to make our personal and business life lot easier. As the term suggests, it enables one to track or monitor the location of vehicle in instant time. Primarily, the system functions with the help of different technologies like the Global Positioning System (GPS), traditional cellular network such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and other radio frequency medium. As far as vehicle tracking in India is concerned, its uses and market are expected to increase within a couple of years.
Outsourcing in India has experienced explosive growth with overseas companies getting everything processed here. However, with growth and maturing of this industry, there are many logistic issues which need to be addressed and one of them is managing transport. Ferrying the employees from one part of the city to the location and dropping them back is indeed a very formidable task. It requires meticulous planning, technology support and timely action.
Employees are valuable assets to any organization and hence their safety becomes the top priority for any employer. A huge matter of concern for the security staff of an organization is not just to safeguard employees within the premises but outside as well. The BPO boom has also brought with it a set of disadvantages including odd working hours. Employees are ferried to and from the office often in the wee hours without proper security arrangements.
Transportation is the principal element in the BPO industry. All BPO companies rely on an effective transportation system for their employees. Any disruption in this service can have a direct impact on their day to day operations. The hassle of tracking and monitoring a large fleet of vehicles is easily taken over by a GPS based vehicle tracking system.
Some of the present challenges faced by this industry are:
1. Lack of security for employees in traveling especially for women.
2. Driver idling.
3. Lack of control on trips to and fro.
4. Driver can tamper vehicle.
GPS aided tracking devices delivers the following benefits:
• Tracks and monitors vehicle movement.
• Increased security for employees.
• Generate a trip report which is provided to drivers for execution.
• The employee can have all details of the driver by a SMS.
• Effective use of travel timings.
• Quick and accurate data helps the management to review their key security decisions.
• Driver cannot tamper with the main unit as the button is on the passenger side of the vehicle.
• Optimal use of vehicle by ensuring optimally designed routes.
• Data helps in analyzing the cost implications of employee transportation better.
• Alerts received if vehicle leaves predefined zones.
Working:
GIS and GPS technologies are used as a backbone of the system enabling accurate collection with further transmission, processing and visualization of the data.
• Data Collection: BPO cabs will be fitted with 2 type of hard ware- GPS and Tracking unit, GPS device reads and embeds spatial coordinates (Latitude and Longitude) of the vehicle while Tracking unit will record information related to operations.
• Data Transmission: Through GSM network data is transmitted to the central data base.
• Data Processing: Advanced statistic data management and planning modules form the core of data processing. Highly customizable statistic module offers users option of choosing required fields and accessing data in the context of particular cab, driver, employee etc.
• Data Visualization: At the final stage data is processed and visualized on the city map and is available for exporting/ printing.
Posted By : MAYANK MEHTA
Outsourcing in India has experienced explosive growth with overseas companies getting everything processed here. However, with growth and maturing of this industry, there are many logistic issues which need to be addressed and one of them is managing transport. Ferrying the employees from one part of the city to the location and dropping them back is indeed a very formidable task. It requires meticulous planning, technology support and timely action.
Employees are valuable assets to any organization and hence their safety becomes the top priority for any employer. A huge matter of concern for the security staff of an organization is not just to safeguard employees within the premises but outside as well. The BPO boom has also brought with it a set of disadvantages including odd working hours. Employees are ferried to and from the office often in the wee hours without proper security arrangements.
Transportation is the principal element in the BPO industry. All BPO companies rely on an effective transportation system for their employees. Any disruption in this service can have a direct impact on their day to day operations. The hassle of tracking and monitoring a large fleet of vehicles is easily taken over by a GPS based vehicle tracking system.
Some of the present challenges faced by this industry are:
1. Lack of security for employees in traveling especially for women.
2. Driver idling.
3. Lack of control on trips to and fro.
4. Driver can tamper vehicle.
GPS aided tracking devices delivers the following benefits:
• Tracks and monitors vehicle movement.
• Increased security for employees.
• Generate a trip report which is provided to drivers for execution.
• The employee can have all details of the driver by a SMS.
• Effective use of travel timings.
• Quick and accurate data helps the management to review their key security decisions.
• Driver cannot tamper with the main unit as the button is on the passenger side of the vehicle.
• Optimal use of vehicle by ensuring optimally designed routes.
• Data helps in analyzing the cost implications of employee transportation better.
• Alerts received if vehicle leaves predefined zones.
Working:
GIS and GPS technologies are used as a backbone of the system enabling accurate collection with further transmission, processing and visualization of the data.
• Data Collection: BPO cabs will be fitted with 2 type of hard ware- GPS and Tracking unit, GPS device reads and embeds spatial coordinates (Latitude and Longitude) of the vehicle while Tracking unit will record information related to operations.
• Data Transmission: Through GSM network data is transmitted to the central data base.
• Data Processing: Advanced statistic data management and planning modules form the core of data processing. Highly customizable statistic module offers users option of choosing required fields and accessing data in the context of particular cab, driver, employee etc.
• Data Visualization: At the final stage data is processed and visualized on the city map and is available for exporting/ printing.
Posted By : MAYANK MEHTA
July 9, 2008
OUTSOURCED TELECOM BILLING MARKET - A Global Perspective
About 15 years ago most of the billing systems were developed in -house. The focus of the billing systems were limited to circuit switched telephone calls. The few parameters that could be charged for, were basically on the basis of duration and distance. The substantial growth of the telecom market in the late 1990's caused by the liberalization of the Telecom sector in various countries around the globe has not only led to a huge number of new players entering into the telecom space, but also in creating a new arena of services like MMS, video conferencing, mobile tv, m- commerce etc, the billing of which is a big concern for the telcos. An uptake in the billing systems due to introduction of new services, billing complexities due to differential rating of services and billing complexities due to revenue sharing have made billing of telecom services extremely complex for telcos to carry it in-house. Outsourcing comes to the rescue in this situation. Telcos today focus more on their core business which is to provide good quality communication services and outsource the secondary jobs like rating, billing, mediation, customer care, data warehousing etc.
The main sources of revenues in the billing outsourcing market for the outsourcee are from the billing software licenses, Implementation of billing systems, either by the software providers like Intec, Amdocs, Convergys, LHS, Comverse etc, or by system integrators like IBM, Accenture, HP, Tech Mahindra, Wipro etc and finally through outsourcing of the billing operations which can be done as a managed service or as a billing bureau service.
The overall market of the telecom outsourced services is at about $210bn and is growing at a CAGR of 6.3%, and has been predicted by Insight Corp. to cross the $250bn mark in early 2011. The main component of this revenue is network outsourcing, which accounts for more than 50% of overall revenues. The Billing outsourcing market which is growing at CAGR of 7.32% in 2008 stands at around $4bn covering 88% of the overall billing revenues. Billing Outsourcing forms the major portion of the overall BSS outsourcing at almost 45%. But this share seems to follow a decreasing trend due to the popularity and acceptance of new services like revenue assurance and fraud management, which forms a huge portion of the spending on revenue management. The outsourcing trend in various service lines are wireline, wireless, cable/DBS etc largely varies. The major part of the outsourced billing market is formed by the wireline non IP i.e. more than 50%, but this is continuously decreasing because of the increasing share of outsourced billing in Cable/DBS (Digital Broadcast Satellite such as Dishtv, Tata Sky etc).
North America forms around 50% of the overall billing market and the trend followed by the American market highly dominates the global market. The recession in the U.S. market in 2002 reduced the I.T. spending by Telcos heavily but triggered the outsourcing growth. This seems to be happening again due to the slowdown in the U.S. economy. If this happens, the billing outsourcing market would become larger than $5.5bn at CAGR 7.32% in 2012.
Posted by : Adarsh Thakur
The main sources of revenues in the billing outsourcing market for the outsourcee are from the billing software licenses, Implementation of billing systems, either by the software providers like Intec, Amdocs, Convergys, LHS, Comverse etc, or by system integrators like IBM, Accenture, HP, Tech Mahindra, Wipro etc and finally through outsourcing of the billing operations which can be done as a managed service or as a billing bureau service.
The overall market of the telecom outsourced services is at about $210bn and is growing at a CAGR of 6.3%, and has been predicted by Insight Corp. to cross the $250bn mark in early 2011. The main component of this revenue is network outsourcing, which accounts for more than 50% of overall revenues. The Billing outsourcing market which is growing at CAGR of 7.32% in 2008 stands at around $4bn covering 88% of the overall billing revenues. Billing Outsourcing forms the major portion of the overall BSS outsourcing at almost 45%. But this share seems to follow a decreasing trend due to the popularity and acceptance of new services like revenue assurance and fraud management, which forms a huge portion of the spending on revenue management. The outsourcing trend in various service lines are wireline, wireless, cable/DBS etc largely varies. The major part of the outsourced billing market is formed by the wireline non IP i.e. more than 50%, but this is continuously decreasing because of the increasing share of outsourced billing in Cable/DBS (Digital Broadcast Satellite such as Dishtv, Tata Sky etc).
North America forms around 50% of the overall billing market and the trend followed by the American market highly dominates the global market. The recession in the U.S. market in 2002 reduced the I.T. spending by Telcos heavily but triggered the outsourcing growth. This seems to be happening again due to the slowdown in the U.S. economy. If this happens, the billing outsourcing market would become larger than $5.5bn at CAGR 7.32% in 2012.
Posted by : Adarsh Thakur
Prime shifts and trends in OSS market worldwide
Shift in OSS spending from North America to Western Europe, APAC and ME
Saturation in the market for traditional voice services in North America and simultaneous wireless market growth in European Union, Asia Pacific and Middle East have resulted into surprising shifts in global Spending for OSS applications.
North America has witnessed stagnating growth in 2G and 3G services in year 2007 while in EU, APAC and ME, favoring policies and increasing acceptance of 3G services has resulted into high growth in OSS spending of operators.
In North America, the fixed line market has saturated due to the universal and life time policies introduced by the operators hence the growth in OSS market growth is slowing down. OSS software license spending in this geography has witnessed 11.207%growth in fixed line segment and 13% in wireless segment in 2007. However, in absolute terms, increase in OSS software license spending in North America is second highest to Western Europe.
OSS Software License Expense(US$mn)
Overall Wireless Fixed Line
Growth (%) Growth(%) Growth (%)
Western Europe 12.159% 8.629% 15.220%
Eastern Europe 14.909% 13.989% 17.170%
Asia Pacific 11.663% 9.307% 14.556%
Latin America 11.699% 19.274% 8.135%
North America 11.982% 13.006% 11.207%
Middle East 17.550% 18.833% 14.206%
OSS Service+Support+Maintenance Expense(US$mn)
Overall Wireless Fixed Line
Growth (%) Growth(%) Growth (%)
Western Europe 8.451% 5.208% 11.232%
Eastern Europe 10.550% 9.883% 12.192%
Asia Pacific 9.950% 7.878% 12.603%
Latin America 7.869% 15.641% 4.257%
North America 9.058% 9.634% 8.633%
Middle East 15.174% 16.698% 11.095%
There is high shift in OSS spending in fixed line segment from North America to Western Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East where much higher growth in Software license side and service, support & maintenance side is observed.
Shift in OSS product suite
Till now, the lion’s share of OSS functionality has come from billing systems which are crucial to save revenue leakages. But now, as voice services are not able to generate higher revenues, service providers have shifted their focus to value added services like IPTV, VoIP, Wireless Broadband, Switched Digital Video, MobileTV and VAS etc.
This has resulted into high priority for network management and service assurance to deploy services faster. Therefore, there is a growth of 15% and 17% respectively in terms of revenues globally in 2007.
Service creation of incremental features and delivery of new information products are growing most rapidly in broadband, as opposed to fixed line or wireless sectors. In this sector, top producing vendors include Ericsson, HP, NTT Comware, and Alcatel.
Trends in OSS market worldwide
1.Consolidation of the sector
COMPANY DEALS
AMDOCS Cramer Systems, July 2006
Qpass, April 2006
Longshine, June 2005
ORACLE MetaSolv Software, October 2006
Portal, April 2006
Siebel Systems, September 2005
PeopleSoft, January 2005
TELCORDIA Granite Systems, March 2004
IBM Micromuse, July 2006
INTEC EUR Systems, February 2005
Starting from 2006 to now, both the worldwide OSS market and telecom market, have witnessed a similar trend of consolidation. Big companies are trying to build software suites to establish their footprint in telecom OSS market. The main benefit of OSS software suites is that the pre-integrated suites will allow carriers to save integration costs and implementation time.
According to Telcordia strategy, OSS point solutions must evolve to become part of more integrated suites to survive.
1.Tier 1 CSPs will not prefer to work with small OSS vendor unless it is backed by a big player.
2.Equipment Vendors & System Integrators are extending relationship with OSS vendor by providing IT outsourcing option
3.Today, three key differentiating factors for any player in OSS domain is integration capability, innovative product suits and solid client relationships. The worldwide OSS market is diversified with many global and local players competing for market share in various regional markets.
4.Today, the trend is to offer end to end OSS solution therefore, many vendors have started functioning in this direction looking forward to develop assurance and fulfillment solutions for converged networks.
5.Vendors in the market mainly differentiate themselves by the scope of their product suite, the standards and advanced features that they support the scalability of their offerings, the ability to provide professional services and the modularity and interoperatibility of their solutions.
6.Today the trend is that leading telecom providers have a preferred list of OSS ISVs and SIs. Carriers are working with ISVs that either provides strong professional services or have solid relationships with SIs or network equipment providers. In response to this trend, OSS vendors have developed their products from point applications such as inventory management to full product suite.
Posted By : HIREN RUPANI
Saturation in the market for traditional voice services in North America and simultaneous wireless market growth in European Union, Asia Pacific and Middle East have resulted into surprising shifts in global Spending for OSS applications.
North America has witnessed stagnating growth in 2G and 3G services in year 2007 while in EU, APAC and ME, favoring policies and increasing acceptance of 3G services has resulted into high growth in OSS spending of operators.
In North America, the fixed line market has saturated due to the universal and life time policies introduced by the operators hence the growth in OSS market growth is slowing down. OSS software license spending in this geography has witnessed 11.207%growth in fixed line segment and 13% in wireless segment in 2007. However, in absolute terms, increase in OSS software license spending in North America is second highest to Western Europe.
OSS Software License Expense(US$mn)
Overall Wireless Fixed Line
Growth (%) Growth(%) Growth (%)
Western Europe 12.159% 8.629% 15.220%
Eastern Europe 14.909% 13.989% 17.170%
Asia Pacific 11.663% 9.307% 14.556%
Latin America 11.699% 19.274% 8.135%
North America 11.982% 13.006% 11.207%
Middle East 17.550% 18.833% 14.206%
OSS Service+Support+Maintenance Expense(US$mn)
Overall Wireless Fixed Line
Growth (%) Growth(%) Growth (%)
Western Europe 8.451% 5.208% 11.232%
Eastern Europe 10.550% 9.883% 12.192%
Asia Pacific 9.950% 7.878% 12.603%
Latin America 7.869% 15.641% 4.257%
North America 9.058% 9.634% 8.633%
Middle East 15.174% 16.698% 11.095%
There is high shift in OSS spending in fixed line segment from North America to Western Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East where much higher growth in Software license side and service, support & maintenance side is observed.
Shift in OSS product suite
Till now, the lion’s share of OSS functionality has come from billing systems which are crucial to save revenue leakages. But now, as voice services are not able to generate higher revenues, service providers have shifted their focus to value added services like IPTV, VoIP, Wireless Broadband, Switched Digital Video, MobileTV and VAS etc.
This has resulted into high priority for network management and service assurance to deploy services faster. Therefore, there is a growth of 15% and 17% respectively in terms of revenues globally in 2007.
Service creation of incremental features and delivery of new information products are growing most rapidly in broadband, as opposed to fixed line or wireless sectors. In this sector, top producing vendors include Ericsson, HP, NTT Comware, and Alcatel.
Trends in OSS market worldwide
1.Consolidation of the sector
COMPANY DEALS
AMDOCS Cramer Systems, July 2006
Qpass, April 2006
Longshine, June 2005
ORACLE MetaSolv Software, October 2006
Portal, April 2006
Siebel Systems, September 2005
PeopleSoft, January 2005
TELCORDIA Granite Systems, March 2004
IBM Micromuse, July 2006
INTEC EUR Systems, February 2005
Starting from 2006 to now, both the worldwide OSS market and telecom market, have witnessed a similar trend of consolidation. Big companies are trying to build software suites to establish their footprint in telecom OSS market. The main benefit of OSS software suites is that the pre-integrated suites will allow carriers to save integration costs and implementation time.
According to Telcordia strategy, OSS point solutions must evolve to become part of more integrated suites to survive.
1.Tier 1 CSPs will not prefer to work with small OSS vendor unless it is backed by a big player.
2.Equipment Vendors & System Integrators are extending relationship with OSS vendor by providing IT outsourcing option
3.Today, three key differentiating factors for any player in OSS domain is integration capability, innovative product suits and solid client relationships. The worldwide OSS market is diversified with many global and local players competing for market share in various regional markets.
4.Today, the trend is to offer end to end OSS solution therefore, many vendors have started functioning in this direction looking forward to develop assurance and fulfillment solutions for converged networks.
5.Vendors in the market mainly differentiate themselves by the scope of their product suite, the standards and advanced features that they support the scalability of their offerings, the ability to provide professional services and the modularity and interoperatibility of their solutions.
6.Today the trend is that leading telecom providers have a preferred list of OSS ISVs and SIs. Carriers are working with ISVs that either provides strong professional services or have solid relationships with SIs or network equipment providers. In response to this trend, OSS vendors have developed their products from point applications such as inventory management to full product suite.
Posted By : HIREN RUPANI
July 8, 2008
UNEARTHING MOBILE LOCATION BASED SERVICES
Once considered to be the possible ‘killer application’ for mobile operators, it is the high level of interest and advances in technology that have spurred the development of the location industry and created a multifaceted assortment of players, service concepts and business models. The more personalized a mobile service is to a subscriber, the more valuable that service becomes, both to the user and to mobile operators. By combining information on the location of a mobile phone user, services can be tailored exactly to the user’s situation. These powerful location-based services are one of the keys to the growth of Mobile Internet, in both the consumer and business markets.
Even though many mobile location-based services (LBS) have not become as successful as anticipated, some location services already show much promise in several European countries. The most successful services, in terms of revenues, are turn-by-turn navigation services, corporate fleet management and tracking solutions, in addition to location-based voice and data tariffs. In 2007, about seven years since the launch of the first services, European mobile LBS revenues amounted to roughly € 157 million. Part of the problem emerges from the multiplicity of LBS and the lack of a standard for solutions and legislative uncertainties.
Location services, as commonly discussed today, consist of a broad range of services that incorporate location information with other data. This includes services deriving the proximity details from the network, the device or even the user. There are, as yet, few commercial examples of LBS. For the most part, services are in conjunction with WAP services, but the technology and applications are yet to truly converge into compelling services before a wider acceptance can be achieved. The result is an exciting, yet confusing, picture that is difficult for mobile services providers to apply to any structured analysis or business case. In all the excitement of this evolving industry and technical advances, it is important to note that location/proximity information is only one of several elements that are necessary to make the services valuable to users. For example, details on the location of a mobile user who is trying to locate his favorite restaurant are not particularly valuable without the underlying database that can match user location to street maps with names and locations of various retail establishments. The direction the user is travelling in is also useful contextual information.
There are three basic forms of LBS that need to be considered:
• location-blind, where a user pulls wireless content from the Internet;
• location-aware, where a user has input location to receive information relevant to their surroundings; and
• LBS, which will emerge from the convergence of the Internet, wireless communications and mobile positioning technologies.
Other services, such as Advertisements, will ‘push’ location-based information to subscribers, to advise them of special offers available in nearby stores while out shopping, for instance.
Mobile advertising that can direct mobile users to a nearby coffee shop with a ‘50% discount coupon’ is not particularly valuable unless targeted to user profiles that include information on beverage preferences. Location information provided by mobile services providers will not be valuable by itself unless combined with other critical information that is typically owned by third parties. It is this need for partnership that makes the business models for LBS particularly complex and the role of the mobile services providers less clear.
LBS is surely an area of modern mobile services where considerable growth is observed. The developments in the Internet domain, wireless/mobile networking as well as the proliferation of positioning technologies expedited such evolution. The impact on nomadic users is tremendous. It is evident that such progress needs to be addressed in a methodological manner and supported, where appropriate by coordinated standardization efforts.
Posted by : Saurabh Sinha
Even though many mobile location-based services (LBS) have not become as successful as anticipated, some location services already show much promise in several European countries. The most successful services, in terms of revenues, are turn-by-turn navigation services, corporate fleet management and tracking solutions, in addition to location-based voice and data tariffs. In 2007, about seven years since the launch of the first services, European mobile LBS revenues amounted to roughly € 157 million. Part of the problem emerges from the multiplicity of LBS and the lack of a standard for solutions and legislative uncertainties.
Location services, as commonly discussed today, consist of a broad range of services that incorporate location information with other data. This includes services deriving the proximity details from the network, the device or even the user. There are, as yet, few commercial examples of LBS. For the most part, services are in conjunction with WAP services, but the technology and applications are yet to truly converge into compelling services before a wider acceptance can be achieved. The result is an exciting, yet confusing, picture that is difficult for mobile services providers to apply to any structured analysis or business case. In all the excitement of this evolving industry and technical advances, it is important to note that location/proximity information is only one of several elements that are necessary to make the services valuable to users. For example, details on the location of a mobile user who is trying to locate his favorite restaurant are not particularly valuable without the underlying database that can match user location to street maps with names and locations of various retail establishments. The direction the user is travelling in is also useful contextual information.
There are three basic forms of LBS that need to be considered:
• location-blind, where a user pulls wireless content from the Internet;
• location-aware, where a user has input location to receive information relevant to their surroundings; and
• LBS, which will emerge from the convergence of the Internet, wireless communications and mobile positioning technologies.
Other services, such as Advertisements, will ‘push’ location-based information to subscribers, to advise them of special offers available in nearby stores while out shopping, for instance.
Mobile advertising that can direct mobile users to a nearby coffee shop with a ‘50% discount coupon’ is not particularly valuable unless targeted to user profiles that include information on beverage preferences. Location information provided by mobile services providers will not be valuable by itself unless combined with other critical information that is typically owned by third parties. It is this need for partnership that makes the business models for LBS particularly complex and the role of the mobile services providers less clear.
LBS is surely an area of modern mobile services where considerable growth is observed. The developments in the Internet domain, wireless/mobile networking as well as the proliferation of positioning technologies expedited such evolution. The impact on nomadic users is tremendous. It is evident that such progress needs to be addressed in a methodological manner and supported, where appropriate by coordinated standardization efforts.
Posted by : Saurabh Sinha
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