Around the World

Posted: September 30th, 2010 | Author: OSS Team | Filed under: Around the World | Tags: , , , , | No Comments »

FierceTelecom…
Putting Policy Control to Work
Editor-in-chief Sue Marek explains the current trend of policy control, as operators shift their business models and start implementing tiered price plans to keep revenue and bandwidth aligned.  Although policy control tools are available, some industry experts believe that policy control is an afterthought for operators, and that we may not see a more sophisticated use of the OSS solution until carriers deploy LTE networks.  Sue believes tiered pricing packages will probably be the mainstay for awhile, but eventually we will see “policy control 2.0 techniques”, which include real-time transactions and the ability to activate or de-activate new services on the fly.  Whatever the implementation, policy control tools will certainly continue to be a hot topic of discussion in the coming months and possibly years ahead, as more operators migrate from 3G to 4G.

European Communications…
Telecoms Bounces Back in 2010
Anne Morris reports on two recent studies from Ovum and Analysys Mason that indicates improved growth for the telecoms service sector in 2010.  Some of the reports key highlights include:

  • The worldwide telecoms market is poised to resume higher growth rates following the difficulties created by the economic slowdown—principal analyst, Roz Roseboro forecasts that worldwide telecoms revenue will grow at a CAGR of 6% between 2009 and 2014. – Analysys Mason
  • John Lively, chief forecaster shares a similar assessment: In 2010, China and India alone will add 329 million new mobile phone connections.  This is equivalent to more than the combined total population of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK. – Ovum
  • Fixed-line services will continue to decline, although fiber connections for broadband services will increasingly be important for telcos.  Overall, the number of fixed lines worldwide will fall from 1 billion in 2010, to 871 million by 2014.  Fixed-line services revenues will also fall from around $350 billion to $283 billion, for the same period. – Ovum
  • Mobile phone connections will increase from 5.3 billion in 2010 to 7.1 billion in 2014, with the emerging markets of Asia and Africa contributing much of the growth. Revenues from mobile phone services will increase by nearly $100 billion in the three years to 2012. – Ovum

Given these reports and the significant growth CSPs are expected to experience, it will be critical to support data traffic, while recognizing customer’s needs.  Operators need to realize that the traditional way to influence customer behavior—through pricing plan and charging options—is not sufficient enough in today’s dynamically changing market.

Mobile Europe…
Mobile Broadband, Content and Data Services Are Key to Helping Operators Combat Falling Retail Revenue, Says Report
According to a recent Analysys Mason study, retail telecoms revenue in Western Europe will continue to decrease by five percent between 2010 and 2015; however, operators can strengthen their positions by concentrating on two main growth areas: mobile broadband and data services.  The widespread adoption of flat-rate pricing models has led consumers to expect that their bills will not increase, and created a climate in which it is increasingly difficult for operators to derive more value from new services than they lose from legacy ones.  Yanli Suo-Saunders, senior analyst and leader of Analysys Mason’s mobile broadband research programme, states that the “demand for these services will grow as a result of increased service adoption and usage, as content and handset functionality improve. Tiered pricing structures will enable operators to monetize their higher-end smartphone users while also encouraging entry-level service adoption.”  The report indicates that a few important new revenue streams have yet to appear, but customer loyalty and trust—and the use of vastly more customer data—will be at the center of those that do emerge.



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