CANNES, France-Revenue assurance company Azure Solutions Ltd. today released the first part of its next-generation platform, which the company said will protect wireless carriers against gaps in their systems that could be costing them hundreds of millions of dollars.
“When you add it all up, it’s a massive number,” said John Cronin, Azure’s president and chief executive officer.
Azure calculates that telecom carriers are losing an average of 10.7 percent of their revenues due to leaks in their systems. Revenue can be lost through fraud as well as chinks in interconnections, systems integration, credit management, call routing and other functions-and taken together these holes can significantly cut into carriers’ bottom lines.
Cronin said Azure’s technology can monitor carrier systems and plug gaps where revenues may be draining out. The company’s new next-generation platform takes its revenue assurance product to the next level by adding support for IP networks and real-time reporting. The company today released its Inter-Party Management product, the first of its next-generation offerings, which Azure said provides real-time rating, billing and partner management technologies.
“We obviously moved to next-generation networks,” Cronin said. “If you’re not in the IP world, you’re not in the business.”
Privately held Azure competes against the likes of Amdocs, Convergys, CSG, Sofrecom, Subex and others. Cronin declined to discuss Azure’s financial situation, but said the company counts 220 employees in 10 locations across the globe. Azure has a total of about 60 customers, 16 of which are wireless carriers such as Vodafone, MmO2, Telenor and others. Cronin said Azure could consider an initial public offering within the next three years, but in the meantime is focusing on sales to North American carriers.
