The nation’s 236 million mobile subscribers rang up an impressive $4.8 billion in mobile data purchases last year, using their phones to do everything from sending text messages to watching “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” according to figures released last week by IDC. But while carriers are finally beginning to enjoy data revenues, they continue to face the back-end hassles of monetizing such offerings.
In their haste to bring new data services to market, network operators have built a patchwork of OSS/BSS silos that separately deliver content, optimize network traffic, bill the end user and provide customer relationship management services. A host of technology providers are hoping to help them tear down-or at least minimize-the number of those silos, integrating back-end processes with applications that deliver content and settle transactions.
“It’s proliferating. Some (operators) have 30, 40, 50 different billing systems, hundreds of OSS” solutions, said David Sharpley, VP of marketing and alliances for Oracle Communication’s global business unit. “I think all of them have recognized that there’s a value in tying together the customer piece at the front end first, which ultimately leads into both the billing and OSS front.”
The problem is nothing new, of course. Compartmentalized back-end systems began to be a problem as network operators expanded from fixed-line to mobile more than a decade ago, and the challenges have grown substantially thanks to the success of push-to-talk, text messaging and, now, 3G offerings.
“How old-school is a billing system?” asked Beau Atwater, chief strategist at Telcordia Technologies Inc. “But I still have problems myself with getting billing errors on my phone bill. It’s not trivial. It’s a huge problem with phone companies.”
And it’s the deployment of those new, high-tech services that raises the bar even higher. A host of mobile entertainment offerings are coming to market, including full-track downloads and off-network video offerings from MediaFLO and others. Operators that fail to successfully address their OSS/BSS issues risk an exponential increase in the number of so-called “solutions” they embrace, potentially creating greater numbers of balkanized billing and CRM systems that are not interoperable and must be managed independently.
“The role of OSS/BSS data as the lifeblood of a service provider is now recognized at an executive level,” according to a recent white paper from Frost & Sullivan’s Stratecast Partners, which examined IBM’s data-migration offerings for telecoms. “Addressing the data migration issue now, at the dawn of an age where data is retrieved, analyzed and compared to current conditions as part of a ‘new wave’ of real-time based services, will clearly separate those organizations that will attract and retain the highest-paying customers from those that do not.”
So operators are taking a long-term view in the interest of minimizing the number of silos they must manage and increasing interoperability. Instead of choosing new services based on how quickly they can take them to market, they’re making OSS a priority and opting for flexible platforms, then deploying services that are supported by the underlying technology.
It’s about time, said Oracle’s Sharpley. As the worlds of the Internet, cable TV, and fixed-line and wireless networks collide, telecoms have their work cut out for them. In wireless, perhaps more than any other space, the technology must perform a vast array of functions. Ideally, it should be able to provide real-time billing information, authenticate user clearance for specific types of content, track usage and perform customer service functions.
“I would argue that telcos generally are probably the most far behind when you look at other industry verticals,” Sharpley said. “In finance, in manufacturing, and in other industries, the software infrastructure in how they run their system is really seen as a competitive advantage for them.”
But even the best solutions on the market today require carriers to clean up their data before installing new technologies. A key to solving many of today’s OSS headaches will be developing software won’t get tripped up by an occasional typo, for instance, and take a more holistic view of data, said Atwater.
“I think when the OSSs are capable of operating with bad data, then you’re going to see a huge, dramatic drop in costs. Every enterprise has tons of data, and a big chunk of it is not clean.”
DEFINITIONS:
The world of OSS/BSS is home to nearly 400 vendors and, seemingly, as many acronyms and abbreviations. A few key terms:
OSS (Operations Support System) – Network management systems that support a specific function such as order processing, line testing and billing. Fixed-line and mobile operators typically have hundreds of OSSs.
FM (Fault Management) and PM (Performance Management) – Two of the main OSS functions.
BSS (Business Support System) – Often defined as a type of OSS, BSS solutions are designed to handle sales management, billing and CRM.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) – All-encompassing term for the interaction a company has with its customer, including marketing efforts and service calls. Includes the methodologies and technologies used to interact with customers and help them manage their own accounts.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) – Internet-based voice services such as Skype, which are increasingly seen as a threat to fixed-line and mobile revenues.
ISS (Intelligent Support Systems) – Technology that automatically analyzes and exploits data, such as tracking customer usage to recommend specific kinds of content.
