driving profits for communication service · pdf filelte optimisation 20 the type of content...

TALKING HEADSSigma Systems chief says newservice profits will be elusivewithout automation

TALKING HEADSSigma Systems chief says newservice profits will be elusivewithout automation

D R I V I N G P R O F I T S F O R C O M M U N I C A T I O N S E R V I C E P R O V I D E R S

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013

V O L U M E 1 4 I S S U E 6

GETREADY FOR

MOBILE W

ORLD

CONGRESS

25-28 FEBRUARY, 2013

BARCELONA, SPAIN

ISSN 1745-1736

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InfoVista acquires Mentum • SAP to resell DigitalRoute mediation • Amdocs scoresVimpelcom BSS consolidation deal • Syniverse in Hong Kong LTE roaming trial • Payments NewsMicrosoft's industry strategy revealed • Read the latest BSS & OSS News at www.vanillaplus.com

VANILLAPLUSDIRECTORY2013 Edition Inside500+ vendors listed

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LTE OPTIMISATIONIt all depends on thecontent consumed

QUALITY ASSURANCEHow can TV providersdifferentiate and compete?

CSP CASE STUDYInside KPN's wholesalecloud services operation

LTE OPTIMISATIONIt all depends on thecontent consumed

QUALITY ASSURANCEHow can TV providersdifferentiate and compete?

CSP CASE STUDYInside KPN's wholesalecloud services operation

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PLUS!

HP’s AUTONOMYCONTROVERSYBig acquisitions keepgetting bogged down

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IN THIS ISSUE

3VANILLAPLUS DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013

TALKING HEADS14

C O N T E N T S

Tim Spencer, presidentCOO of Sigma Systems

LTE OPTIMISATION20

EDITOR’S COMMENT 4The HP Autonomy is yet another big acquisition failure,says George Malim

INDUSTRY NEWS 5SAP agrees to resell Digital Route mediation; InfoVista acquires Mentum

PAYMENTS NEWS 7BICS and Xpress Money expand mobile remittances to Africa

CONTRACT NEWS 8CSG International wins Wataniya interconnect deal; Amdocs chosenfor Vimpelcom BSS consolidation

THE CONTRACT HOT LIST 11VanillaPlus’s round up of the major BSS and OSS contracts recentlyannounced worldwide

PEOPLE NEWS 12KPMG appoints new Media and Telecoms global chair; Digital routeannounces new c-level appointees

TALKING HEADS 14President and COO of Sigma Systems, Tim Spencer, explains whyautomation is fundamental to CSPs’ future business cases

QOS FOR TV PROVIDERS 17As users stop watching linear TV, George Malim assesses thechallenges TV providers face

EXPERT OPINION: TV SERVICE QUALITY 19Johan Görsjö says churn prevention must be prioritised

LTE OPTIMISATION 20The type of content consumed determines the optimisationapproach, finds Nick Booth

CSP CASE STUDY 22Inside KPN’s deployment of automation platforms from Parallels

EXPERT OPINION: DIRECT BILLING 23Frédéric Deman says direct billing is all gain with no pain

EXPERT OPINION: MONITORING FOR LTE 25Gathering real, actionable insights is critical says Richard Kenedi

POLICY MANAGEMENT 26Will policy management become just another function of billing,asks Justin van der Lande

WEBINAR REVIEW: MICROSOFT 28Johan Norvik explains Microsoft’s telecoms industry strategy

DIARY 31Where to go and what to see

VANILLAPLUS DIRECTORY 2013 33VanillaPlus brings you the leading Directory of CommunicationsBSS & OSS

CLOCKING OFF! 42Nick Booth feels rising frustration at bandwidth hoggers

Sigma Systemsis the provenglobal leader indelivering converged broadband services. SigmaSystems’ powerful solutions enable the world’sleading communications service providers toquickly and efficiently provision new revenue-generating value-added services and servicebundles—over any access technology to anydevice. The company’s award-winning solutionsinclude order management, provisioning andactivation, and active mediation of residentialand business VoIP, broadband, video, and triple-play and quad-play services, as well as SaaS andmobile services. With the support of Sigma’sCustomer Enablement teams, operators aroundthe globe — including Charter, Cox, Rogers,TELUS, Cogeco Cable, YouSee, Tiscali, NETServicos, Technology Networks, iTSCOM andZON Multimedia and more — are leveragingSigma’s solutions for service transformation andrapid, reliable delivery of new services. For moreinformation about Sigma Systems, visitwww.sigma-systems.com

I then parked the vehicle up and haven’tdone anything with it for almost a year. Ihaven’t kept up with maintenanceschedule or even invested in washing it.It’s now worth maybe half what I paid forit. They tyres are flat and the bodywork isbeginning to rust where I scratched it. Idon’t think the dealership or themanufacturer would be keen to re-imburse me for the loss in value ofthe vehicle.

At a similar date, HP bought unstructuredsearch software provider Automomy aspart of a software-focused strategy ledby former chief executive Leo Apotheker.Its plans have changed under new chiefMeg Whitman and Autonomy, which ithas done little to integrate, is now thesubject of a substantial write-down.Whitman bluntly wants some of HP’smoney back and has complained toauthorities in the US and the UK thatAutonomy misrepresented itsperformance at the time of its sale.

It’s accepted in the industry and byAutonomy founder Dr Mike Lynch thatHP paid a full price for Autonomy. IndeedLarry Ellison founder of rivalvendor Oracle tookgreat pleasure incrowing about theprice HP paid forthe company atthe time of itssale. Ellison mighthave foundAutonomy a

useful addition to his portfolio – but notat US$10 billion.

Apotheker, though, identifiedAutonomy’s technology as somethingthat could become central to HP’ssoftware-oriented strategy. It certainlyhas myriad uses within the telecomsindustry. However, HP’s new leadershipand changed strategy has seenAutonomy pushed to the sidelines. Thecompany has also failed to keepAutonomy’s senior management and theresulting write-down in the company’svalue looks fair. That’s something Lynchacknowledges, although he points outthat the value has been destroyed by HP– much like the value of the off-roader hasbeen destroyed by an uncaring owner.

The technology industry is littered withfailed mergers and acquisitions but HPseems to be particularly bad at them. AsLynch has commented, when he joinedHP it was like getting on a plane to findout that the engines are on fire and thepilots are fighting each other.

Let’s hope the recently acquiredcompanies in the OSS/BSS sector find

more welcomingenvironments at their

purchasers.

Enjoy the magazine

George Malim

VANILLAPLUS DECEMBER/JANUARY 20134

Imagine the scene: A year ago I spent a vast sum on a new off-roadvehicle in preparation for an overland trip around the globe. Ibought a desirable vehicle with many features and additionaloptions. The vehicle had only just been released and because ofthat I had to pay over the list price in order to get the vehicle Iwanted and avoid delivery delay. However, my plans changed and Idecided not to go on the trip. Instead, I took the vehicle out for adrive through some local woodland during which I scratched thepaintwork and dented some of the panels.

C O M M E N T

John Aalbers,chief executive,Volubill

Martin Creaner, president,TM Forum

AndreasFreund, VPMarketing, OrgaSystems GmbH

Louis Hall, chief executive,CerillionTechnologies

Gabriel Matsliach,general manager,BSS Product Line,Comverse

Pat McCarthy, VPof GlobalMarketing, ServiceDelivery Solutions,Telcordia

Simon Muderack,CEO, Tribold

John Rainger,vice president,EMEA, CSGInternational

Mac Taylor, CEO,The MorianaGroup

Chris Yeadon,director of ProductMarketing, Ericsson

Dr Reinhard Zuba,CMO, Vipnet(Telekom Austria)

EDITORGeorge MalimTel: +44 (0) 0208 292 [email protected]

DIGITAL EDITORNathalie BisnarTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

BUSINESSDEVELOPMENTDIRECTORCherisse DraperTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Mark BridgesTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

OPERATIONS DIRECTORCharlie BisnarTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

PUBLISHERJeremy CowanTel: +44 (0) 1420 [email protected]

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PUBLISHED BYPrestige Media Ltd.Suite 28,30 Churchill SquareKings Hill, West MallingKent ME19 4YU, UKTel: +44 (0) 1732 897645

DESIGNJason ApplebyArk Design Consultancy LtdTel: +44 (0) 1787 881623

VanillaPlus is distributed free to selected named individualsworldwide who meet the Publisher's terms of Circulation Control. Ifyou would like to apply for a regular free copy supplied at thePublisher's discretion visit www.vanillaplus.com If you do notqualify for a free subscription, paid subscriptions can be obtained.Subscriptions for 6 issues cost £99.00 worldwide (or US$150 /EUR125) including post and packing. VanillaPlus magazine ispublished 6 times per year.

All rights reserved. No part of thispublication may be copied, stored,published or in any way reproduced withoutthe prior written consent of the Publisher

© Prestige Media Ltd 2012

EDITORIAL ADVISORS

Dan Baker, ResearchDirector, TechnologyResearch Institute

George Malim,Editor:VanillaPlus

Autonomy loses itsautonomy – and its value

I N D U S T R Y N E W S

SAP and Digital Routehave announced a globalreseller agreementwhereby SAP will offerDigitalRoute'sMediationZone solutionto its customers as theSAP ConvergentMediation application byDigitalRoute. This

scalable software facilitates connectivityto the charging solution that supportskey use cases for telecoms, high-tech,banking, postal and logistics companiesacross the globe.

The mediation layer is a criticalcomponent of a competitive billingsolution, which seamlessly integratesnetwork elements and data sources withthe SAP Convergent Chargingapplication. SAP Convergent Mediationhelps customers optimise data streamsto shorten time to market for newservices and respond quickly to changesin network infrastructure or regulatorydemands. As networks evolve andconsumers demand an increasinglycomplex array of innovative services,the ability to support new offerings is acritical source of competitive advantage

for service providers. SAP's reselleragreement with DigitalRoute supportsgrowth in a rapidly changing market,enabling companies to expand markets,offer innovative services and quicklyaddress customers' changing needswithout being constrained by theirbilling solution.

"SAP Convergent Mediation allows ourcustomers to address new businessrequirements and drive profitablegrowth," said Jens Amail, senior vicepresident, Services Industries, SAP."Working with DigitalRoute to provideout-of-the-box integration with SAPConvergent Charging for transactionrating and charging allows us to extendour support for the billing requirementsof new Telco 2.0 services and evolvingcustomer demands."

Jan Karlsson, CEO of DigitalRoute,added: "Mediation software is a keysource of performance and efficiencybenefits. The combination of SAPConvergent Mediation and SAPConvergent Charging delivers an end-to-end solution that will empowercustomers in the service industries toachieve real competitive advantages."

VANILLAPLUS DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013 5

Jan Karlsson:Mediation is asource ofperformance

SAP and DigitalRoute sign reseller agreement

InfoVista acquires Mentum to create SON migration path

N E W S U P D AT E

InfoVista has acquired Mentum, aprovider of RAN and backhaul networkplanning and optimisation systems. Theacquisition is part of InfoVista’s strategyto strengthen its solution set across thenetwork lifecycle and customerexperience domains, enabling operatorsto better plan, operate, optimise andmonetise their networks. InfoVistaexpects the acquisition to enhance itsability to offer a reliable path to self-organising networks (SON).

This is the first acquisition for InfoVistasince it was acquired by Thoma Bravo inMarch 2012 and brings a combined usercommunity of thousands of expertsspread over 250 mobile operatorcustomers in more than 120 countries.Mentum, which was established 20years ago, claims 100 LTE customers.

“I’m excited about the vast expertise inthe mobile market that the talented

Mentum employees, customers andpartners will bring to InfoVista,” saidPhilippe Ozanian, CEO of InfoVista. “Thisacquisition brings together extensiveradio and IP expertise, uniquelypositioning InfoVista as a solutionprovider that can tackle the increasingcomplexity of next-generation mobilenetworks.”

Mark Mortensen, principal analyst atAnalysys Mason, added: “Following thelaunch of InfoVista's SON solution atManagement World 2012, the company’sacquisition of Mentum demonstrates itscommitment to become a major playerin providing hybrid SON,” he said.“Incorporating real-time information andforecasted network intelligence into theRAN and IP transport planningprocesses will enable InfoVista to offerthe accuracy and efficiency essential foroptimised and just-in-time RAN andbackhaul investments.”

I N D U S T R Y N E W S

Wipro Technologiesinvests in CAST CAST, a provider of Software Analysisand Measurement (SAM) systems, hasentered into a strategic partnership withWipro Technologies, the globalinformation technology, consulting andoutsourcing business of Wipro Limited,to equip its delivery centres with theCAST Application Intelligence Platformfor Quality.

The CAST Application IntelligencePlatform analyses and measuresapplications against the emerging CISQ(Consortium for IT Software Quality)standards that encapsulate system-levelcoding and architecture best practicesfor security, reliability, performanceefficiency and maintainability. Bydeploying CAST, Wipro is positioningitself to effectively respond tocustomers’ SLAs which are increasinglyincluding structural qualityrequirements.

Actuate acquiresQuiterian to deliverbig data analyticsActuate Corporation has acquiredQuiterian, a privately held softwarecompany that provides visual datamining, social media analytics andpredictive analytics for business andother non-technical users.

Quiterian Analytics will be integratedinto Actuate’s flagship product,ActuateOne, and will be known as BIRTAnalytics. BIRT Analytics will empowerbusiness users far beyond thecapabilities of existing data discoveryand business intelligence technologiesto present them with a combination ofanalysis, visualisation and informationdelivery options.

“By acquiring world-class technologyand talent at Quiterian, we’re takingpowerful analytics and visual datamining technologies that havedemonstrated traction in Spain to therest of the world via our direct, OEMand partner channels,” said PeteCittadini, president and CEO at Actuate.

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M2Mnow.bizProfit from a world of connected devices

N E W S U P D AT E

P A Y M E N T S N E W S

BICS, a provider ofwholesale carrierservices and a pioneer inthe mobile financialservices market, hasannounced an agreementwith Xpress Money toopen new mobile

remittance corridors towards Africa. Theagreement will facilitate money transfersto mobile subscribers in the region.

The African diaspora will be enabled totransfer money back home in variousincrements instantly and cost effectivelyusing Xpress Money’s safe and secureservice. Xpress Money has internationalreach with 135,000 agent locationsacross the world. Mobile subscribers inAfrica that use mobile wallet serviceswill be eligible to receive the moneytransfers facilitated by the agreement.

The international remittance isfacilitated by HomeSend, a globalhubbing service that enables mobile-centric money transfers. HomeSend is aBICS service, based on technology fromits strategic business partner,eServGlobal, and connects a communityof telecoms service providers, banksand financial organisations. It facilitatesmoney transfers in real-time, enablingperson-to-person transfers of cash,credit card payments or direct bank

transfers.

Daniel Kurgan, chief executive officer ofBICS, said: “This agreement with XpressMoney will open up new remittancecorridors and expand the scope ofinternational money transfers. The firstphase of this implementation has madeit possible to send money easily andrapidly through Xpress Money’s agentsto mobile wallet users in Africa. XpressMoney now has access to the networkof service providers connected to theHomeSend Hub, contributing to ourgoal of building a global mobileremittance ecosystem."

Sudhesh Giriyan, vice president ofXpress Money, added: “We at XpressMoney have been looking to provide ourcustomers with increasingly innovativeproducts and services that match theirhectic lifestyle; this partnership withBICS is a step in the same direction. Weare happy to offer our customers aroundthe world an easy to use service that willenable them to send money to theirloved ones in Africa even when they areon the move. Mobile money transfersare the future of the remittancebusiness, with BICS onboard as ourpartner we will be able to leverage theirsuperior technology platform to offerour customers with a money transferservice right at their finger-tips.”

VANILLAPLUS DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013 7

DanielKurgan:Opening newremittancecorridors

MasterCard expandsmobile payments partnerships

MasterCard has announced two newpartnerships with T-Mobile andOrange in Poland. These most recentmobile partnerships join a growingglobal trend toward wirelesstelecoms providers rolling out mobilecontactless payment options to itscustomers.

“2012 has been a significant year forMasterCard as we have put our focuson being the partner of choice fortelecoms service providers aroundthe world,” said Jorn Lambert, headof Emerging Payments at MasterCardEurope. “The combination ofMasterCard’s leading innovation andtechnologies combined with thetechnological advancements in thehandsets and service providernetworks is fuelling the enthusiasmfor strong and meaningfulpartnerships.”

Ogone completesacquisition of Tunz.com

Payments specialist Ogone hascompleted its acquisition ofTunz.com. The newly acquiredcompany has the status of Europeane-money issuer and is therefore ableto provide financial services in theEuropean Union, for which a licenceas an accredited institution forelectronic money is required. Ogonecan in the meantime provide variouslocal and international paymentmethods with a single contract,under the terms of which webmerchants can reach millions ofconsumers abroad.

Ogone says it is capitalising on theglobal trend towards payment viamobile technology by incorporatingTunz.com, which can offer mobilewallets as a part of its services. Thisvirtual wallet allows customers to usetheir mobile phone as a means ofpayment, and it even supportsmultiple currencies and products suchas vouchers, coupons and tickets.

BICS and Xpress Money expandmobile remittances to Africa

Vodafone joins HomeSend international mobile money hubVodafone is set to help more peoplewithout access to conventional bankingby broadening the reach of its securemobile money transfer service, M-Pesa.

Vodafone will connect its M-Pesa serviceto international remittance hub,HomeSend operated by BICS. This willallow M-Pesa customers to send andreceive funds via their mobile phoneaccounts by connecting directly to morethan 21 international money transferbusinesses in 35 countries.

M-Pesa was launched by Vodafone in2007 and is currently available in sevencountries including India, Kenya andTanzania. The service allows customersto send and receive money via theirmobile phones as securely and simply

as sending a text message. Prior to M-Pesa, many people in developingmarkets had no choice but to move casharound in person or by public transport,exposing them to corrupt middlemenand thieves.

Vodafone director of Mobile MoneyMichael Joseph said: “Mobile changeslives. It also transforms societies andeconomies: a 10% increase in mobilepenetration in a country equates to a1.2% increase in GDP growth. We arenow at the next stage of that growth. Bybreaking down national barriers to makemobile money transfer truly global andubiquitous across all competingnetworks, just like text messaging today,we can further connect the world’s hugeunbanked population.”

P A Y M E N T S N E W S

N E W S U P D AT E

C O N T R A C T N E W S


Wataniya Telecom hasselected CSGInterconnect as thewholesale billingmanagement system forits operation in Kuwait.Wataniya TelecomKuwait has multipledomestic andinternational telecomspartners including forvoice, data and

SMS/MMS interconnection. CSGInterconnect will automate partnermanagement, carrier-to-carrier rating,billing and settlement and help speeddisputes management andreconciliation. It will provide the CSPwith detailed financial reporting as wellas interfaces to other systems.Previously wholesale billing washandled manually.

"With the growth of our wholesaleoperation we recognised the

opportunity to review and improve ourpartner agreements and settlementmanagement processes," said HishamSiblini, chief technology officer atWataniya Telecom in Kuwait. "Wechose to implement CSG Interconnectknowing our parent company QTel andour operations in Algeria and Tunisiahave had great results from doing so.We valued being able to work closelywith CSG's regional services team inDubai."

John Rainger, vice president of EMEAat CSG International, added: "Asoperators grow, the wholesale businesseither becomes an important revenue-generator, or an expensive cost centre.CSG Interconnect offers all operators –local, regional and global – theopportunity to optimise their carrier-to-carrier billing and settlementsprocesses and we welcome WataniyaTelecom in Kuwait as our newestcustomer in the region."

John Rainger:Wholesale canbecome a costcentre asCSPs grow

Wataniya Kuwait to deploy CSGInternational wholesale billing

VimpelCom chooses Amdocs for BSS consolidation

VimpelCom, Russia’s third-largest CSP,has selected Amdocs CES software toconsolidate its business supportsystems (BSS) following the company’sacquisition of Golden Telecom andCorbina Telecom. The solution willconverge multiple lines of business,providing VimpelCom with a singleview of its customers, enabling thecompany to improve the customerexperience, maximise revenueopportunities and reduce operationalcosts.

In the project led by local systemsintegrator AT Consulting, Amdocs willintegrate multiple existing customermanagement systems across differentlines of business with solutions fromAmdocs’ BSS suite, into a single,unified BSS system. An integral part ofthe solution, Amdocs EnterpriseProduct Catalog will be the masterrepository for all product information

allowing VimpelCom to quickly andefficiently define, blend, price, bundle,maintain, update and retire productand service offerings.

“By consolidating our BSS systems notonly do we gain operational efficiencieswith fewer systems to manage, webecome even more competitive bysimplifying and enhancing thecustomer experience,” said AndreyGodunov, CIO of VimpelCom Russia.“For example, with a single view of ourcustomer, we can provide faster, moreaccurate customer services to acustomer with mobile, fixed line andInternet services, while also reducingcall times to our call centres. Inaddition, we will be able to introducedynamic pricing bundles for ourcustomers, increasing opportunities forup-sell and cross-selling acrossdifferent lines of business to maximiserevenue opportunities.”


Midcontinent signsNetCracker contractextensionMidcontinent Communications hassigned a contract extension forNetCracker’s convergent, next-generation BSS solutions to enableseamless transition to the next-generation of services orientedarchitecture (SOA) and create afoundation for business agility.

Midcontinent Communications is aprovider of data, video, phone and cableservices for residential and businesscustomers in communities locatedthroughout the U.S. Midwest. The CSPwill continue utilising NetCracker’s BSSsolutions for its billing and customercare and will also be implementingNetCracker’s secure SOA, including webservices, for a standardised approach tocustomer and service management.

Gary Shawd, vice president ofInformation Systems at Midcontinent,said: "The adoption of NetCracker’s SOAand web services to our BSS solutionwill enable us to deliver a superiorexperience to our customers in the nearterm and these services will also enableus to address customer needs andbusiness challenges as we grow andexpand in the future."

Astellia to supply CEMsystem to VodacomMozambiqueVodacom Mozambique has chosenAstellia to implement its VIP Care CEMsolution. The application is intended toimprove customer satisfaction andcustomer loyalty – particularly amongsthigh value subscribers.

Vodacom is the second largest mobileoperator in Mozambique and since 2009has been majority owned by Vodafone.By using Astellia’s customer centric VIPCare solution, Vodacom plans to monitorthe quality of experience of itssubscribers from a single subscriber upto a group of users. VIP Care also helpsVodacom define and monitor servicelevel agreements (SLAs) with theircustomers based on Key QualityIndicators.


Syniverse has announcedan agreement to provideits IPX Network andDiameter signallingservice to Hong Kongmobile network operatorSmarTone. Theagreement supports

SmarTone’s participation in Syniverse’scomprehensive LTE roaming trials,which allow the operator to test end-to-end LTE roaming functionality andlaunch commercial service with partnersglobally.

“It is critical that mobile serviceproviders anticipate and prepare now forthe technical complexities of LTEroaming so that end users enjoy aseamless experience during thetransition from legacy services to LTE,”said Jeff Gordon, president and CEO ofSyniverse. “The Syniverse LTE solutionsenable SmarTone to test, resolve andguarantee the quality of its LTE roamingprocesses. In addition, SmarTone’sintegration of our IPX network is acritical step as it offers LTE

interoperability to its end users.”

Syniverse’s IPX Network and DiameterSignaling Service are core componentsof the company’s LTE portfolio offeringcarrier-grade, five-nines connections thatare fully enabled to deliver the qualityand class of service required for LTE.Diameter Signaling Service is a leading-edge solution that addresses routing,interoperability and mediation servicesto enable seamless LTE roaming.SmarTone is among the more than 80operators worldwide that are connectedto Syniverse’s IPX.

Stephen Chau, CTO of SmarTone, added:“During our LTE rollout, we must continueto deliver a high level of service andensure our networks interoperateflawlessly to provide the ubiquitousreach our end users have come to expect.With Syniverse’s IPX and LTE roamingsolutions, we are able to address thechallenges of LTE interoperability andinterworking now to ensure the bestquality of experience for end users onceLTE roaming is launched commercially.”

Jeff Gordon:Prepare forLTE roamingcomplexities

SmarTone chooses Syniverse forHong Kong LTE roaming trials

Redknee signs converged billing and customercare deal with Malea MMS in NigerRedknee has signed a new convergedbilling and customer care deal withMalea Multimedia Mobile and Services(Malea MMS) that will see the companylaunch a new mobile brand in Niger. Themulti-million dollar, multi-year termlicence deal adds to Redknee’s extensivefootprint in the African market.

Redknee’s real-time converged billingand customer care solution is set toenable Malea MMS to launch mobilemarketing, multimedia and customerloyalty services as well as provideadvanced customer care by offering itscustomers real-time visibility of theirusage and balance, including real-timeusage notifications. Redknee’s solutionwill also allow Malea MMS to launch data,voice, content and media services forprepaid, postpaid and hybrid customers.

Lionel Ekabouma, managing director of

Malea MMS said: “Operating in a fastmoving market meant that we required anext generation converged billing andcustomer care solution that couldsupport our aggressive growth strategy.Its reputation to support operators incompetitive markets, to elevate thecustomer experience and itsprofessional services approach waspivotal to the decision to select Redkneeto support our launch strategy andongoing success.”

Lucas Skoczkowski, CEO of Redknee,added: “We are extremely pleased to besupporting Malea MMS launch its brandto the market in Niger. CSPs areincreasingly looking to diversify theirbusiness while delivering an advancedcustomer experience. This newcustomer win reinforces Redknee’sgrowing momentum in the market andexpansion of its geographical footprint.”


TelOne deploys FTSLeap billing in ZimbabweZimbabwe’s TelOne has successfullyimplemented Leap Billing software fromFTS in a comprehensive end-to-endbilling and customer care solution.

TelOne is Zimbabwe’s national telecomsoperator and provides a wide range ofservices to its residential and businesscustomers, including wirelinetelephony, wireless, broadband andsatellite communications. TelOne’sbilling transformation project includesthe implementation of FTS’ convergentbilling and charging, interconnectbilling, invoicing, order management,customer management, networkmanagement, mediation and more.

“Following the successfulimplementation of Leap Billing, we canalready see the benefits of the FTS’solution," said Hampton Mhlanga,TelOne’s CEO. “The flexibility of thesystem will enable us to provide a richeroffering to our customers through therapid implementation of new services,as well as immediate additional sourcesof income from interconnect fees.

MTN South Africaselects Celcite fornetwork optimisationCelcite Management Solutions hasannounced that cellular operator MTNSouth Africa has adopted its COPS-AICsoftware solution, as a service, towardsmaximising optimisation of its growing2G and 3G networks.

MTN’s planning and optimisationengineers will use COPS-AIC softwareto complement their existing tools withfurther efficiencies to assist inaccelerating the ongoing improvementof network quality indicators.

“MTN was looking for a tool toempower its engineers and furtherimprove efficiencies,” said GrahamKemp, Celcite’s regional managingdirector for Africa. “COPS-AIC willenable MTN to further optimise its 2Gand 3G radio networks, giving it an evenmore stable base from which to roll outadditional 3G capacity.”



C O N T R A C T H O T L I S T

VanillaPlus Hot List: December/January 2013

Aircom International H3G, Italy Selected to improve quality of network using AIQ intelligent optimisation managed services and consultancy 11.2102

Aircom International MTN, Afghanistan Deployment of Aircom Optima software to provide end-to-end view of LTE network performance 11.2012

Allot Communications Millicom International Allot Service Gateway deployed at nine affiliates in Latin America and Africa for Millicom's Tigo(Africa and Latin America) branded operators 11.2012

Amdocs Vimpelcom, Russia Amdocs CES software selected for BSS consolidation project following Vimpelcom's acquisition of 11.2012Golden Telecom and Corbina Telecom

Amdocs Melita Group, Malta Delivery of BSS and CES software and hardware for end-to-end BSS consolidation project 10.2012

Amdocs Sprint, USA New seven-year managed services deal agreed for billing and customer care systems 11.2012

Amdocs Telefónica Czech Republic Amdocs Document Designer deployed to provide customers with a single bill for fixed and mobile services 11.2012

Astellia Digicel, Haiti Renewal of 3G network assurance contract to provide visibility from RAN to core network 11.2012

Astellia Vodacom, Mozambique Implementation of VIP Care CEM system to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty for high value 11.2012subscriber in particular

BICS Airtel Africa (pan-region) Agreement to facilitate mobile money transfer services across Africa using HomeSend money transfer 11.2012

Celcite MTN, South Africa Adoption of Celcit COPS-AIC software as a service to maximise optimisation of 2G and 3G networks 11.2012

CSG International Wataniya Telecom, Kuwait Deployment of CSG Interconnect as wholesale billing management system for Kuwaiti operation of Qtel 11.2012

FTS TelOne, Zimbabwe Deployment of Leap Billing software including convergent billing and charging, interconnect billing, 11.2012invoicing, order management, customer management, network management and mediation

i-conX solutions Vodafone, Qatar Deployment of I-conX Revenue Optimisation system encompassing specialised quality and reporting 11.2012tools alongside core least cost routing functionality

Netcracker Midcontinent Netcracker convergent BSS solutions chosen to enable transition to next generation services oriented 11.2012Technology Communications, USA architecture (SOA)

Redknee Malea MMS, Niger Converged billing and customer care system to support launch of new mobile brand 11.2012

Subex True Corporation, Subex Revenue Operations Centre Revenue Assurance deployed by Thailand's largest ISP and cable 11.2012Thailand provider and third largest mobile operator

Sybase 365 Globe Telecom, Philippines Enablement of LTE roaming service with China Mobile Hong Kong using Sybase IPX 365 global IPX network 11.2012

Sybase 365 Zajil International, Kuwait Partnership to extend IPX services to mobile operators in MENA region using Sybase 365 global IPX network 11.2012

Syniverse SmarTone, Hong Kong Provision of IPX network and Diameter Signaling Service to support LTE roaming trials 11.2012

The Hot List below shows the companies informing us of recent contract wins or product deployments. If your contract is not listed here email the details to us now marked "Hot List" <[email protected]>

Vendor(s) Client, Country Product / Service (Duration & Value) Awarded

H O T L I S T

Monaco Telecom completes first phaseof Synergie IT transformation project Monaco Telecom has completed the first phase of ProjectSynergie, its business and IT transformation focused onconvergence, customer-centricity and quality of service.This phase of the programme included theimplementation of Oracle Communications Billing andRevenue Management and Oracle Communications Orderand Service Management.

Monaco Telecom is the incumbent CSP in the Principalityof Monaco, providing fixed, mobile, Internet andtelevision services to both consumer and enterprisecustomers. Facing new competition, Monaco Telecomneeded to launch innovative bundled services morerapidly. However, its legacy IT platform could not supportservice bundling as needed and had become tooexpensive to maintain or upgrade.

To overcome these challenges Monaco Telecom ismerging multiple service silos into a single billing andcustomer care platform. Once complete, it will provide amore flexible and scalable IT platform to offer and delivernew services.

Monaco Telecom selected Oracle to provide a convergentbilling and customer care platform for all current andfuture product lines. The CSP also selected OracleCommunications Consulting to manage the productimplementation and complete the data migration from thelegacy system to the new platform.

Monaco Telecom will continue to work with OracleCommunications Consulting on Synergie Phase Two,which will include the consolidation of its other fourlegacy billing platforms, implementation of more efficientIT processes and enhanced customer services.

“Customer service is the heart of our business, thus wedesired a trusted partner to help protect and grow thecustomer equity we’ve built our reputation on. Weselected Oracle because of its comprehensive productportfolio and deep expertise helping communicationsservice providers execute IT transformation projects.Oracle was the lowest-risk, most flexible solution for us, inwhich we have total confidence,” said Martin Péronnet,chief executive of Monaco Telecom.

P E O P L E N E W SVANILLAPLUS DECEMBER/JANUARY 201312

DigitalRoute expands leadershipteam with new CFO, COO andlegal officerDigital Route, a provider of mediation and dataintegration solutions for the communications industry, hasannounced the expansion of the company’s leadershipteam. Three key senior executives, Johan Bergh,Andreas Zartmann, and Tobias Edvardsson havejoined the company in positions to support the company’s

continued growth.

Arriving as chief operating officer is Johan Bergh, a well-known andhighly respected leader in the IT industry for the past two decades,including eleven years in senior roles with Ericsson, focused on thetelecoms industry. Most recently Bergh has served as divisionalmanaging director of Logica Sveriga, where his achievements haveincluded building Logica’s Utilities & Telecoms division into one of thecompany’s most consistently profitable units. Before Logica, Bergh servedas a director for WM-Data and prior to that, as a vice president withAtos Origin.

Joining DigitalRoute as chief finance officer is Andreas Zartmann.Zartmann has over a decade’s experience as a leader in corporate finance,having most recently helped achieve a significant turnaround at SörmanInformation, which today operates on best-in-class margins. Zartmannhas also been the CFO of publicly listed companies on OMX NordicExchange. He has extensive experience in the telecoms and IT securitysectors.

Taking up the role of chief legal officer is Tobias Edvardsson. Edvardssonis a lawyer and entrepreneur with a strong focus on technologycompanies and commercial agreements. Also a leading expert on cloudcomputing, he authored the first Swedish book on the subject as well asthe Swedish standard agreements. Prior to his legal career he co-foundedand managed, inter alia, Internet One, GlobeCom and Spinbox.

“We are delighted to welcome these experienced leaders to DigitalRoute.They will help the company to achieve its vision of being the market’sleading data management solution, and they add new and critical skills toour leadership team,” said Jan Karlsson, CEO of DigitalRoute. "I lookforward to their contributions to the company’s success.”

Graeme Ross joins KPMG as global chair ofMedia and Telecommunications practiceGraeme Ross has been promoted to global sector chair of KPMGInternational’s Media and Telecommunications practice. Ross, a partnerwith the UK firm, serves as the global lead partner for several key clientsin the telecoms and media sectors and leads KPMG’s global marketsgroup for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMA). A partner with KPMGfor over 17 years, he is also a EMA region board member and haspreviously led KPMG’s technology, media and telecoms practice for theUK and European member firms.

“It is imperative that we remain relevant to clients’ agendas by continuingto bring new solutions and propositions which address the specific issuesand challenges they face,” said Ross. “We have a highly talented globalnetwork of partners and professionals in the sector who work closelytogether and I’m delighted to be able to contribute to our continued clientsuccesses in the sector.”

Isabelle Allen, KPMG’s global head of sales and markets, added: “Graemehas an impressive track record in making clients’ business his top priority.With his deep knowledge of the telecoms and media sectors, as well ashis broad experience with a number of very large multinationalcompanies, clients can be assured that KPMG firms’ professionals willcontinue to bring fresh ideas together with our industry skills to helpthem achieve their business objectives.”

Acision as announced the appointment of MichaelFrausing to the position of senior vice president andgeneral manager for its Asia Pacific region. Based inSingapore, Frausing will be responsible formanaging Acision’s local business operations andwill play a pivotal role in cultivating customer andemployee relationships, strengthening the company’sregional presence and bolstering the business.

Prior to joining Acision, Frausing was the head ofglobal sales at GE, where he focused on energystorage for the telecoms, grid and UPS segmentsand helped implement strategies to grow the salesteam, as well as penetrate and increase marketshare. Frausing also worked at LGC Wireless wherehe grew sales from $12 million to over $100 millionin less than a five-year period. He also spent 15 yearsat Ericsson in various sales leadership positions,primarily selling a broad range oftelecommunications solutions to carriers worldwide.

René Svendsen-Tune has joined Nokia SiemensNetworks as head of its Customer Operations forEurope. He will be responsible for the company’ssales and customer operations across Europe and bea member of the company’s Executive Board.Svendsen-Tune will report to chief executive,Rajeev Suri.

Previously, Svendsen-Tune was chief executive ofTeleca, a leading supplier of software services to themobile industry. He subsequently gained significantexperience of working with private equity in this role,following the company’s acquisition by SymphonyTechnology Group in 2008. Prior to that, from 1993to 2006, he spent 13 years with Nokia Networks,where he served in a range of positions, including assenior vice-president of global customer and marketoperations.

Svendsen-Tune will be based in Munich, Germany.He takes over the role from interim Europe head,Hans-Jürgen Bill, who will return to focusing onhis permanent role as the company’s head ofhuman resources.

Alcatel-Lucent has appointed Craig Thompson tohead up a new business unit managing itsintellectual property assets as a dedicated profitcentre. With more than 29,000 issued patents, andseveral thousand patent applications filed each year,the new unit will be key in Alcatel-Lucent’s newoperating model, announced in September.

Thompson joins Alcatel-Lucent from Nokia wherehe served as vice president of Legal and IntellectualProperty affairs of the company’s mobile phonebusiness, having originally joined Nokia’s IPR team in2004. In his role as senior vice president ofIntellectual Property at Alcatel-Lucent, Thompsonwill report to Jeong Kim, president of Bell Labs,who commented: “We are thrilled to have Craig onboard to lead the new business unit we have createdto generate additional value from our extremelystrong patent portfolio. Appointing an executive ofCraig’s calibre is a strong statement of ourcommitment to [maximising] the significant marketinterest in our intellectual property, and he will beinstrumental in converting that interest into ameaningful revenue stream.”

Appointments in brief

JohanBergh

P E O P L E N E W S

DRIVING PROFITS FOR

COMMUNICATION SERVICE PROVIDERSwww.vanillaplus.com

Website


T A L K I N G H E A D S

Tim Spencer is co-founder, president and COO of Sigma Systems, the provider ofservice order management, provisioning and activation, device provisioning andadvanced mediation solutions for broadband IP service offerings. Here, he tellsVanillaPlus how CSPs can drive new revenue by immersing themselves in the value-added and cloud services market place by relentlessly automating service fulfilmentprocesses and creating attractive service bundles. New revenues, added to theoperational cost savings, will help alleviate some of the commoditisation pressuresCSPs face.

VanillaPlus: What are the key challengesthat service providers face today?

Tim Spencer: They face a number ofchallenges but certainly revenue on coreservices is being commoditised and growth inmany core service provider businesses isstalling. Cable operators, for example, areseeing subscriber growth in the hundreds permonth when in the past they saw growth in

the tens of thousands. For European mobileoperators, 4% total growth is expected thisyear.

Declining or flat revenue, the need to investmassively in new network technology likeFTTH and LTE to remain competitive, and therise of serious over-the-top competition is a bitof a perfect storm for many operators. Serviceproviders must understand how to generate

Profitability of new value-addedservices is elusive withoutautomation and user control

Tim Spencer,president and COO,Sigma Systems

�


additional ARPU from their existing customerbase with new innovative services to thrive.

VP: Many CSP’s are considering thelaunch of cloud and value-addedservices, but can these services really bea differentiator for service providers?

TS: There are hundreds of millions of dollarsbeing poured into the cloud XaaS market byinvestors. Tapping that innovation successfullycan plug the ARPU gap the operators arefacing. There’s an opportunity for them to filltheir pipes and expand the value addedservices they offer today. I don’t believe thatservice providers will necessarily becomemarket place vendors with thousands ofapplications for consumers and the small andmedium business (SMB) market. What theyneed to do is focus on a set of value addedservices that take advantage of their networkand system investments, which will positionthem uniquely to their target markets.

The key for service providers is to improve thewhole new product introduction cycle fromnine months or more, which is common todayto just a few weeks or less. To do that theymust embrace bundling of OTT services withnetwork services, and to be successful theyrequire platforms that automate core functions inservice fulfilment for on-boarding new services.

VP: Can these cloud and value-addedservices be profitable for service providers?

TS: I believe they can but automation and self-management capabilities for the new servicesare absolutely critical here, because we’retalking about services that won’t have 40 or 50or 60% market uptake but 10 or 5% or evenless. However, the customer loyalty – orstickiness – that can be created by offeringthese value added services equates to a higherlifetime value of each customer. Automation isabsolutely critical to enable such services tobe profitable. Key functions such as singlesign-on and simple end user interfaces areneeded so service providers can bring serviceson board efficiently.

There’s a hidden secret here – OTT and SaaSvendors do not have a lot of automation intheir own back offices to support channels.We’ve done a lot of work isolating vendorsthat can provide flow-through fulfilment withno call centres and everything done online.The removal of the ‘integration tax’ requiredto bring that technology into the serviceprovider’s ecosystem is critical to successfuland profitable services, but there’s no reasonwhy small volume services couldn’t be easilyadopted with the right level of automation.Service providers can be a trusted advisor to

the SMB/SME market in this space and lookfor opportunities to aggregate applicationsand services. There are literally thousands ofcloud services and applications in the marketplace, many of which are likely to disappear asthe market matures. Service providers will belooking for sets of services that are equivalentin capability and reliability to the services theyprovide themselves.

VP: Why does OSS play a critical factorin enabling service providers toovercome these challenges?

TS: If service providers want to tap into value-added services and some of the differentiationthey can bring, they need more convergentsolutions in their OSS that bring together theirnetwork capability along with devicemanagement, single sign-on and ordering, aswell as capabilities like policy and quality ofservice. Automation is the key to that. Serviceproviders can’t afford to have quality issues orfall-out, they need to reduce manual steps.We’ve seen companies try to implement cloudservice brokerage with an army of call centrerepresentatives and manual processes. Thatmodel is flawed and quite expensive –automation is the only efficient way toapproach this.

VP: Sigma has customers in both thecable and telecoms markets, how dotheir challenges differ from one another?

TS: I really don’t think they face differentchallenges. The move to an all-IP core isclosing the gap and the line between types ofprovider is almost obliterated from myperspective. We’ve just held our annual userconference and the challenges our customersare dealing with are materially very similar.We’re focused from a technologicalperspective on helping service providersdeliver converged broadband – whether that’sover 4G, LTE, FTTH, DOCSIS or Wi-Fi, itdoesn’t really matter.

VP: So how does Sigma help serviceproviders to manage these newservices efficiently?

TS: There are four key aspects to what webring to the table to help. The first is ourextensible platform that automates the ordermanagement and service provisioning of coreservices and new value-added services. Thesecond is our solutions portfolio - we’veinvested in productising configurablesolutions relative to the types of services ourcustomers want to offer. The third aspect isour focus on customer enablement and self-sufficiency. We achieve that by providingtraining and knowledge management with

There are

hundreds of

millions of dollars

being poured into

the cloud XaaS

market by

investors

�


toolkits, development and regional support.Many of our customers have become self-sufficient on our platform which differentiatesus from our competitors who often needdozens of engineers to implement the smallestof changes that operators would prefer to beable to handle themselves. Finally, our latestlaunch, Cloud ServiceBroker, helps to drive theopportunity for service providers to becomethat market place for a targeted set of SaaSapplications. By offering the CloudServiceBroker as an extension of our existingOSS fulfillment platform, Sigma has created away for service providers to rapidly andefficiently realize new revenue opportunitiesfrom SaaS applications.

VP: Can you give some examples ofservice providers that Sigma has helpedapproach these new opportunities?

TS: We span the globe with customers in 22countries in all facets of communications andIP services. América Móvil, for example, offerstriple play voice, video and data services overcable and we’ve helped with value-addedservices deployments such as video-on-demand.

In Canada, with TELUS, we’ve helped themthrough a series of network architecturechanges from 2G to 3G to 4G with a library ofvalue-added services over mobile. Also inCanada, we’ve worked with Bell Aliant, as theyhave rolled out FTTH and IPTV to theircustomers. In Europe, we’ve worked with Zonin Portugal to automate their quad-playbundle over both cable and fibre networks andanother European fixed line operator launch anew LTE service, in addition to a series of OTTvalue added services on their roadmap.

VP: What are the perils of the lackautomation when rolling out services?

TS: The problems are many. McKinsey hasfound, for example that, when introducingnew services over broadband and fibre inparticular, up to 33% of FTTH customer ordersfail after order entry and only 20% of FTTH

installations are incident free. Couple that withtremendous downward pressure on budgetsand I see many operators avoiding the issuesrelated to order fall-out. For example, oneoperator in South Africa I have talked to wasexperiencing almost 40% order fall-out for IPvideo. Another in the US required 100% of itsorders to have some form of manualintervention for SMB SaaS services. CSPs can’tafford this inefficiency and, more importantly,SMBs will not give them the opportunity todelay, they’ll simply buy elsewhere.

Our focus is on helping CSPs reduce order fall-out and bring their order success rate to 99%or greater..

VP: These are all issues that haveimpacted the industry for years. Why isso much attention being paid to it today?

TS: There are a number of reasons butcommoditisation and pressure on pricing isadding significant challenges to the serviceprovider business. Inefficiency could bemasked in the past by the higher marginsservice providers achieved. We really thinkthat this realm of services that are available toservice providers to offer will continue toexpand but the whole functionality of newproduct introduction needs an overhaul.Automation and customer self-management isa key element of that.

VP: What keeps your customers awakeat night?

TS: The key issue is how service providersdrive more revenue via their existing pipes.Costs can continue to be driven lower whichwill drive profit but the market is mature andpressure on profit will continue to be severe.Helping to deliver value-added services bytapping into the significant innovation we’veseen and by embracing the OTT-as-a-serviceconcept and the fundamental differentiation aCSP can enable by bundling network and OTTservices together will solidify their position inthe value chain.

T A L K I N G H E A D S

We span the

globe with

customers in 22

countries in all

facets of

communications

and IP services

Visit: http://marketing.sigma-systems.com/vanilla-plus-monetizing-cloud


Q O S F O R T V P R O V I D E R S

Many TV markets are saturated and growth is isolated to winning customers from rivals.To do that, providers must seek to differentiate on QoS. Here George Malim explores thescale of the challenge and what providers are doing to overcome it.

Saturated markets mean there is nowhere togrow for TV service providers. Worse still, theirexisting customers have plenty of alternatives.They can consume TV on their mobiles andonline and that means TV providers have to offera demonstrably better proposition that rivals onother platforms. Premium content such as sportscoverage is part of their proposition certainly butsustained high quality service provision isanother.

Of course, there remains a substantialopportunity for TV providers to capitalise on ifthey can attract new users to their service ratherthan a rival’s.

“Proactively working to reduce churn rates byautomatically identifying customers at risk, and

of course the issues behind their problems, is ahigh-potential opportunity for all TV operators,”says Johan Görsjö, director of productmanagement at Agama Technologies. “We’vehad the privilege of working in close cooperationwith a number of leading operators for severalyears, giving us extensive real-world experiencein advanced quality and customer satisfactionmanagement and analytics. This has provedessential when developing our new ChurnIdentification Application extension to oursolution.”

Milya Timergaleyeva, vice president of marketstrategy at Oregan Networks, points out thatQoS in TV is not the same thing as plain oldquality of transmission – there are many otherdimensions of the user experience to consider.

Nowhere to grow so qualitybecomes paramount


“In IPTV and broadcast alike, QoS is representedin multiple facets of the user experience, startingfrom the ease of content discovery, speed of theuser interface rendering engine and ultimatelythe quality of video streaming,” she says. “Wesee that tier-1 MSOs who have invested heavilyinto infrastructure build-out, such as BritishTelecom and Deutsche Telecom in Europe, areembracing multicast over IP for linear television,as well as leveraging over the air broadcastmethodologies to address regular data trafficchallenges. Technologies such as RET(Retransmission) and FEC (Forward ErrorCorrection) are weaved into the varioustouchpoints of the delivery network from server –to last mile access, and finally the CPE.”

However, it’s not just traditional players that aredetermining users’ quality of experience. “Theover the top (OTT) part of the content industryhas been leaning heavily on the widely adoptedAdaptive Streaming Technologies, whichfragment and adapt the streams to real andvariable network conditions,” she adds. “Thisprevents interruptions to the video streaming,but may mean the video resolution is reduced. InOregan's deployments and generic softwareoffering, HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and themove towards MPEG DASH standardisation playan important part, particularly relevant interritories where high bandwidth DSL or fibreinfrastructures are not yet available.”

The last decade has seen global IP trafficpredicted to quadruple by 2014 and Gartnerestimates that 50% of workloads will be runningon virtual machines by the end of 2012.Broadcast companies are feeling the impact ofthis data burden, with the quality and quantity ofcontent becoming increasingly heavyweight,from high-definition video to streaming mobileand web feeds.

“Consumer tolerance for poor qualitytransmissions or slow access is rapidlydwindling,” points out Mukesh Bavisi, managingdirector of Exponential-e. “Subscribers nowdemand instant access to a range of resourcesand, if such services are not available, TVproviders not only miss out on revenueopportunities but their customers may becomefrustrated and look to competitors. Meanwhile, anew breed of global competitors, from Apple toGoogle, are touting OTT content and starting toshow their teeth.”

“While TV providers have vastly improved theend-user experience, so that quality audio andvideo content can be delivered in real-time toincreasingly global audiences, they need to lookinwards at their internal workflow systems aswell,” says Bavisi. “The burden of sharing large

files internally and among suppliers and partnershas been steadily growing heavier over the pastdecade. Other challenges include bottlenecksacross production workflows, caused by thehandling of large content media, legacy networksnot designed to support new media and theexpense of traditional satellite and microwavelinks. With broadcasters facing such a deluge ofdata to store and process, they are increasinglyturning to IP networks to deliver content morequickly and streamline their workflow.”

TV providers are becoming more savvy inanalysing the habits of their users, explainsTimergaleyeva: “Recommendation engines arebecoming commonplace thanks to the effort byservice operators – both OTT and managed – topersonalise the service, and the new possibilitiesthat the internet brings into the marketing mix,”she says. “The wealth of historical and real-timedata related to recent purchasing, pre-views andtitle browsing is collected by the head-end aswell as the STB middleware, analysed by arecommendation engine and put to thesubscriber in the form of suggestions, with asingle click purchase or stream initiation button.The Filter, Jinni and TV Genius have beenleading the fray and have been deployed bysome of the major OTT players and telecomsoperators.”

While user adoption of these technologies hasnot yet reached a critical mass because usersoften shy away from the marketing push,increasingly efficient algorithms are beingexplored.

Non-linear TV watching continues to grow inpopularity. Accenture recently announced that49% of consumers in the US and UK are viewingOTT services on their televisions. To cater forthese changing viewer demands, TV providersneed to adapt their business models and buildout new compelling hybrid platforms thatprovide consumers with the best of both worlds– web and interactive, as well as broadcastservices all available through their television.“Such an offering has the potential to create highvalue loyal customers but only if the service is upto scratch,” adds Timergaleyeva. “This meansnot only that there is good content on offer, butalso that the system is easy to use, has a goodgraphical interface and is available whenconsumers want it. The latter can be difficult,especially when relying on networks for contentdelivery that have limited or no QoS.”

This then, is the battleground where traditionalTV providers can differentiate themselves frombest-effort OTT providers and demonstrate realvalue to their customers.

The last decade

has seen global IP

traffic predicted to

quadruple by 2014

and Gartner

estimates that 50%

of workloads will be

running on virtual

machines by the

end of 2012

Q O S F O R T V P R O V I D E R S


E X P E R T O P I N I O N :

Managing service quality to retain customers is fundamental for TV operators’ growth andprofitability, says Johan Görsjö

Churn, the process of losing subscribers overtime, is a major headache for TV operatorsworldwide. As the pay TV market develops, alloperators – be they direct-to-home, cable, OTT orIPTV – face greater competition. The digitalswitchover is now completed in many marketsand operators now grow mainly by winning overcustomers from competing digital TV platforms.

Offering the right content at competitive prices isvital, but managing the service quality to retaincustomers is equally important for growth andprofitability. Losing customers before they havestarted to generate revenue is a recipe for rednumbers – not to mention the risk to thecorporate brand value that can come fromdissatisfied customers swiftly sharing theirexperiences in social media.

A reduced churn rate has very clear businessimplications. Let’s say you have one millioncustomers and in total grow by 10,000 customersper year. With a churn rate of 8%, you lose 80,000customers so, if you add 90,000 new customers,you achieve that growth of 10,000 customers. Bylowering the churn rate to 7%, you would insteadhave lost 70,000 customers, resulting in growthof 20,000 customers during the year.Congratulations, you’ve just doubled yourgrowth rate.

Greater customer loyalty automatically alsobrings higher revenues, due to their ARPUdirectly contributing to the bottom line afterinitial costs, such as the CPE and installation,have been covered. In essence, your totalcustomer base will be more profitable. Withbetter profitability, the higher margins couldallow for creating new and even morecompetitive end-customer offerings.

Insight into and understanding of the customerexperience and quality distribution is essential inidentifying customers at risk of churning. Yousimply cannot act on information you don't have,and you need objective information before it’stoo late.

At Agama, we are convinced that utilising asolution for real-time 24/7 service quality

monitoring combined with intelligent analytics isa winning strategy for operators to reduce churn.This facilitates rapid reaction to a customer’sproblem and makes it possible to take proactivesteps to retain the customer – before they moveto the competition.

Such a solution must of course supportautomation and proactive workflows; manuallyfinding customers experiencing problems scalespoorly for millions of subscribers.

Proactively working to reduce churn rates byautomatically identifying customers at risk, andthe issues behind their problems, is a greatopportunity for operators that thus far has notbeen exploited to the fullest. Agama has had theprivilege of working in close cooperation with anumber of leading operators for several years,giving us extensive real-world experience in suchadvanced quality and customer satisfactionmanagement and analytics.

Visit www.agama.tv for more information, andplease feel free to contact us to discuss churnreduction strategies and how Agama’s solutionscan support you in this challenge.

The untapped potential ofproactively reducing churn

TV SERVICE QUALITY

The author,Johan Görsjö,is director ofproductmanagement atAgamaTechnologies

LTE OPT IM ISAT ION

As enthusiastic early adopters throng to LTE,analysts predict that video will be the mostpopular weapon of choice as they proceed toeat up all the bandwidth. According to a Q4Mobile Analytics Report from CitrixByteMobile, video applications are expected toaccount for 50% of all data traffic consumedacross all regions, closely followed by TVstreaming. The Apple iPad will be the mostbandwidth hungry device, consuming 78% ofall data on the mobile network. Web browsingwill only account for around 8%. So much forthe power workers and the pro-sumers. Theearly adopters will more likely be thepornsumers and the chat surfers.

Not that anyone will care as long as therevenue streams are healthy. “Mobileoperators aren't worried about LTE resourcesbeing fully used up: that’s exactly what theywant, why deploy it otherwise?” asks Jeff

Sanderson, product marketing director atCitrix Service Provider Platforms.

Instead, he says, the CSPs will fret aboutsomething else: giving the customer theyquality of experience (QoE) that they paid for,he says. “It's not about speed and datavolume tariffs – those confused users anyway.It's about promoting higher value services tocustomers willing to pay a premium.”

This calls for the CSPs to create new businessmodels and new revenue streams. DeutscheTelekom’s partnership with Spotify andTelenor’s with Deezer both exemplify howCSPs can work with OTT music streamingcontent providers. They also hint at theoptimisation challenge these CSPs face. Whilethey sub-contract content providers to createthe entertainment, they will have to make surethey fine-tune the networks to provide them.

Some traditional network optimisation tools won't be an option forcommunications service providers (CSPs) when they manage LTE. But othersolutions beckon, writes Nick Booth

Jeff Sanderson:Speed and datavolume tariffsconfused users

Content consumed drivesLTE optimisation approaches


These two partnerships are just the start andwe can expect plenty more of these CSP/OTTjoint ventures in future. But the problem withoutsourcing has always been identifyingwhere bottlenecks happen and who takesresponsibility for fixing glitches. Though thetools to manage these arrangements arealready in place from 3G predecessors,today's LTE networks differ from earliergenerations because they have newchallenges to deal with. For example, 3Gnetworks didn't have the problem of overlyaggressive pre-fetching of video data orunoptimised transmission of images, bothvery common problems that have a dramaticimpact on performance without providing anyend user benefits.

Users and their bandwidth hogging videograbbing apps aside, the other uniqueproblem that LTE operators face is in theservice delivery chain. Previous generationsfaced this but it gets much worse with LTE andthe various OEMs, OTTs and devicemanufacturers who affect its performance,says Richard Stone, senior solutions managerfor mobile at Compuware. “CSPs need to seeinside the entire service delivery chain, notjust their networks, to find out what’s reallycausing data congestion,” says Stone.

As the number of different providers that mustwork together increases, the power of LTEcould be neutralised by the complexity of thecontent being delivered and the supply chainfor delivering it, says Stone. “Creating apicture of performance for the end-user ismuch tougher,” he adds.

There may not be a problem with a CSP'snetwork, but there could be a snag withanything from the end-user device, theapplication or the game or video they want toaccess. It's the interactions between these thataffect the user experience and tackling this isone of the keys to optimisation.

Understanding the type, nature and relativevalue of the content is part of the challenge,says Citrix's Sanderson. CSPs need to emulateGoogle and invest heavily in data analyticstechnology if they are to stay ahead of thegame, he argues.

But rushing into optimisation will be a mistakeif the CSPs don't define what they want toachieve, he says. “CSPs must know when tooptimise traffic and why. It can be based on avariety of conditional inputs,” says Sanderson.Such as? “Is the network congested? Does theuser have sufficient entitlements? This callsfor much smarter optimisation technologythat can adapt in real time to a specific set ofconditions.”

The historic approach – to optimise everythingoptimisable – isn’t suited to LTE and ultimatelyit won't optimise your investment in LTEtechnology. The simpler – some say flatter – IPcentric nature of LTE also lends itself to takingnew approaches to new optimisation andcaching solutions.

“The small cell concepts of managing LTEcreate new ways to optimise LTE,” says DanRamasamy, technology director at TechMahindra. Femto cell and Home E-NodeB canbe used relatively easily to micromanage tinyunits of the network. Some companies, suchas IP Access, advocate self-management ofsmall cells, by providing user friendly webinterfaces so that end users can provision theirown services. These management tools alsoinclude algorithms that are used for self-healing networks.

Ultimately, the cloud will change the waysoftware is used to fine tune network.Individual mini-apps will be created to fixspecific problems and this will change theway network optimisation software isbrought to market.

DanRamasamy:Small sellconceptscreate newways tooptimise

As the number ofdifferent providersthat must worktogetherincreases, thepower of LTE couldbe neutralised bythe complexity ofthe content beingdelivered and thesupply chain fordelivering it



C S P C A S E S T U D Y

Like all incumbent CSPs whose markets havebeen opened up to competition, KPN is alwayslooking for new revenue streams to help itstay competitive. This is just as important inthe wholesale market as it is in retail,especially when it comes to cloud computing,with new cloud services providers entering themarket all the time. KPN identified that isneeded a platform to help it enable its networkdistributors, resellers and service providers totake advantage of the new businessopportunities provided by cloud-basedapplications.

The CSP already had a long-standingrelationship with Parallels, havingimplemented the vendor’s ParallelsAutomation platform for its consumer webhosting services in 2004, and for its businesscustomer operations in 2007. Implementing acomplete Parallels Automation solution for itswholesale operations was therefore a logicalstep for KPN.

KPN selected Parallels Operations Automationand Parallels Business Automation as itspreferred platform for automating itswholesale web-hosting and cloud servicesoffering. The system features an applicationmarketplace function that enables KPN’sdistributors and resellers to provide privatelabel cloud applications as a service, inaddition to their own hosting services andKPN Wholesale’s telephony and internetaccess services. This enables KPN to buildnew revenue streams quickly and easily and todifferentiate its offering in an increasinglycompetitive market.

An important element of the infrastructure isthe Application Packaging Standard (APS)which defines a standard for packaging and

automating the delivery of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications via platforms thatcontain an APS controller such as ParallelsAutomation. As a result, new apps andservices can be delivered very quickly andcost effectively.

KPN is also using a new module withinParallels Automation to support thesyndication of Microsoft Office 365. Thisenables the operator to offer the Office 365productivity suite, while maintaining control ofthe billing and provisioning of accounts andmailboxes via Parallels Automation. In otherwords, it can offer business applications as aservice, without needing to manage theunderlying application infrastructure.

Microsoft Office 365 is one mainstreamapplication that the CSP can now provide to itswholesale customers as Norbert Van derKnaap, manager of Hosted Applications atKPN Wholesale, points out: “We’re alreadyseeing a lot of success with Office 365 in ourbusiness customer operations, so making itavailable for wholesale partners is critical for us.”

New applications,available quicklyInitially, KPN Wholesale used the new systemto empower distributors, resellers and serviceproviders to offer domain registration, webhosting, Virtual Private Server hosting andMicrosoft Office 365. But APS is enabling theoperator to add new applications to itsportfolio quickly and regularly. “This is a hugeadvantage when compared with othersystems that require resellers to make biginvestments and wait much longer for newapplications,” adds Van der Knaap. “Using theAPS standard was really a no-brainer for us,and it gives us a real competitive advantage.”

CSPs across the world recognise the opportunity presented by becoming theenabler of cloud services to enterprises and third parties. However, they face aseries of challenges in doing so profitably. Here, KPN’s project to create newrevenue streams for its wholesale operation by becoming a white-label cloudservices broker in the Netherlands is explored.

Automation unlockswholesale cloudopportunity for KPN

KPN is also

using a new

module within

Parallels

Automation to

support the

syndication of

Microsoft

Office 365

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Continued on page 24



People have been paying through their mobile phones for a while now – but often onlyfor products designed for mobiles, such as ringtones. Now mainstream purchases onyour communications service provider’s (CSP) invoice through smartphones arebecoming a reality, thanks to direct billing, which connects a merchant directly throughan enabler to the CSP’s billing system. Here, Frédéric Deman, chief executive officer ofNetsize, a direct billing enabler, explores what this means for end users, applicationstores and CSPs.

For the end user, the benefits of direct billing areobvious. Imagine Jake, a rugby fan who wants towatch the final match. He goes online with hissmartphone, finds his team’s website and istransported to the pitch. He clicks to pay to viewthe match, then lands on an unknown web pageasking for his credit card details. He decidesagainst it.

With direct billing, Jake clicks once to pay towatch his match – without leaving the websiteand with no credit card details. One second later,Jake can watch the match. Direct billing is real-time, simple and creates no interruption in theuser’s browsing environment.

In addition, users benefit from clear billing textand can buy from any device – mobile phone,desktop or tablet.

The application store opportunityApplication stores provide the user experiencethat will make or break an OS (operating system)platform. It is crucial to get them right – whichimplies making the purchasing experience assmooth as possible. Direct billing brings aconvenient purchasing experience, removing theunnecessary disruption of credit-cardregistration. And the experience does not endwith buying an application: the next step is usingit. With direct billing, it is easy for consumers tobuy additional content within the application.Direct billing also ensures better targeting withflexible price points. Content providers canchoose the price they want – and change itwhenever they want.

So why should application stores do direct billingthrough a third party such as Netsize? Can’t they connect directly to the CSP?

Maybe, but it would probably increase time tomarket. Application stores sell in many countrieswith several operators and different regulations.CSP integrations can be complex and in-marketexperience also helps to choose the best flows tooptimise the return on investment. This is wherethe experts can help: Netsize, for example,covers almost 40 countries throughapproximately 80 operators.

Netsize will also help stores optimise theirconversion rates. How you authenticate someonecan vary depending on the device – mobile,tablet or PC – and the network – CSP network,WiFi or LAN. Netsize has both the expertise andthe experience to manage such issues.

New CSP revenuesDirect billing gives CSPs access to the revenuestreams resulting from new applications andservices. It is a good means to generate growth.

With Netsize’s PCS service for CSPs, deploymentcan be quicker. Netsize has experience inintegrating various protocols with CSP platformsand on-board merchants and removes theburden on CSPs’ technical teams. With expertisein handling multiple merchants – both local andinternational – Netsize PCS can handle the wholeon-boarding process on behalf of the CSP,fulfilling regulatory requirements and eventaking care of the payment process. Merchantsget help in defining the right flows, so morevalue is created for everyone.

If you fancy watching the latest Hollywood filmon your tablet, with direct billing, you just clickand pay, then sit back to enjoy – while yourapplication store can focus on the next movie.

Direct billing is allgain, with no pain

With direct billing,

Jake clicks once to

pay to watch his

match – without

leaving the website

and with no credit

card details

D I R E C T B I L L I N G

The author,FrédéricDeman, is chiefexecutiveofficer ofNetsize


Some examples ofsolutions recentlyadded to the platforminclude hosted voice,hosted infrastructureand several hostedapplications.Companies using theplatform include:goMobi, a mobilewebsite builder; IASO,an online backupsystem; Minoto, avideo-hosting service;and SpamExperts, aserver spam protectionsolution.

Enable tailoredsolutionsKPN Wholesale is also focused on ensuringthat distributors, VARs and service providerscan offer a portfolio of applications tailored totheir markets, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Van der Knaap confirms this:“It’s very important that we listen to ourpartners and get them to tell us theapplications they want, and then tailor theplatform to their requirements, rather than notgiving them a choice with a fixed offering,” hesays. “It makes the whole offering moreattractive.”

To support their partners’ efforts, KPNWholesale has created a road to success fordistributors, VARs and service providers,which explains in three steps how to launchnew cloud services business in just eightweeks. These steps include:

Contracting, negotiation and agreement Commercial and technical on-boarding Acceleration, go-to-market strategy and tactics

KPN is also one of the five ParallelsAutomation partners working together toencourage software vendors to adopt the APSstandard and help expand the portfolio ofSaaS products available to be sold throughthe channel. In addition, the operator isplanning to host regular monthly get-togethers between distributors, VARs, service

providers and ISVs. The intention is that theseevents will help create a cloud servicesecosystem, the members of which can thengenerate profitable new business relationshipsand support each other with knowledgesharing.

KPN Wholesale is making a long-termcommitment to offering cloud services to itsdistributors, VARs and service providers. It willbe stepping up its marketing and PR effort tohelp it achieve its ambitious growth targets for2015. Once the business case has been provenin the Netherlands, it will also look to replicatethe model in its other key markets includingGermany and Belgium.

AboutKPN

KPN is the formerincumbent CSP in

The Netherlands. Itoffers wireline and

wireless telephony,internet and TV to

consumers. KPNCorporate Market–previously known

as Getronics –offers global IT

services and is theBenelux market

leader in the areaof infrastructure

and networkrelated IT

solutions. InGermany andBelgium, KPN

pursues a multi-brand strategy in

its mobileoperations andholds number

three marketpositions throughE-Plus and BASE.

C S P C A S E S T U D Y



The opportunities of LTE are here and they’re here now. The dilemma is that theybring a raft of sizeable challenges with them. CSPs are concerned aboutintegration and handovers, among other things – straddling what will eventuallybecome a transition from the 2G and 3G environment to the new world of LTE.Richard Kenedi explores the pressures CSPs face. It’s about more than creating aroadmap to get there, he suggests; it’s about gathering real and actionableinsights into the landscape that awaits at the final destination.

A recent survey from the independentresearch organisation Heavy Readingsuggests that CSPs perceive a state of flux isin place at the moment, driving re-evaluationsof their services. When asked about thechallenges of EPC implementation, the threemost common concerns identified by theresearch were:

• Integration and handovers (45% of carriers)• The growth of data services and its effect on

policy control and charging (43%)• Vendor interoperability and its effect on

network equipment manufacturer implementations (40%)

One thing is clear; it’s that knowing exactlywhere to begin, in creating a winning strategyto deal with data congestion and get the dataflowing through the network, with no hold-upsor fall-overs, and keeping a high bar oncustomer experience is not very clear at all.The new challenges of LTE present a newbeginning for the industry. It’s time to lookagain at network services, capabilities andquality, from end-to-end and assume that totalpreparation is the only reliable strategy forensuring total success.

The simple view ofa complex futureTektronix Communications has one of the

largest deployments of LTE monitoring andservice assurance systems in the world and isalready monitoring commercial services overLTE. In its networks analytics involvement withCSPs, the company finds that while many areconcerned about potential revenue loss toOTT service providers, or simply through notbeing fully prepared for the transition, othersare ahead of the curve. They are not onlypreventing ARPU erosion, they are reversingthe trend. These are the companies that aremaintaining their challenger CSP status bygathering the real and actionable insights intothe customer experience. The trick is in KPImonitoring and vendor benchmarking.

The adoption of a simple KPI approach,customised for a CSP’s specific business andperformance goals can cover network,services and subscribers across alltechnologies and enable a CSP to addressissues arising both from legacy networks andfrom LTE. Since 2G and 3G will remain with usfor some time to come, network analyticsmust straddle the transition. There is noimmediate point in time when subscribers willupgrade en masse, so the fact is the CSP hasto provide a service that is all things to allsubscribers. It has to be sure also that it canbenchmark vendors to ensure continuity ofservice. And that’s where continuity ofcompetitive edge ultimately lies.

LTE and the legacynetwork – the challengesof concurrent offerings

Totalpreparation isthe only reliablestrategy forensuring totalsuccess

MONITORINGFOR LTE

The author,Richard Kenedi,is vicepresident andgeneralmanager ofmonitoringsystems atTektronixCommunications

A N A L Y S T R E P O R T


Policy management solutions were originally deployed to provide a protectionfunction for networks. Increasingly, these solutions are being used in differentways to create and support new service offerings for service providers. AnalysysMason’s recent industry survey expects that over 50% of newly implementedpolicy management solutions will be in support of new service offerings. Thischange in usage is redefining the landscape in which the more traditional policymanagement vendors were operating, writes Justin van der Lande.

Policy management solutions enable real-timeinspection of live multimedia services and theapplication of a policy to the network layer tochange their characteristics. Policymanagement was created primarily to providetraffic management solutions and ensure thata network did not become overloaded. Anexample of traffic management is ‘fair usage’,whereby a communications service provider(CSP) is able to monitor heavy users of‘unlimited’ service offerings and reduce theirbandwidth or even block the service uponreaching a certain threshold. This ensures thatsome bandwidth is preserved for other usersof the network.

Legislation in Europe has helped move policymanagement solutions from entirely network-centric deployments towards more billing-focused ones to prevent what is known as ‘billshock’. OSS/BSS system interfaces weredefined by the GSMA for both off-line and on-line charging. They enable service providers tobuild rules or policies based on informationdynamically taken from the subscribers’ billinginformation and combine it to subscriber andother data. This linkage between charging andpolicy management solutions enables CSPs tocreate new service offerings based both onnetwork and billing information. Initially, thisprovided support for ‘tiered’ pricing plans,whereby subscribers select a service based ondata usage. A flat-rate fee for usage is chargedup to a given amount of data. Once this figurehas been exceeded, policy management rulesare applied to: reduce throughput, stop theservice entirely, or increasingly to charge forthe data. Charging is achieved through re-rating the data usage to generate a fee on a

postpaid bill or to deduct a fee from a prepaidbalance.

Tiered pricing is increasingly common placeas CSPs move away from ‘unlimited’ flat-rateprice plans to enable them to better monetisethe expense of rolling out higher-bandwidthnetworks for both mobile and fixed lineservices. Monetisation of data services hasbeen followed with other use cases thatinclude pricing based on a limited timewindow, on the URLs or applications, qualityof service and content type. Content, forexample, may be zero-rated in the chargingsystem if it is being supported by the CSP, or aspecific partner. There are multiple differentcharging options for data plans enabling CSPsto bring innovative service plans to market;the initial tranche of policy-based chargingservices is being followed by many more. Thisis rapidly changing the nature of vendorswithin this market as the focus is on billingrather than on network for policymanagement.

The move by Amdocs to purchaseBridgewater Systems in 2011was a clearreaction to this trend, and is supported byother strong BSS vendors such as Comverse,Orga Systems, Netcracker (which has acquiredConvergys’s software business), CSGInternational and Oracle. These vendors arealso joined by network equipment providers,such as Ericsson, Alcatel Lucent and Huawei,which are able to support solutions for bothnetwork- and billing-based deployments.Specialist vendors also still provide somestandalone policy management solutions tothe market.

Will policy managementbecome just a functionof billing systems?

The author,Justin van derLande, issenior analystat AnalysysMason

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The diagram depicts the three significantareas that have evolved to create policymanagement. In a recent survey carried out byAnalysys Mason, the industry is expecting thatover 50% of the use of policy managementwill be in conjunction with charging solutions.This percentage is expected to increase overtime as new broadband networks come tomarket and costs of implementation must berecovered through better data charging.

The speed for new services to be created willbe down to the integration between the billingfunctions and the different policies that canbe supported within them. This has led totwo significant changes:

• First, the simplification of the user interfaces with policy management systems, so as to enable a non-network engineer to create, edit and manage policies without endangering network integrity; and

• Second, the tighter integration between the service design function within

billing systems and policy management systems. The need to link new service offers to pre-defined policies without having to double key information enables new services to be created and launched quicker.

These two factors, combined with the fact thatmost policy management implementationswill be for billing-related use cases, have ledto a distinct increase in billing vendor marketshare. We expect to see significant revenuegrowth in the whole sector over the next fiveyears, but network-based applications willgrow at less than half the rate of billing onesover that period. Also inevitably, and helpedthrough the availability of standards, policy-based charging solutions will not bestandalone solutions, but will become afunction of current billing andcharging solutions.

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W E B I N A R R E V I E W


Microsoft is attracting increasing attention in thetelecoms industry, both as a solutions andservices provider. The company’s strategy for theindustry has evolved and it is utilising the waveof new product releases such as Windows 8,Windows Phone 8, Office 2013, SQL Server 2012,Windows Server 2012, and recent acquisitions tocontinue to grow its presence and relevance tothe industry

Billions of new connections and the dynamicinteraction of people, services, and devices arefactors that drive a New Network Effect in today’scommunications marketplace; requiring agilenew systems and a more responsive partnerecosystem for participants to competeeffectively. At Microsoft, we are empoweringCommunications Service Providers (CSPs) tocapitalise on the possibilities of this NewNetwork Effect by enabling them to create newofferings, engage customers in new ways, and tonourish new revenue streams while improvingtheir core businesses.

Engaging the industryMicrosoft has a worldwide Communications andMedia organisation to set strategy, attractindustry talent, build community, manageindustry solution areas, develop awareness andsupport in the analyst community to achieve itsgoals. The mission of the organisation is toensure Communications and Media customersand their partners realize the most businessvalue from their relationship with Microsoft. Arelated Microsoft group, called OperatorChannel, is responsible for alliance and joint goto market activities with the industry coveringWindows Phone, Mediaroom IPTV, Office 365Syndication, and Hosting offerings at major CSPs.

The industry is being shaped and transformed bya number of well-known trends. The world ismore connected and there are now almost asmany mobile phones as people on the planet.People are connected in more places, even incountries in the early stages of developmenthave mobile phone penetration rates above 60%.

Content is growing explosively, whethergenerated by companies or users, and we arespending more time with the content, oftenmultiplexing over several devices includingphones, tablets, PCs, and TVs, and this largevariety of choices enables more and moreoptions to personalise your content.

All of these trends are accelerating change in theindustry and standards, policies, and regulationsare not evolving at the rate that is required torealize all of the potential benefits ofcommunications and information technology.But more importantly, the pace of changecontinues to accelerate. It took almost 100 yearsfor telephones to be available in approximately500 million households, contrasted with less than35 years to reach five billion mobile users. Webelieve that eventually every device that can beconnected will be, reaching an estimated 50billion machine-to-machine connections by 2020.

The systems and applications that the industryuses today are not fit for handling thisexponential growth and service providers willneed to deploy new systems with the requiredscalability and elasticity, they will have to deploythem in less time in a more agile fashion, andthey will need new management capabilities tohandle the much larger number of end pointsand connections. In addition, the value chain haschanged from the exclusive relationship betweenthe service providers and the customer to one inwhich the customer exercises more choice overthe products and services that they consume. Forexample, OTT services and the business modelsand partnerships in the industry have to changeto generate the revenue growth that is needed tosupport the investments required to evolvenetworks and services.

Microsoft’s strategyOur strategic intent for the industry has beendeveloped considering these trends, the breadthand depth of our portfolio, and our large andgrowing partner ecosystem. Microsoft deliversthe speed, agility, vision, and resources CSPs need

In October 2012 Microsoft hosted a VanillaPlus webinar entitled ‘DemystifyingMicrosoft’s Industry Strategy’. Here, Johan Norvik the acting managing directorof Microsoft's Telecommunications Industry division, explains the company’sapproach to the market.

Realize valuefrom the NewNetwork Effect

With a host ofpowerful solutions

and our deeppartner

ecosystem,Microsoft deliversthe speed, agility,

vision, andresources CSPs

need to competeon the path to

new possibilities

�

Johan Norvik:The systemsthe industryuses today arenot fit forhandling growth


to compete on the path to new possibilities. Weengage with industry customers and partners to:• Collaborate to envision the future and drive

innovation• Create solutions to accelerate business

processes• Enhance agility to transform and compete

To envision the future and drive innovation wecommission research to develop marketintelligence, and utilise Microsoft R&D to exposeour customers to future technologies that willhelp create and deliver new products andservices.

Our solutions strategy has three pillars: Best ofBreed, Best of Cloud, Best of Microsoft. Theseare based on partnering with systems integrators(Sis) and independent software vendors (ISVs)that offer innovative and agile solutions thatconform to reference architectures and align toindustry practices and standards, working withcustomers to develop the telecoms cloudplatform of the future, and ensuring that ourcustomers realize the most business value fromtheir relationship with Microsoft.

Finally, we want to help the industry to be moreagile in order to transform and compete.Microsoft is an active contributor to standardsdefining organisations and industry bodies. Wecontribute with our platform innovation rangingfrom consumer devices and experiences to theenterprise grade solutions that our customersrequire on premise or on the cloud. And webuild partnerships through our operator channelorganisation to jointly with the CSPs bring abroad portfolio of solutions to the consumer andbusiness markets.

The foundation of our industry Solution Areas isour Best of Breed strategy partnering with SIsand ISVs that offer innovative and agile solutionsthat conform to reference architectures and thatare aligned to industry practices and standards.Our ecosystem of solution partners has beenattracting attention from the analyst communityand the press. One of the first articlesrecognizing the value of the ecosystem waspublished by Mark Mortensen of Analysys-Mason in July 2011, and observed that: “Thisoffers CSPs a new option for their customer caresolution – one with high functionality provided bymulti-vendor integratable component systems ina flexible architecture, with low vendor lock-in.”

Another article by Scott St. John picked-up onthe same trend and stated: “Microsoft is puttingtheir money, relationships, reputation and brandbehind their partners and has already begun topay dividends.”

The articles mentioned focused on partners thatintegrate the Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutionwith their own customer care and billingsolutions, but the scope of the ecosystemextends to fulfillment, assurance, networkmanagement, and business intelligence solutionsand it is constantly growing. With this scope, the

Microsoft Partner Ecosystem offers to theindustry a portfolio of solutions to createcompelling services and enhance operationalcapabilities; build customer intimacy, loyalty, andwallet share; and improve business efficiencyand flexibility.

Platform innovationThis is the biggest launch year in Microsofthistory, on par with a wave of new productreleases including Windows 8, Windows Phone8, Office 2013, SQL Server 2012, and WindowsServer 2012. Our platform innovation covers thefull spectrum from consumer devices andexperiences to the enterprise grade solutions –on-premise, cloud, or hybrid that our customersrequire.

We are re-imagining Windows to provide cloud-connected experiences that people love, optimalbring-your-own-device solutions and myriadpossibilities to broaden the B2C appeal of ourcustomers. Our productivity solutions from thecloud or on premise optimise messaging andcollaboration and bring full IP unifiedcommunications. Windows Server and SystemCenter offer the best private and public cloudinfrastructure, a true Cloud OS, and enterprisegrade security. Our application developmentsolutions apply across all platforms, and SQLServer, the cloud-ready information platformoffers mission critical confidence, breakthroughinsight and cloud on our customers’ terms. Thechanging marketplace puts demands on CSPs tobe smarter, faster, and more competitive everyday. Microsoft’s enabling solutions andtechnologies, combined with the strength of itsrich partner ecosystem, empower CSPs toexplore, capture and capitalise on the world ofnew possibilities

Market collaborationMicrosoft also partners with CSPs in go-to-market scenarios for both consumer andenterprise. The Operator Channel has beenworking closely with the industry for the last tenyears. We have a set of products and servicesthat extend our reach and provide exciting newscenarios with our CSP partners that create newsources of revenue and delight users. Theseinclude Windows Phone, a great example ofbringing together the best of Microsoft (Bing,Office, IE, Xbox), Windows PCs with BroadbandBundles, more than ten CSP entertainmentservices integrated into Xbox OTT Service,Mediaroom – the world’s number one IPTVplatform, Syndication agreements to sell andsupport Office 365 bundled with CSP services,hosting solutions to offer private and publiccloud services and now Skype partnershipopportunities for application distribution andmarketing.

Microsoft empowers the path to new possibilitiesby collaborating with customers to envision thefuture, creating solutions to accelerate businessprocesses, and enhancing our customers’ agilityto transform and compete. For more information,please visit www.microsoft.com/telco.

This is thebiggest launchyear in Microsofthistory, on parwith a wave ofnew productreleases includingWindows 8,Windows Phone8, Office 2013,SQL Server2012, andWindows Server2012

Customer ExperienceManagement in Telecoms21-24 January, 2013London, UKOrganiser: IQPCwww.customerexperienceevent.com

Big Data Monetisationin Telecoms22-24 January, 2013London, UKOrganiser: IQPCwww.bigdatatelecoms.com

TM Forum Big DataAnalytics Summit29-30 January, 2013Amsterdam, The NetherlandsOrganiser: TM Forumwww.tmforum.org

TM Forum MiddleEast Summit

4-5 February, 2013Dubai, UAE

Organiser: TM Forumwww.tmforum.org

Mobile WorldCongress 201325-28 February, 2013Barcelona, SpainOrganiser: GSMAwww.mobileworldcongress.com

M2M Now MoneyTalks e-Health20 May, 2013

Las Vegas, USAOrganiser: We Know Media

m2mnowevents.com

D I A R Y

The mobile ecosystem is expanding at lightningspeed, with endless innovation and newapplications of mobile technology. Fromcontactless payments and augmented reality toembedded devices and connected cities – mobiletechnology is changing the landscape. Theimpact mobile will have on the world is limitless.

Even the landscape of Mobile World Congressitself will look different. The event has outgrownits traditional site at Montjuic and is relocating toa state-of-the-art facility at Fira Gran Via.

Hihglights of Mobile World Congress 2013include:• CEOs of the world’s most influential

companies will share their visions of the mobile landscape while inspiring attendees in the event’s thought-leadership conference

• More than 1,500 of the industry’s leading suppliers of mobile devices, services and technologies will be part of the exhibition

• More than 12,000 application developers will gather for App Planet to be educated, energised, and challenged

• The world’s largest consumer brands will join the Congress for mPowered Brands, where marketers’ knowledge of mobile as a marketing medium will be accelerated

• The GSMA will recognise the industry’s greatest achievements, new technologies, innovative devices and ideas through the 18th Annual Global Mobile Awards

During the four-day event, more than 70,000senior mobile professionals will network andexchange ideas – one of which may furtherchange the landscape of mobile. The theme ofthis year’s event is the New Mobile Horizon.Barcelona, as usual, will provide the platform toexplore that.

www.mobileworldcongress.com

Mobile World Congress returns to the Mobile World City of Barcelona, Spain on25-28 February 2013. Here, VanillaPlus previews the event.

E V E N T P R E V I E W

MWC 2013 explores 'New MobileHorizons' at new Barcelona venue


Put your data to work for your organization.

January 29-30, 2013Amsterdam

Service providers must be able to react to the consumer marketplace by making quick, informed business decisions. A vast amount of customer information is collected across the organization, and by identifying, correlating and analyzing the right data properly, service providers can get an accurate view of their customers’ behavior at a glance– eliminating risk and improving the customer experience.

Join the conversation @tmforumorg

TM Forum’s Big Data Analytics Summit 2013 is a forward-looking, education-packed Summit that combines keynote perspectives, case studies, debates, panels, interactive sessions and networking opportunities that help you:

Understand the potential of Big Data, and how service providers can use it to better understand their customers

Learn how to align Big Data goals between business and IT

Identify analytic requirements, barriers and security when investing in Big Data tools and initiatives

Uncover ways to use Big Data to enhance the customer experience

Find ways to use Big Data to increase profits though upselling and bringing new products to market

Featuring keynote presentations from:

Tom FastnerSenior Member of Technical Staff and ArchitecteBay

Matt McNeillEMEA Lead, Business SolutionsGoogle Enterprise

Peter CrayfourdGroup Head of Customer Lifestyle and ExperienceFrance Telecom, Orange

Manuel SevillaChief Technical Officer for the Global Business Information Management Top Line InitiativeCapgemini

Michal HennHead of BI Consulting & Professional ServicesAmdocs

Scott SobersDirectorTeradata

Lawrence Telfer Senior Customer Intelligence Analyst, Customer Experience, Customer Team Everything Everywhere

Be part of the action! Learn more and register at:

Email: [email protected] Phone: +1 973 944 5100

For more information on the conference or to register today – visit: www.tmforum.org/bd13VP

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Welcome to the 13th Edition of the VanillaPlus Directory. Inside you willfind listing for the key companies worldwide in communications BusinessSupport Systems (BSS) and Operations Support Systems (OSS). Theseare businesses old and new, some address the entire range of telecomssoftware, others focus on a specific technology or market need. But theyall have one thing in common, you’ll find their activities reported inVanillaPlus magazine and on our website, www.vanillaplus.com.

As CSPs face the challenges of continued infrastructure investment inthe face of declining ARPUs, the technologies, consulting anddeployment expertise of these companies have never been moreimportant. CSPs can only preserve their profitability by running leanly andlearning to do more for less. These companies can provide the answerswhether your challenge is to deploy LTE profitably or to minimise churnon your cable network.

We hope you find the products, skills and services you are looking forwithin these pages or online at:www.vanillaplus.com/vanillaplus_directory/

And don’t forget to say that we sent you!Enjoy the new directory!

George Malim,Editor, VanillaPlus

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13TH EDITION

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Directory 2013


VanillaPlus Video Talking HeadsReach a global audience withyour interview streamed from

www.vanillaplus.com

For more information contact: [email protected]: +44 (0) 1732 897646


2Ergo www.2ergo.com4th Screen Advertising 4th-screen.comABITEL Consulting GmbH abitel.deAccanto Systems accantosystems.comAccedian Networks accedian.comAccenture accenture.comAccipia Ltd accipia.comACES aces-co.comAcision acision.comACL acl.comAcme Packet acmepacket.comacoreus AG acoreus.comACS acsdallas.comActix actix.comAdapt adaptplc.comAdare adare.comAepona aepona.comAicent aicent.netAIRCOM International Ltd aircominternational.comAito Technologies Oy aitotechnologies.comAktavara aktavara.comAlbany Software albany.co.ukAlcatel-Lucent alcatel-lucent.comAllot Communications allot.comAllround allround.netAmdocs amdocs.comAmdocs Interactive changingworlds.comAnalysys Mason analysysmason.com

Anritsu A/S eu.anritsu.comApex CoVantage apexcovantage.comArgogroup (an Ascom company) argogroup.comAricent aricent.comArieso arieso.comArkipelago arkipelago.comARRIS arrisi.comarvato finance arvatofinance.comAscom Group ascom.comAspect Software, Inc aspect.comAspiro aspiro.comAstellia astellia.comATDI SA atdi.comATIO atio.comAtlas Interactive Germany atlasinteractivegroup.deAtos atos.net Audilog Groupe Ericsson audilog.comAutonomy etalk etalk.comAviat Networks aviatnetworks.comAverox averox.comAzoft (a division of DonRiver, Inc) azoft.comBarcoding, Inc barcoding.comBaseN basen.netBasset basset.comBercut Ltd bercut.comBilling Components GmbH billing-components.comBivio Networks bivio.netBlue Coat bluecoat.com

C O M P A N Y U R L C O M P A N Y U R L

A - Z O F B S S / O S SC O M P A N I E S

[email protected] Tel: +46 13 240 330Fax: +46 13 240 331

Agama Technologies is a specialist in telco-grade end-to-end video quality assurance and monitoring solutions.With world-leading expertise and proven solutions,providing continuous and real-time service assurance ofall forms of video delivery from creation to consumption,Agama enables IP, cable, broadcast and OTT TVoperators to systematically manage service quality andraise customer satisfaction, whilst reducing opex andquality-induced churn. This includes supportingoperators in gaining control and understanding of theservice distribution across their deployments, creating apowerful foundation for ensuring the customers' TVexperience and for achieving operational excellence inthe video delivery.

Sectors: Business Intelligence | IP TV & Video | BusinessAnalysis & Intelligence | Business Process Optimisation |Data Management | Data Mining & Warehousing |Behaviour Analytics | Customer Analysis | ServiceAssurance | Loyalty & Churn Management | DataAnalysis | Network Performance Management | Services& Platforms | Product & Service Management |CustomerExperience Management | Network Management |Network & Service Test & Measurement | Customer Care

[email protected]: +44 20 7927 6000Fax: +44 20 7927 6006

Established in 1999, Cerillion provides convergent CRM& billing, charging, interconnect, mediation andprovisioning solutions to fixed, mobile, cable and multi-service communications providers worldwide. TheCerillion bundled component solution suite supports anydeployment model: as an end-to-end pre-integratedbusiness support system, managing the complete

lifecycle of customers, products, services and revenues;in a mixed deployment, where selected modules may bereplaced by third party applications; or in a pure best-of-breed solution. The system is also fully operational as acomplete managed service solution. Cerillion solutionsdeliver the business agility needed to respond quicklyand effectively in a highly competitive environment.

Sectors: Billing & Charging | Billing (Interconnect &Wholesale) | Billing (Retail) | Mediation & Collection |Product Catalogue |Revenue Management | Credit, Cost& Debt Control | PCC - Policy Control and Charging |Billing & Customer Care | Customer RelationshipManagement | Roaming Clearing & Settlement | OrderManagement | Partner Settlement | Partner RelationshipManagement | Billing (Convergent Pre- & Post-paid)


Clarity is a leading provider of operational managementsolutions used globally by CSPs to support more than500 million subscribers. Clarity provides a full OSS suiteand solutions to manage rapid network deployments,create and sell innovative products, automate orderprovisioning, and assure the quality of networks andcorrelated services. Clarity’s unified portfolio greatlyreduces the cost, time and risk to deploy and operatenetworks and services, providing rapid return oninvestment. Clarity is dedicated to leading its customersto market success by simplifying their operations -helping them reduce unnecessary complexity andincrease their business agility.

Sectors: Customer Experience Management | CustomerInteraction Management | Enterprise Resource Planning |Inventory, Asset & Element Management | Network &Service Test & Measurement | Network ConfigurationManagement | Enterprise Resource Management |Network Discovery & Optimisation | NetworkPerformance Management | Number Portability | OrderManagement | Product Catalogue | Product LifecycleManagement | Service Assurance | 4G, LTE & WiMAX |Backhaul Management


[email protected]. +48 (12) 64 61 000Fax. +48 (12) 64 61 100HeadquartersAl. Jana Pawła II 39a, 31-864 Kraków, Poland

Comarch is a global supplier of IT products and servicesfor the telecommunications industry, that has been presenton the BSS/OSS market for over 19 years. Comarchprovides products in the areas of BSS, CRM, OSS as wellas a range of comprehensive services, including end-to-end BSS/OSS transformations. Comarch’s differentiatorslie not only in the compliance of its products with leadingindustry standards, but mainly in the flexibility of itssolutions and approach and the high competences of itsengineers. Through projects for almost 50 CSPs,Comarch has gathered experience in the fields ofdesigning, implementing, and integrating IT solutions.Customers include T-Mobile in Austria, KPN in theNetherlands, as well as E-Plus Gruppe, TelekomDeutschland, Vodafone and Telefónica O2 in Germany.

Sectors: Business Intelligence | Data Management |Partner Management | Product & Service Management |Billing & Charging | Customer Care | NetworkManagement | Revenue Management

[email protected]: +358 9700 1131Fax: +358 9700 11375

Since 1986, Comptel has helped more than 280 serviceproviders across 85 countries meet over one billionsubscribers’ communications and infotainment needs.Comptel’s solutions are built on an event – analysis –action strategic framework that leverages the company’sstrengths in event data processing and advancedpredictive analytics to enable real-time action. Comptel’s

service fulfillment, mediation, charging and policycontrol, and predictive social analytics products withimplementation and professional services enable serviceproviders to enhance customer engagement and, in turn,create revenue, reduce costs and lessen churn. Comptelhas a global team of nearly 700 professionals, and netsales were €77 million in 2011.

Sectors: Billing & Charging

CSGInternational [email protected]: +44 1483 745800

CSG International is a market-leading business supportsolutions and services company serving the majority ofthe top 100 global communications service providersincluding AT&T, Comcast, DISH Network, FranceTelecom, MasterCard, Orange, T-Mobile, Telefonica, TimeWarner Cable, Vodafone, Vivo and Verizon. With over 25years of experience and expertise in voice, video, dataand content services, CSG International offers a broadportfolio of licensed and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)based products and solutions that help clients competemore effectively, improve business operations anddeliver a more impactful customer experience across avariety of touch points.

Sectors: Roaming Clearing & Settlement | Machine toMachine (M2M) | Risk Management | RevenueManagement | Revenue Assurance | RevenueManagement | Other | Customer RelationshipManagement | Partner Relationship Management|Mediation & Collection | Partner Management | Billing(Retail) | Billing (Convergent Pre- & Post-paid) | CustomerCare | Billing & Customer Care | Billing & Charging


Blue Star Infotech bsil.comBluestreak Technology bluestreaktech.comBluetab bluetab.netBMC Solutions bmcsolutions.co.ukBoku boku.comBridgewater Systems bridgewatersystems.comBrighterion brighterion.comBroadHop broadhop.comBroadVision broadvision.comBT http://business.bt.comBusiness Logic Systems businesslogicsystems.comBytemobile bytemobile.comCapgemini capgemini.comCasewise casewise.comCA Technologies ca.comCBOSS Corporation cbossgroup.comCellVision AS cellvision.comCelona Technologies celona.comCentile centile.comCeragon Networks ceragon.comCerillion cerillion.comCGI cgi.comCheck Point Software Technologies Ltd checkpoint.comCiqual ciqual.comCisco cisco.comClarity clarity.comClarity clarity.comClearswift clearswift.comComarch AS comarch.com/telecommunicationsCommScope commscope.comCommuniGate Systems communigate.comCommunications Fraud Control Assoc cfca.org

Comptel Corporation comptel.comComputaris computaris.comCompuware compuware.comComsearch (a Commscope co.) comsearch.comComverse comverse.comComviva comviva.comConceptWave conceptwave.comCondico condicomobile.comConsona CRM consona.comConsult-Hyperion chyp.comContinuous Computing ccpu.comConvergys convergys.comCopperEye coppereye.comCordys cordys.comCreanord Ltd creanord.comCreditCall creditcall.comCRM Technologies crmtechnologies.comCSG International csgi.comCSR csr.comCTI Group ctigroup.comCurrent Analysis currentanalysis.comCustomer Value Partners cvpcorp.comcVidya Networks cvidya.comCyberSource cybersource.comCycle30 cycle30.comDevoteam devoteam.comData Track Technology PLC datatrackplc.comdeCarta, Inc decarta.comDialogic Corporation dialogic.comDigital Fuel Technologies, Inc digitalfuel.comDigitalRoute digitalroute.comDimension Data dimensiondata.com





DNS dns.co.ukDragonWave dragonwaveinc.comEastWind eastwind.ruEasynet easynet.comECI Telecom ecitele.comECT - Telecom ect-telecoms.comeGain egain.comElitecore Technologies Ltd elitecore.comEltel Networks eltelnetworks.comEMC Ionix emc.comEmida emida.netEmpirix, Inc empirix.comempolis arvato empolis.comEndace Ltd endace.comENTEREST GmbH enterest.euEntuity entuity.comEnvivio envivio.comEquinox IS equinoxis.comErgon ergon.ch/en/telecomEricsson ericsson.comeServGlobal eservglobal.comESKADENIA Software eskadenia.comETI Software Solutions, Inc etisoftware.comEuromacc Kft euromacc.comEvidian (a Groupe Bull co.) evidian.comEvistel evistel.comEvolved Intelligence Ltd evolved-intelligence.comEvolving Systems evolving.comExcentis excentis.comEXFO exfo.comExperian experianplc.comExperian Payments experianpayments.com

EyeBill Interactive Solutions eyebill.netF5 Networks f5.comFICO fico.comFIQAS Software BV fiqas.nlFiserv fiserv.comFlash Networks flashnetworks.comFluke Networks, Inc flukenetworks.comFML fmlsolutions.comFROX communication frox.comFTS fts-soft.comGemalto gemalto.comGENBAND genband.comgenerationE Technologies generationetech.comGeneric Software Consultants Ltd generic-software.comGenesys (an Alcatel-Lucent co.) genesyslab.comGensym (a Versata Enterprises co.) gensym.comGeoCentric geocentric.comGetronics NV getronics.comGintel gintel.comGIPS Group gips.netGlobal 360, Inc global360.comGoogle google.comGRUPO DELAWARE grupodelaware.comGSMA gsma.comHP hp.comHorsebridge Networks horsebridge.netHuawei huawei.comi-conX solutions Ltd iconxsolutions.comi2 (a Silver Lake Sumeru co.) i2.co.ukIBM Corp ibm.comICare icare.itIdentify Networks identifygroup.co.uk



[email protected]: +44 1753 464646

eGain (EGAN) is the leading provider of customer serviceand contact centre software for cloud and on-premisedeployment. Trusted by prominent enterprise worldwide,eGain has been helping businesses achieve and sustaincustomer service excellence for more than a decade. TheeGain Telecommunications proposition will assist yourorganisation to: Reduce subscriber churn, Improve firstcall resolution, Drive down operating costs, Managebusiness consolidations, Increase Customer satisfaction

Sectors: Customer Care | Contact Centres & Hubs |Customer Interaction Management | CustomerExperience Management |Customer LifecycleManagement | Customer Relationship Management |Billing & Customer Care | Billing & Charging

[email protected]: +44 20 843 4000

Evolving Systems is a provider of software and servicesto 50 network operators in over 40 countries worldwide.The company’s product portfolio includes market-leadingactivation products that address subscriber serviceactivation, SIM card activation, mobile broadbandactivation as well as the activation of connected devices. Evolving Systems’ dynamic provisioning solution is anew way of providing service to any mobile or connecteddevice with a SIM card. Marketing initiatives, expandingdistribution, and new products can call for massiveincreases in SIM card supply. Dynamic provisioningallows operators to meet this challenge whilst avoidingthe cost and inefficiency of traditional provisioningprocesses. By provisioning devices dynamically,resources, products and tariffs are not allocated to a

device until it is first used. This creates a “goldenmoment” when customers can explore relevant servicesand personalise them. Founded in 1985, the companyhas headquarters in Englewood, Colorado, with offices inthe United Kingdom, India and Malaysia.

Sectors: eBilling, ePayment & ePresentment | ServiceAdoption Management | Business Process Optimisation |Customer Interaction Management | Product LifecycleManagement | Mediation & Collection


FTS provides charging, billing, customer care and policycontrol solutions that have greater flexibility and providegreater independence for communications and contentservice providers, resulting in a dramatically lower totalcost of ownership (TCO). As the first billing company toprovide policy management, by analysing everytransaction from a business standpoint, FTS offers acomplete package of solutions and services to bothgrowing and major, established providers.FTS deploys its full range of end-to-end and add-ontelecom billing and policy control services to customersin over 40 countries and implements solutions in mobile,wireline, cable, broadband, cloud, machine-to-machine(M2M) and content markets including multipleconvergent installations.

Sectors: Billing (Utility) | Policy Management | PCC -Policy Control and Charging | Inventory, Asset & ElementManagement |Partner Settlement | Machine to Machine(M2M) | Partner Relationship Management | CustomerRelationship Management |Partner Management | Billing(Retail) | Billing (Convergent Pre- & Post-paid) | Billing(Interconnect & Wholesale) | Customer Care | Billing &Charging | Billing & Customer Care



IIR Telecoms & Technology iir-telecoms.comIncognito Software incognito.comIgatePatni igatepatni.comIndra Sistemas indra.esInfo Directions infodirections.comInfonova infonova.atInfor infor.co.ukInforma Telecoms & Media informatm.comInformatica Corp informatica.comInformation Engineers idest.co.ukInfosys Technologies infosys.comInfoVista infovista.comIngenico ingenico.comIngres Corp ingres.comInline Telecom Solutions inlinetelecom.ruInnoPath Software innopath.comInnopay innopay.comInnovise innovise-ies.comIntegralis AG integralis.comIntegration Consortium integrationconsortium.orgInteligentis inteligentis.comInteractive Intelligence, Inc inin.comInternational Turnkey Systems (ITS) its.wsIntersec intersec.comInterSystems Corp intersystems.comIntracom Telecom intracom-telecom.comInvivo invivosoft.comIpanema Technologies ipanematech.comiPass ipass.comiisy iisy.deITU itu.intIXIA ixiacom.com

Ixonos ixonos.comJDSU jdsu.comJones Cyber Solutions Ltd jonescyber.comJunifer Systems junifersystems.comJuniper Networks juniper.netKabira Technologies kabira.comKalido kalido.comKANA kana.comKansys Inc kansys.comKapsh kapsch.netKcom kcom.comKeynote keynote.comKineto Wireless kineto.comKobil kobil.comKofax kofax.comKognitio kognitio.comKroll Ontrack krollontrack.co.ukKXEN kxen.comLeostream leostream.comLionbridge lionbridge.comLogica logica.co.ukLogicManse logicmanse.comLogiSense logisense.comLogNet Systems lognet-systems.comLoyalty Partner Solutions GmbH lpsolutions.comLTC International ltcinternational.comM2M Now magazine & portal m2mnow.bizMACH mach.comMavenir Systems mavenir.comMahindra Satyam mahindrasatyam.netMala Communications mala-communications.co.ukMaporama International http://world.maporama.com



[email protected]: +43 316 8003Fax: +43 316 8003 1480

Infonova, founded in 1989, specializes in providingtechnology and business-oriented solutions and servicesto telecommunications, media, finance, utility andconvergent industries. Infonova’s BSS solutions havebeen implemented for incumbent, attacker and cableoperators supporting triple & quadruple play serviceportfolios. Encapsulating decades of knowledge,Infonova’s latest BSS product, R6 is a fully J2EE platformthat supports real multi-tenant concept-to-cashoperations for fully convergent and complex multi-industry 2.0 business models while also supporting Telco1.0 simultaneously. R6 also delivers transformationscenarios and pre- and post-paid convergence at a fractionthe cost and time of traditional integration scenarios.

Sectors: Product & Service Management | Mobile VirtualNetwork Operators | Credit, Cost & Debt Control |Application Lifecycle Management | Billing (Utility) |Order Management | Customer Experience Management| Revenue Management |Product Lifecycle Management |Machine to Machine (M2M) | Partner RelationshipManagement | Mediation & Collection |PartnerManagement | Billing (Retail) | Billing (Convergent Pre- &Post-paid) | Application Management | Billing(Interconnect & Wholesale) | Partner Settlement |Customer Care | Billing & Charging


InfoVista is the leading provider of service performanceassurance software solutions for network and applicationservices transported by all-IP networks. InfoVistaempowers communications service providers to deliverhigh-performing and differentiated services while cost-

effectively monetising, operating and optimising theirnetwork. The industry-leading scalability, service modelingflexibility and open integration capabilities of its serviceperformance assurance platform equip 80% of the world’slargest operators. InfoVista’s application and networkperformance assurance solutions provide them with theactionable network intelligence they need to deliver optimalquality of service, ensure high-quality user experience,transform and consolidate their OSS/BSS ecosystemswhile keeping total cost of ownership as low as possible.

Sectors: Network Performance Management |Application Performance Management | BackhaulManagement | Network Discovery & Optimisation |Service Assurance

M2M [email protected]: +44 (0)1732 897652WKM Ltd, Suite 28, 30 Churchill Square, Kings Hill,West Malling, Kent ME19 4YU, UK

M2M Now is the sister title to VanillaPlus and the firstglobal magazine dedicated to machine-to-machinecommunications (M2M) communications. It explores theevolving opportunities and challenges facing M2Mservice providers, and passes on lessons learned fromthose who have taken the first steps in next generationenterprise services. M2M Now covers all industries usingfixed line, satellite & wireless M2M networks forbusiness-to-business users and consumers’ connecteddevices. These industries include: automotive, energy &water utilities, fleet management & logistics; healthcare,manufacturing, retail & vending, security & accesscontrol, telecoms, and transport & telematics. Themagazine is supported by a portal (www.m2mnow.biz)featuring exclusive C-Level Interviews (on video & inprint) with executives from Network Operators, ServiceProviders & Aggregators, Device, Platform & TechnologyEnablers, Solution Vendors, and Corporate End Users.

Sectors: Connected & Embedded Devices I M2MCommunication Services



MATRIXX Software matrixxsw.commBlox mblox.comMDS martindawessystems.comMDS Lavastorm Analytics lavastorm.comMegaSys Computer Technologies megasys.comMetastorm metastorm.comMetaswitch Networks metaswitch.comMetracom metracom.frMetraTech Corp metratech.comMGt plc mgtplc.comMicro Focus International microfocus.comMicrosoft microsoft.comMyriad myriadgroup.comMIND CTI mindcti.comMi-Pay mi-pay.comMoba Consulting mobaconsulting.comMobile Distillery mobile-distillery.comMobilis Networks Ltd mobilis.comMobipay International SA mobipay.esmobivention mobivention.comMojiva mojiva.comMoneybookers moneybookers.comMoreMagic Solutions, Inc moremagic.comMoriana Group morianagroup.comMotive (an Alcatel-Lucent co.) motive.comMotorola Solutions motorolasolutions.comMovius Interactive moviuscorp.comMTS Ltd mtsint.comMYCOM mycom-int.comMyriad Group myriadgroup.comNagravision nagravision.comNakina Systems nakinasystems.comNarus, Inc narus.comNEC nec.comNeoMedia neom.comNeptuny neptuny.comNetCracker Technology netcracker.comNetEvidence net-evidence.comNetezza (an IBM co.) netezza.comNetformx netformx.comNetNumber netnumber.comNetQoS netqos.com

NetScout Systems netscout.comNetsize netsize.comNetSocket netsocket.comNetwork Equipment Technologies (NET) net.comNetwork Cadence networkcadence.comNeural Technologies neuralt.comNeuStar neustar.bizNewBay newbay.comNexagent (an EDS business) nexagent.comNexus Telecom AG nexustelecom.comnicholson Search & Selection nicholsonintl.comNine Group ninegroup.co.ukNoetica noetica.comNokia Siemens Networks nokiasiemensnetworks.comNortel nortel.comThe Now Factory thenowfactory.comNTT Data nttdata.comNTG Clarity Networks ntgclarity.comNuance Communications, Inc nuance.comOASIS Systems oasissystems.comObjective System Integrators (OSI) osi.comOn Demand Group ondemand.co.ukOneAccess oneaccess-net.comOneVu onevu.comOntology Systems ontology.comOnyx Software onyx.comOpen Text Corp opentext.comOpenCloud Ltd opencloud.comOpenet openet-telecom.comOpenTrust opentrust.comOpenWave openwave.comOpteq International opteqint.netOpus Advance Business Solutions opusabs.netOracle oracle.comOrga Systems GmbH orga-systems.comOutbox outbox.plOvum ovum.comPanviva panviva.comParallels parallels.comPartner Telecom partnertelecom.com.auPega pega.comPersistent Systems persistentsys.com



[email protected]: +352 27 756 280Twitter: MACHconnects

MACH is the leading provider of cloud-based, managedcommunications services for monetizing mobile data,simplifying interoperability between networks,optimizing wholesale processes and protecting revenues.It is fast becoming the provider of choice for real-time,value added services that are essential forcommunications service providers around the globe toenhance customer experience, optimize wholesaleprocesses and monetize their businesses in 3G and 4Gmobile ecosystems. With its long heritage in data andfinancial clearing, settlement and hub based connectivitymodels, it provides its 650 operator customers withstate-of-the-art tools needed to align business processes.Headquartered in Luxembourg, MACH has offices in 12countries. Its customers include Orange, Telefonica, T-Mobile, Telus, Verizon Wireless and Microsoft, as well asenterprise messaging customers like KLM.

Sectors: Billing & Charging | Outsourcing | CustomerAnalysis | Behaviour Analytics | Billing Analysis | DataAnalysis | Data Retention & Lawful Intercept | Other |Fraud Control & Prevention | Machine to Machine (M2M)| Billing (Interconnect & Wholesale) | BusinessIntelligence | eBilling, ePayment & ePresentment |Roaming Clearing & Settlement | Revenue Assurance |Revenue Management | Partner Settlement | PartnerRelationship Management | Mediation & Collection |Partner Management

[email protected]: +1 781-839-8300200 West St, Waltham, MA 02451 USA

MetraTech Corp. offers an innovative approach to billing,compensation and customer care. We empowerorganisations to embrace change through a uniqueagreements-based billing and compensation solutionthat models and supports fluid, personalised, multi-partyagreements. We automate business processes andbusiness models to address rapidly changing or complexbusiness strategies. Our products are deployed globally,and our customers use MetraTech to innovatively createand securely collect revenue, compensate partners andmanage their customer lifecycle in 12 languages, 28currencies and 90 countries. Customers includeTELMORE, Concur, The Depository Trust and ClearingCorporation (DTCC), CETIP, the City of Chicago, Microsoftand PGi. MetraTech is a venture-backed, privately heldcompany whose investors include Accel Partners,Meritech Capital and Vesbridge Partners. We areheadquartered in Waltham, with offices in, Rio deJaneiro and London.

Sectors: Billing & Charging I Billing (Utility) I Billing &Customer Care I Billing (Convergent Pre- & Post-paid) IBilling (Interconnect & Wholesale) I Billing (Retail) IeBilling, ePayment & ePresentment I Mediation &Collection I Business Intelligence I Accounting, Recording& Management I Billing I Analysis I Business Analysis &Intelligence I Product & Service Management I ProductCatalogue I Revenue Management I Credit, Cost & DebtControl I Revenue Analytics I Revenue Management IRoaming Clearing & Settlement


Pilat Media Global PLC pilatmedia.comPitney Bowes Business Insight pbinsight.comPolystar polystar.comPontis pontis.comPortrait Software portraitsoftware.comPractiv practiv.comPraesidium (Consulting division of WeDo) praesidium.comPRAGMATEK Consulting Group pragmatek.comPricewaterhouseCoopers pwc.com/gx/en/communicationsPrimal Solutions, Inc http://primalsolutions.netPrime Carrier Ltd primecarrier.comPrior Analytics Ltd prior-analytics.comPrism Technology prismtechwales.co.ukPro:Atria Ltd proatria.comProgress Software http://web.progress.comPronto Networks prontonetworks.comPSD psdgroup.comPSI AG psi.de/enQualcomm qualcomm.comQualitative Change qualitativechange.comRadialpoint radialpoint.comRed Bend redbend.comRedknee redknee.comRedwood Systems Ltd redwoodsystems.co.ukRoamware roamware.comRodopi Software rodopi.comRound (UK) Ltd round.co.ukRR Donnelly rrdonnelley.comSafenet safenet-inc.comSamsung samsung.comSandvine sandvine.comSAP sap.comSapient sapient.comSAS sas.comScorecard Systems scorecardsystems.comSeeker Wireless seekerwireless.co.ukSegala segala.com

Service2Media service2media.comServesys servesys.netSevone sevone.comShenick shenick.comSicap sicap.comSierra Wireless sierrawireless.comSigma Systems sigma-systems.comSimon Kucher & Partners www2.simon-kucher.comSITRONICS Telecom Solutions sitronicsts.comSixth Sense Media sixthsensemedia.comSkuku skuku.comSL Corporation sl.comSofrecom (a France Telecom–Orange Group co.)sofrecom.comSoftrax (AFS Financial Solutions) softrax.comSoftware AG softwareag.comSolera Networks soleranetworks.comSonus Networks sonusnet.comSopra Group sopragroup.comSpirent Communications plc spirent.comStarhome starhome.comSteria steria.comStork Ltd storkltd.comStrand Consult strandconsult.dkSubex subex.comSunrise Telecom sunrisetelecom.comSunTec Business Solutions suntecgroup.comSuntech Technologies, Inc. suntechtechnologies.comSword ciboodle sword-ciboodle.comSwyx swyx.comSybase (an SAP company) sybase.comSygnity sygnity.plSymantec Corp symantec.comSymsoft symsoft.comSynchronoss Technologies, Inc synchronoss.comSyniverse Technologies syniverse.comT-Systems t-systems.comTail-F Systems tail-f.com




Since the introduction of mobile data services in 1998,Openet has helped service providers capitalize onopportunities and overcome challenges. Withcompetitive pressure accelerating, today's serviceproviders rely on Openet software to evolve businessmodels around how smartphones, M2M devices andthird party services interact with their network. Openet’sportfolio combines policy and charging control withdevice and third party interaction to enable innovativecharging models, to control operating cost, and topersonalise services. More than 80 of the world’s largestservice providers in 28 countries use Openet’s highperformance software. For more information.

Sectors: PCC - Policy Control and Charging | PolicyManagement | Machine to Machine (M2M) | Mediation &Collection |Billing (Convergent Pre- & Post-paid)


As the pioneer of GSM billing, Orga Systems has gainedhighly qualified expertise in real-time charging andbilling. Orga Systems focuses on real-time basedsolutions for customer billing and administration inmobile telecommunication services. It sets importantmilestones for the industry regularly to further expandedits leading position. Orga Systems high-performancedatabase, InCore, is currently the fastest data technology

worldwide with regards to access speed. Mobileoperators need future-proof billing systems which offerclear service and cost benefits. The fully convergent real-time billing platform OPSC Gold guarantees theirprofitable future growth.

Sectors: Billing & Charging | Loyalty & ChurnManagement | Revenue Assurance | CustomerRelationship Management |Billing (Retail) | CustomerExperience Management | eBilling, ePayment &ePresentment | Revenue Management | Mediation &Collection | Billing (Convergent Pre- & Post-paid) |Customer Care


Redknee is a leading global provider of innovativecommunication software products, solutions andservices. Redknee's award-winning solutions enablewireless, multi-service and alternate service providers tomonetise the value of each subscriber transaction whilepersonalising the subscriber experience to meetmainstream, niche and individual market segmentrequirements. Redknee's revenue generating solutionsprovide advanced converged billing, rating, charging,policy and wholesale settlement for innovative dataofferings, messaging, and voice services to over 90network operators in over 50 countries.

Sectors: Billing & Charging | Billing (Interconnect &Wholesale) | Billing (Utility) | Billing (Retail) | eBilling,ePayment & ePresentment | Mediation & Collection



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VanillaPlus is the leading global magazine and webportal dedicated to communications BSS and OSS. Itcovers billing, customer care, fraud control, network,service and revenue management. Now in its 14th yearof publication, VanillaPlus provides news, views andfeatures on systems for profitable communications,digital media and entertainment. It is available on freesubscription to qualifying readers, and on paidsubscription to all others. The print edition is circulatedworldwide six times a year to 5,641 named directors andsenior managers within communications networkoperators and service providers, and distributed at morethan 50 key events on 5 continents each year.VanillaPlus.com gives you and 28,000 other onlinereaders free access to exclusive C-Level video interviews,news, blogs, reviews, webinar podcasts, digital editionsof the magazine, and an online directory.

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CLOCK ING OFF!

Nature abhors a vacuum and human nature is nodifferent. That explains why whenever you cleara space somebody will always endeavour to fillit. It doesn't matter if it's desk space, shelf space,rackspace or lanes on the motorway. Or indeed,on mobile networks.

No matter how many lanes they put on busymotorways such as London’s M25 or the ParisPériphérique, they will always be full. Notbecause more traffic is encouraged to use thisroute – as was popularly thought – but becauseexisting users will want to spread themselvesout. No matter that the middle and outside lanesare for overtaking only, there are always peoplewho want to block these lanes for the duration oftheir journey, so they can cruise along at 50 milesan hour without ever having to pull over or lookin the mirror. Or give their fellow human beingsany thought. Give some people a metal box – beit a car or an iPhone – and they quickly retreatinto their own little world, please themselves andto hell with the rest of humanity.

Car drivers hog the precious resources of amotorway lane because they think it's safe to doso. Arguably, the opposite is true. Imposing amonotonous journey onto every driver stuckbehind them has a dangerously soporific effecton the reluctant tailgaters, who have toconstantly fight the inclination to fall asleep atthe wheel. Middle lane drivers, like bandwidthhoggers, are incredibly selfish though. They can'tbe made to change without technical measuresbeing applied.

What's true for the road network is equally truefor the mobile infrastructure. We've just have afantastic new mobile superhighway built in LTE,which could bring significant benefits to us all. Itcould certainly cut the journey time to Homelandon iPlayer dramatically.

But how soon will it be until you find yourselfchewing your driving gloves off and shouting atyour screen as you're forced to poodle along atwhat seems like one kilobit per hour. You won'tunderstand what the problem is, as there shouldbe plenty of room. But the problem will be thatone selfish driver avails themselves of the fullamount of space accorded to them, whether theyneed it or not.

You can bet they're not in a hurry. Maybe theyare downloading a series of videos that they'llnever get to watch. This isn't just selfish it'sstupid. Who watches films on their mobile phoneanyway? Smart phone, stupid user.

Videos aren't the only vehicles blocking the fastlanes of the LTE superhighway. Thanks tomonsters like Hauppage, the inventor of theBroadway 2T, millions of mid lane poodlers willbe hogging the bandwidth while they watch TV.The Broadway 2T, though clever, is an instrumentof the devil, as it allows iPad users to turn theirmobile tablets into TV screens. Again, what's thepoint of watching TV on a small screen? Thevisual impact of a TV production is so massivelyimportant that they hire and fire newsreaderspurely for their looks. Is this possibly because thedata – the news being conveyed – pales intoinsignificance in comparison to the images? Thisis clearly designed to be a visual media, so whywatch it on a small screen?

Surely it's not beyond the bounds of possibilityto police the way people use gadgets and ringfence our LTE bandwidth before it gets eaten up.

Personally, I would give people online motorwaydriving tests. If you're the sort of person thatblocks the throughfare, without consideringothers, you shouldn't be allowed to take a vehicleonto the transport network. You should also beexcluded from using LTE too. That's what I callbeing broad banned.

I tried to put this proposal to the chief executiveof a top mobile operator, but he was on the road.Probably watching a video.

Spectrum hoggers, whether they're on the motorway or the LTE, need to bediscouraged. Surely we have the technology to do so, asks Nick Booth?

The author,Nick Booth, is acontributor toVanillaPlus anda technology journalist.

Net rage comes of ageas broadband hoggersclog the LTE fast lane

What's true for

the road network

is equally true for

the mobile

infrastructure


New digital services can transform your business.

February 4-5, 2013Dubai

As smartphone and tablet penetration increases in the Middle East, service providers need to improve data-service offerings, a strategy that analysts predict may help counteract falling voice revenue and boost earnings. What type of innovative new digital services should service providers offer to meet consumer and business demand, what changes must be implemented to ensure a successful launch, and what strategies should be employed to ensure that growth is achieved?

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Featuring keynote presentations from:

Ashraf ShokryChief Information OfficerAjman Bank

Daniel RitzGroup Chief Strategy and M&A OfficerEtisalat

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Dr. Karl - Michael HennekingChief Marketing & Strategy OfficerMobily

Sheikh Abdulla Al RawahyChief Strategy OfficerNawras

David CampbellChief Corporate Services OfficerQatar National Broadband Network

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Hisham SibliniChief Technology OfficerWataniya Telecom Kuwait

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