In the wake of extensive merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, an Asian telecoms network operator has reportedly extended its relationship with DigitalRoute, a provider of data integration solutions globally.
The operator is deploying the Swedish company’s mediation-based Usage Management technology. In 2015 it had chosen MediationZone from DigitalRoute to replace the mediation components of its BSS infrastructure. Usage Management extends the core product’s functionality.
Usage Management gives the telco a fully configurable service delivery engine to enable it to gain total visibility and control of subscriber activity in real-time. With the market in Asia placing a premium on real-time Bill Shock prevention, this means the operator can address the time gap between actual usage and customer notification, solving the problem commonly faced by customers who want to control their usage in a timely manner when usage updates are not readily available after activity on the network.
Because of this, deploying Usage Management became a logical additional step in the carrier’s broader IT upgrade project. That effort – of which the original MediationZone implementation had been a core part – sought to downsize legacy high-end and high-cost hardware usage thereby reducing Total Cost of Ownership whilst simultaneously maintaining performance and improving functionality.
Usage Management delivers three key business advantages:
- It enables the company to deploy attractive, low-margin services quickly as an upsell opportunity.
- It supports service transparency and tiered offerings that enhance the end customer’s experience.
- It lets the telco deliver incremental services quickly to gain a competitive edge in the market.
Mediation system replacement was originally considered by the Asian operator to be central to achieving a leaner BSS based on open source software such as Linux, Couchbase and x86 servers. DigitalRoute was a natural fit in pursuit of these goals, and was additionally able to increase mediation’s intelligence to not only control usage but also to enable rating enhancements.
Migration to mediation-based Usage Management involved a phased approach to reduce project risk. The scope was extremely complex, requiring the migration of existing business logic including uniquely configured subscriber profiles and product catalogue. It would have not been possible to accommodate the telco’s requirements without DigitalRoute’s highly flexible architecture.
Speaking anonymously, a representative of the operator said: “We selected DigitalRoute’s Usage Management extension because its innovative approach gives us significant benefits. It will enable us to control QoS (Quality of Service) in real-time and to send SMS notifications to end users and this will lead to enhanced customer satisfaction. At the same time, we will realise significant cost savings through optimising existing processes.”
The operator continued: “Ultimately, we will be able to leverage Usage Management to offer various attractive data services that require real-time capability of data processing, such as data bucket sharing within group and family, and sponsored data. These and other similar services are likely to be integral components of future success.”
Added Johan Bergh, CEO, DigitalRoute: “We are delighted to extend our relationship with an existing customer and, in doing so, bring Usage Management to the Asia region. Its deployment clearly demonstrates how MediationZone can support many key BSS functions such as prorating, discounting and balance carry-over that are normally not offered within mediation solutions but which provide considerable advantages when this is possible.”
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