Solution is aimed at helping mobile operators speed time to market for 3G products and services
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) today announced the launch of a business and operational support solution for 3G Mobile IP. The solution, launched following a collaborative effort between eight members of the TeleManagement Forum (TMF), will help mobile operators speed time to market for 3G Mobile IP products and services.
3G Mobile IP aims to help solve the dilemma faced by mobile operators who have successfully bid for 3G licences. If they fail to develop sufficient and appropriate applications for their 3G services, they risk under-exploiting their investment by limiting demand.
The solution enables a new level of service and experience to be delivered directly. Critical support functions such as customer sales, ordering, invoicing/collections, content delivery management and billing processes are activated directly by subscribers from their own handsets without the need for operator intervention. It will offer full support for mobile business, including business conducted via personal digital assistants (PDAs) and wireless enabled PCs. It has the ability to bill multiple parties and also collect payments on behalf of third parties thus providing support for the innovative new business models appearing in this arena.
PricewaterhouseCoopers has led the integration of the solution, working with seven other members of the TMF: Compaq, Geneva Technology, Nortel Networks, Telia Mobile, Siebel Systems, Sun Microsystems and Vitria Technology.
The product was launched officially at the TeleManagement World conference in Nice, France, on 8 May 2001. The conference is organised by TMF. The conference will showcase solutions for the wider communications industry, which have been developed by TMF members.
Noel Taylor, Head of Telecommunications at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said:
"This solution provides mobile operators with an opportunity to speed time to market, through the latest technology, without the hassle of building an integrated business and operational support system (OSS) solution from scratch.
"For new entrants, it offers a proven OSS solution that can be up and running in as little as four months. For incumbent carriers, it offers a parallel path to begin moving to the new world, while they`re still generating revenues in the old.
"The driver for revenue growth in the mobile market is changing from adding new users to keeping existing subscribers and increasing average revenue per user (ARPU). To do this means having to identify additional sources of revenue offered by 3G, from providing new services such as data and content to developing new business models involving multiple parties such as content partners and advertisers.
"Such new services are likely to be introduced rapidly due to the competitive nature of the marketplace and operational support systems (OSS) need to be rapidly configurable to support new services and business models."
Key benefits of the new solution include the ability to:
enable operators to achieve a fast time to market with new products and services
improve the subscriber/customer experience to increase customer loyalty, build brand and improve retention
provides business capability to exploit the real time advantages of 3G network solutions
reduces support costs through higher levels of automation and customer self service
support mobile business transactions for B2C, B2B, B2E - any time, any place, anywhere
provides for revenue assurance across internal and external transactions.
Mobile and Internet technologies are currently converging to bring about an M-Business revolution. The impact on the mobile market will be far reaching as value shifts from transport to content. Mobile operators are radically re-thinking their value chain position and enterprises are looking to m-enable their businesses ahead of the next wave of change.
There are currently 450 million mobile subscribers worldwide and this figure is expected to grow to 600 million by 2003, when it is anticipated that a third of devices will be Internet-enabled. In Europe, the M-Business market is expected to grow from lb323 million in 2000 to lb23 billion by 2003.
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PricewaterhouseCoopers
The Management Consulting Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers helps clients maximise their business performance by integrating strategic change, process improvements and technology solutions. Through a worldwide network of skills and resources, consultants manage complex projects with global capabilities and local knowledge, from strategy through implementation.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwcglobal.com) is the world`s largest professional services organisation. Drawing on the knowledge and skills of more than 150,000 people in 150 countries, we help our clients solve complex business problems and measurably enhance their ability to build value, manage risk and improve performance in an Internet-enabled world.
PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the member firms of the worldwide PricewaterhouseCoopers organisation.
TeleManagement Forum / TeleManagement World
The TeleManagement Forum (TMF) is a non-profit global organization that provides leadership, strategic guidance and practical solutions to improve the management and operation of communications services. Its 250-company membership comprises incumbent and new-entrant service providers, computing and network equipment suppliers, software solution suppliers and customers of communications services. Through its work programs <javascript:loadFrames(`/programs/prog3lnv.html`,`/programs/progra ms_mn.html `,`topnav15`)and catalyst projects <javascript:loadFrames(`/programs/prog3lnv.html`,`/programs/cataly stprojects .html`,`topnav15`), the TMF and its members develop solutions around the issues of OSS integration and business process automation. The catalyst projects enable solution suppliers to demonstrate what their systems are or what they might be capable of if connected via common agreements. Catalyst projects are intended to kick-start the industry in specific areas by linking together existing products to meet a specific market need. Catalyst projects are demonstrated at two TeleManagement World conferences every year, when real and prototype products are linked together to automate key processes and deliver integrated solutions. This enables suppliers to test the viability of new approaches and ideas in a live market setting while giving service providers a way to see what`s possible and provide feedback to suppliers.
Mobile IP TeleManagement Forum Participants Compaq
Compaq Telecom provides convergent solutions that help global service and equipment providers get to market quickly with the high value services a customer-driven market demands. With the combined heritage of Compaq, Tandem and Digital, Compaq Telecom is a carrier-grade partner with expertise that spans the full spectrum of customer needs: in platforms, an end-to-end product line that runs from handheld Internet-access devices to mission-critical servers that manage large-scale network infrastructure; in services, a respected global organization that provides customers with a single point of contact anywhere in the world; and in solutions, from wireless and wireline solutions to business intelligence, network management and real-time CRM. Compaq Telecom works with more than 200 communications companies, including the largest 40 in the world. Website: www.compaq.com
Geneva Technology
Geneva Technology is a leading e-business software company specialising in active revenue management. Geneva Technology was formed in 1989 and is based in Cambridge in the UK. It has offices in Washington DC, Denver, Paris, Madrid, and Frankfurt. Geneva Technology is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) which has its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a member of the S&P 500 and the Forbes ` Platinum 400 and is the global leader in integrated billing and customer care services provided through outsourcing or licensing. It employs over 45,000 people around the world. Website: www.convergys.com
Nortel Networks
Nortel Networks is a global Internet and communications leader with capabilities spanning Optical, Wireless, Local, Personal Internet and eBusiness. The Company had 2000 U.S. GAAP revenues of US$30.3 billion and serves carrier, service provider and enterprise customers globally. Today, Nortel Networks is creating a high-performance Internet that is more reliable and faster than ever before. It is redefining the economics and quality of networking and the Internet, promising a new era of collaboration, communications and commerce. Website: www.nortelnetworks.com
Siebel Systems
Siebel Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SEBL) is the world`s leading provider of eBusiness applications software. Siebel Systems provides an integrated family of eBusiness application software enabling multichannel sales, marketing and customer service systems to be deployed over the Web, call centers, field, reseller channels, retail and dealer networks. Siebel Systems` sales and service facilities are located in more than 37 countries.
For more information, please visit Siebel`s web site www.siebel.com
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- The Network Is The ComputerTM -- has industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to take their businesses to the nth. With $19.2 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.
Telia Mobile Telia Mobile AB is one of the world`s most innovative mobile telecommunications operators with a major share of the Nordic market. Net sales for 2000 amount to 14,276 MSEK. Telia Mobile offers advanced wireless communications services to private and corporate customers. The company`s operations also include other wireless services which offer reliable communications to the transport, maritime and aviation industries. Telia Mobile is a subsidiary to Telia AB. For further information, please visit our website at www.telia.com/teliamobile
Vitria Technology, Inc
Vitria provides its eBusiness infrastructure platform BusinessWareT. In particular, BusinessWare provides the necessary middleware bus infrastructure for facilitating the communication between various COTS applications, provides a normalized common information model (and the transformations of this model to those of the COTS), provides the framework for defining end-to-end business processes with embedded workflow to support the Fulfillment and Billing processes considered, and finally, the framework for enabling the B2B interactions between various trading partners. For further information, please visit our website at www.vitria.com