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Convergent Billing - VAS

Jul 1
2014

EC Mobile Data, Voice Roaming Cuts Take Effect on July 1, 2014

One reason Western European mobile service provider revenue is dropping is that new mandatory price cuts have been adopted, reducing maximum prices for some products, such as mobile data, by up to 70 percent. On July 1, 2014, the European Union will institute the third of three wholesale price cuts for wholesale mobile communications, cutting price… Read more
Jun 15
2014

Wi-Fi Offload Will Represent 52% of Mobile Internet Traffic in 2018

Mobile Internet access traffic offloaded from mobile networks to Wi-Fi represented 45 percent of total mobile Internet traffic in 2013, and will grow to 52 percent of total mobile Internet access traffic by 2018, according to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index. Likewise, the amount of traffic offloaded from smartphones will be 51 percent by 2018… Read more
Jun 1
2014

Worldwide Carrier Network Upgrades to Cost $354 Billion this Year

Ever since the rise of LTE, mobile expenditures have been on the rise, with several government and private sector initiatives throwing whatever money it can at projects to expand networks. Infonetics Research, a research firm dedicated to gathering data on the telecommunications market, has released a report called “Service Provider Capex… Read more
May 15
2014

U.S. Communications Market in Great Flux; Regulate Forward, Not Backwards

As U.S. regulators potentially are called upon to approve or reject a number of industry-transforming deals (Comcast acquisition of Time Warner Cable; Sprint acquisition of T-Mobile US; AT&T purchase of DirecTV or a Dish Network purchase of T-Mobile US), U.S. cable TV operators are preparing yet one more effort to enter the U.S. mobile business… Read more
May 1
2014

The MVNO Revolution – Are You Ready To Be Virtualized?

Churn is a constant threat and a constant opportunity depending on which side of the fence you happen to be sitting. In some markets customers are switching providers in their droves. Consider Australia, where a whopping 46 percent of customers churned in the last three years. Nearly half of those who churned in the last year went to Mobile Virtual… Read more
Apr 17
2014

Are VoIP Apps a Threat to Mobile Service Providers?

Over-the-top (OTT) VoIP services such as WhatsApp and Viber have become popular during the last few years. This popularity of OTT apps is fueled in part by the availability of low-cost smartphones and the emergence of cheap data plans. While users are happy with these new instant messaging services, telecom service providers are feeling the pinch.… Read more
Apr 15
2014

Time to consider a virtual SIM?

The SIM card – still a necessity or an archaic way to minimise a customer’s mobility. Last month, regulators in the Netherlands became the first worldwide to legalise network agnostic SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards, allowing stakeholders in the mobile ecosystem like device or M2M manufacturers to incorporate these SIMs into their… Read more
Apr 1
2014

Microsoft Communications and Media Global Outlook 2014 - 2017

Communications and Media Global Outlook 2014-2017 provides insight into the Microsoft and partner technologies that are being developed for communications and media companies to drive positive change and address new trends. Topics around mobile, cloud and the Internet of Things are covered in the technology roadmap and regional perspective… Read more
Mar 15
2014

One Clear Measure of Telecom Market Change

One measure of how much the telecom market has changed, in Western Europe and elsewhere, is market share.  Consider that former U.K. monopoly provider BT, which once had 100 percent share, supplies just 31 percent of all fixed network broadband connections.  In France, Orange has 41 percent share, while in Italy Telecom Italia has 51 percent… Read more
Mar 1
2014

Telco Capital Investment: Running Harder to Stay in Place

Competition has negatively affected the potential return from any major capital investment in carrier networks. One recent illustration is a warning by Fitch Ratings that telcos will have to invest more network capital than they used to, just to maintain earnings where they are.  “While investment in data networks is still economically justified… Read more