The immense popularity of tablets and smartphones has resulted in a surge in the exchange of data and growth in bandwidth consumption. However, this increased data usage and subsequent network strain is just the tip of the iceberg for operators.
There are several other key factors that will drive data service growth in the coming years, such as the increase in the use of video services, the proliferation of M2M communications and the move toward service convergence. Furthermore, as more operators invest in 4G/LTE technologies, consumers will only continue to use more data but at faster rates, and will expect high-quality, low-latency services. This means that data traffic is likely to continue to grow at a much faster rate than operators’ revenue.
Operators will need to find a cost-effective way to deal with the exponential increase in data usage and network transactions, and maintain control over limited resources like bandwidth, while trying to maximize customer satisfaction and their profitability. On a positive note, they have a wealth of data about subscribers in the form of usage transactions, network performance, cell-site information, device-level data, as well as information spread across their networks and back office systems. But will operators have the innovation, know-how and drive to stitch the two together (data growth plus subscriber and service awareness) to bridge the chasm being formed by slow revenue growth?
Next-generation data mediation platforms are helping to enable operators to do just that. These platforms, although often underappreciated and underestimated, play a pivotal role in the context of operators’ revenue monetization strategies. They provide operators with the foundation to achieve true convergence, enable them to introduce next-generation services morerapidly, and facilitate the launch of IP-based offerings.
Batch-oriented mediation platforms are gradually becoming archaic, and the need of the hour is flexible, network-driven, bi-directional, on-line and off-line charging mediation platforms. Processing performance and the ability to run on low-cost hardware are some of the key features required of next-generation mediation systems. In fact, they need a multitude of capabilities ranging from being network-, technology- and vendor-agnostic to supporting triggering and analytics.
Most important among these is the ability to ensure that raw data usage capture, processing and distribution is done entirely in real time. Simultaneous data correlation and aggregation into single or multiple usage events is also vital to helping operators reduce data latency and optimize network resources. In addition, next-generation data mediation systems must supply validation rules and be able to check for and remove duplicate records, filter by user-defined criteria and correct errors in records as they are being processed. Lastly, it is critical that mediation systems be scalable and that they protect the billing layer by consolidating the increased amount of transactions amid the growth in mobile data usage.
The future of data mediation
The explosion of data, along with the rapid proliferation of connected devices and converged services, is stretching the capabilities of many existing mediation platforms. Based on research from Heavy Reading, there are several key areas that next-generation data mediation platforms can support to help meet operators’ business requirements.
For instance, global operators are looking to consolidate and aggregate their OSS/BSS systems and centrally manage the transactions for several countries to reduce operational costs and streamline business processes, thus increasing overall efficiency. In order to do so, they need a cost-efficient, scalable, convergent mediation platform to manage their existing services and handle the roll out of next-generation services. Operators require mediation solutions that can not only support different service types, but also manage product transitions, several business lines and usage activities from varying device types.
Enabling positive customer experience management (CEM) is another area where next-generation data mediation systems can be useful because at the heart of CEM is accurate and timely data collection. A CEM system should collect everything that makes up a customer’s multi-faceted experience, including dropped calls and call center events. Well-designed data mediation platforms can play a crucial role in this process by providing a platform that can model and analyze this data in real time on a per-subscriber basis, and find correlations and patterns between events that may affect individual customers. This intelligence can potentially give operators the best opportunity to anticipate and respond to customer interactions, and identify possible reasons for and control subscriber churn.
Next-generation mediation systems can also help plug revenue leakage arising from bad data, configuration discrepancies, incorrect credit limit checks due to batch-oriented rating processes and incorrect inter-carrier accounting. Data mediation vendors, because of their proximity to the network and access to raw data, are well equipped to provide an element of revenue assurance. For example, they can equip operators with the tools needed to detect unauthorized VoIP or P2P traffic to protect their network capacity from undesirable third-party bandwidth hogs.
Next-generation mediation platforms, with their extreme performance and scalability, are the cornerstone of being able to maintain control over one’s networks and services, while keeping customers happy and maintaining a satisfactory bottom line. They are the key to simplifying operations management and creating centralized competence centers for analysis and development.
And with the service ecosystem evolving, operators must take steps to avoid being cut off from the content value chain. Flexible, future-proof data mediation systems can ensure this, and help them streamline their business practices and put a stake in the ground for years to come.
Steve Hateley is director of product marketing at Comptel. For more information visit www.comptel.com/