Challenges for Telecom Service Providers/Operators
Flat Revenue
Although the network traffic has increased rapidly over the years, revenue for many telecom service providers remains flat. Operating costs continue to grow every year and industry disruptors such as Over the Top (OTT) players challenge service providers’ existing business models. Service providers need to re-think their monetization strategies and Policy Control and Charging (PCC) is a pivotal element in their approach.
Customer Experience Management
With fierce competition facing service providers, Quality of Experience (QoE) is a key differentiator that allows service providers/operators to offer tiered plans utilizing Policy Control to customize bandwidth and Quality of Service (QoS) to deliver the optimal QoE for each use case. With Policy Control, network resources can be optimized to deliver the optimal QoE, instead of throwing additional network resources to solve the QoS problem.
Monetization
Policy control integrated with Online Charging Service (OCS) offers a powerful tool for the operators to introduce inventive plans to create value for the customers. Policy control provides the ability to utilize network, device, user and service characteristics to create monetization opportunities. For instance, operators can offer dedicated QoS for social networking packages to provide value added plans to different segments of users. Dedicated QoS could be extended to non-telecom applications as M2M communications.
Key Selection Considerations for Policy Control and Charging (PCC) solution
When selecting a PCC solution, service providers should consider the following critical criteria:
- Easy to use interface allows service providers to rapidly create various policies.
- Adaptive network interface – a network control solution that is flexible and adapts to specific interfaces.
- Horizontal scalability and high availability.
- Key industry use cases to achieve three main goals: optimization, personalization and monetization.
STRATAGEM – Sigma Software’s Online Policy Control and Charging (PCC) Management Solution Overview
Sigma Software’s Stratagem Policy Control and Charging (PCC) Management solution is provided through the 3GPP compliant PCRF. The PCRF supports 3GPP Gx, Gy, Sd interfaces to deliver key policy use cases. Stratagem offers a wide portfolio of key use cases that enable service providers to offer inventive service capabilities to deliver personalized experience with optimal network utilization. All of these combined, create opportunities for monetization.
Stratagem delivers its portfolio of use cases through its policy configuration interface allowing operators to define policy rules that takes into account – QCI, bandwidth, service and other user and network characteristics.
Benefits
There are four key benefits for service providers, in utilizing Sigma Software’s Online Policy Charging and Control solution – Stratagem:
Enhanced Customer Experience
Stratagem enhances the customer experience by enabling all customers to manage their own service-level ‘spending control’ according to their desired budget, within the rules defined by their service provider. Online authorization and advice of charge also offers fully transparent pricing, meaning customers know what they are spending as they consume their services, without the risk of overspending or experience the so-called ‘bill shock’.
Create New Revenue Streams
Sigma Software’s Online Policy Control and Charging (PCC) Management solution is a service and account-type agnostic charging solution, which supports the creation of inventive services and new revenue streams.
Flexible Deployment Options
Stratagem Policy Control and Charging (PCC) Management solution is a standards-based charging system, built upon the 3GPP specifications and an integral component of Sigma Software’s Total Convergence Architecture (TCA). With Diameter interfaces, the system can be deployed as a standalone charging and policy engine; as a replacement for legacy prepaid systems; or as an integral part of the Sigma Software’s OmniCare end-to-end CRM & Billing solution.
Enhanced Marketing
Marketing has an immense amount of flexibility to form promotional strategies to enhance loyalty; explore subscribers’ desires in a myriad of ways. Stratagem allows responding to market opportunities with new tariff plans and rolling them out in a flash. Marketing can, at the spur of the moment, roll out promotional plans that would NOT be in offline settings.
Resources
Sigma Software Did Your Know series – Fair Usage Policy
