VanillaPlus Magazine August-September 2012 Edition

TALKING HEADSArieso chief explains why

CSPs have got performanceengineering all wrong

TALKING HEADSArieso chief explains why

CSPs have got performanceengineering all wrong

D R I V I N G P R O F I T S F O R C O M M U N I C A T I O N S E R V I C E P R O V I D E R S

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

V O L U M E 1 4 I S S U E 4

10-PAGE TEST

& MEASUREM

ENT

SUPPLEMENT INSIDE

ISSN 1745-1736

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Syniverse buys MACH for €550m • Amdocs and Subex sign five-year deals with CSP customers• Planning problems impede small cell roll-outs • Indonesian interconnect for Redknee • Who’s winning inThe Contract Hot List • What’s on when • Read the latest OSS & BSS news online now at www.vanillaplus.com

Can a

bill deliv

er

satisfactio

n?

See p16

CLOCKING OFF!Low tech answers tohigh-tech questions –with added ketchup

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PLUS!

HOW BIG ISBIG DATA?

16-page Spotlight on bigdata in telecoms offers

the answers

SHAREDDATA PLANS

Satisfaction, pricingand fraud prey on

CSPs’ minds

LEAPING FROMTHE BIG BOARD

How to cope withthe CSP brain drain

HOW BIG ISBIG DATA?

16-page Spotlight on bigdata in telecoms offers

the answers

SHAREDDATA PLANS

Satisfaction, pricingand fraud prey on

CSPs’ minds

LEAPING FROMTHE BIG BOARD

How to cope withthe CSP brain drain

▼

Reproduced from Vanillaplus magazine

A new name, a new look, a new direction.CSG and Intec are now CSG International.

www.csgi.com© 2011 CSG Interna onal, Inc.

With our recent acquisi on of Intec, CSG Interna onal is now a globally focused leader in helping clients At the core of our union is a transforma onal partnership. As a combined en ty, we now o er

our clients an unprecedented set of business support solu ons and services to help them capitalize on dynamic market changes and opportuni es. With more than 25 years of experience, and serving over 500 customers in 24 countries, CSG is even be er posi oned to help businesses accurately capture, manage, generate and op mize revenue, strengthen customer rela onships, and exploit emerging opportuni es. We are commi ed to long term partnership with our customers and believe collabora on and communica on are an integral part of helping our clients achieve success. We invite you to pro t from our experience. Visit us at: www.csgi.com

IN THIS ISSUE

3VANILLAPLUS AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

TALKING HEADS11

C O N T E N T S

Shirin Dehghan, chief executiveand founder of Arieso

VANILLAPLUSSPOTLIGHT ONBIG DATA

19

CLOCKING OFF

37

EDITOR’S COMMENT 4George Malim asks who’s taking the strain for the CSP brain drain?

COMPANY NEWS 5Syniverse to acquire MACH, CSG International buys Ascade and Accantosells probe business

MARKET NEWS 6Survey reveals small cells planning bottleneck

CONTRACT NEWS 8Subex and Amdocs score five-year deals

PEOPLE NEWS 9Jason Bandy explains how to negotiate your salary, Syniverseappoints new COO and Americas sales president

THE CONTRACT HOT LIST 10VanillaPlus’s round up of the major contracts recentlyannounced worldwide

TALKING HEADS 11Shirin Dehghan, chief executive and founder of Arieso, says networkinefficiency is inexcusable as the pressure to optimise intensifies

SHARED DATA PLANS 14CSPs need to support all the strands of family plans, says Amit Daniel

THE BILLING EXPERIENCE 16The bill plays an important communication role, CSPs shouldmaximise that, says Cullen Davidson

VANILLAPLUS SPOTLIGHT ON BIG DATA 1916 pages of big data mining start here

CASE STUDY 35Inside CenturyLink’s deployment of Tribold EPM

DIARY 36Where to go and what to see

CLOCKING OFF! 37Nick Booth seeks out low-tech solutions to high-tech problems

Arieso provides customer-centric, location-awaresoftware and services that enable operators tofocus their business on the evolving desires andexperiences of their customers. Arieso’ssolutions locate, store and analyse data fromevery call, providing operators with a rich sourceof information to boost network performanceand enrich user experience. This detailed insight,which transforms the effectiveness of radionetwork capital planning and performanceengineering, opens new possibilities forcustomer experience assurance andgeomarketing. Operating on five continents,Arieso’s clients include América Móvil, AT&T,MTN, Portugal Telecom, Telefónica O2, Vodafoneand equipment vendors including Alcatel Lucent,Ericsson and NSN. www.arieso.com

VANILLAPLUS AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 20124

As usual there’s been a reasonable amount of gossip aboutmergers and acquisitions in the telecoms software market.There’s something about the summer season that seems tosuggest that if you put a chief executive by a pool, buy andsell rumours proliferate, like so many fat kids dive-bombingthe deep end. A big splash, diminishes to a barely detectableripple, calm is restored and the serious business ofimproving the suntan continues.

C O M M E N T

John Aalbers,chief executive,Volubill

Martin Creaner, president,TM Forum

AndreasFreund, VPMarketing, OrgaSystems GmbH

Louis Hall, chief executive,CerillionTechnologies

Gabriel Matsliach,general manager,BSS Product Line,Comverse

Pat McCarthy, VPof GlobalMarketing, ServiceDelivery Solutions,Telcordia

Simon Muderack,COO, Tribold

John Rainger,vice president,EMEA, CSGInternational

Mac Taylor, CEO,The MorianaGroup

Chris Yeadon,director of ProductMarketing, Ericsson

Dr Reinhard Zuba,CMO, Vipnet(Telekom Austria)

EDITORGeorge MalimTel: +44 (0) 0208 292 [email protected]

DIGITAL EDITORNathalie BisnarTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

BUSINESSDEVELOPMENTDIRECTORCherisse DraperTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Mark BridgesTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

OPERATIONS DIRECTORCharlie BisnarTel: +44 (0) 1732 [email protected]

PUBLISHERJeremy CowanTel: +44 (0) 1420 [email protected]

DISTRIBUTIONUK Postings LtdTel: +44 (0) 8456 444137

CIRCULATIONCircdata Tel: +44 (0) 1635 869868

PUBLISHED BYPrestige Media Ltd.Suite 28,30 Churchill SquareKings Hill, West MallingKent ME19 4YU, UKTel: +44 (0) 1732 897645

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VanillaPlus is distributed free to selected named individualsworldwide who meet the Publisher's terms of Circulation Control. Ifyou would like to apply for a regular free copy supplied at thePublisher's discretion visit www.vanillaplus.com If you do notqualify for a free subscription, paid subscriptions can be obtained.Subscriptions for 6 issues cost £99.00 worldwide (or US$150 /EUR125) including post and packing. VanillaPlus magazine ispublished 6 times per year.

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© Prestige Media Ltd 2012

EDITORIAL ADVISORS

Dan Baker, ResearchDirector, TechnologyResearch Institute

George Malim,Editor:VanillaPlus

CSP brain drain raisesbarely a ripple as vendorCEOs avoid the splash backof M&A rumour mill

Now the silly season is over, it’s time to assess what, if anything, of substance is goingon. First item on the agenda is Nokia Siemens Networks and what it might do with itsBSS business. The vendor needs cash and appears to prefer to focus on its small cellsstrategy rather than devote time and money to BSS. Ericsson and Amdocs have beenmentioned as suitors – perhaps because they’re big enough to buy the assets, ratherthan because they need the technology.

Amdocs itself has been linked with Microsoft over the summer season. Microsoft hastried hard and often to crack telecoms with some success but it may see value in apartner that can bring it greater industry-specific heft.

What is becoming clear is that telecoms software procurement has changed, probablyforever. Network equipment vendors are either piling in to OSS/BSS or getting out.Ericsson and NEC are notable for their commitments to building their portfolios. Thetraditional IT vendors have taken similar approaches coming from the IT side of theVenn diagram that centres on telecoms software.

That leaves a select group of telecoms software specialists still independent of networkequipment or IT vendors. Amdocs is probably the largest of these, although CSGInternational and Comverse are substantial businesses with sufficient scale to remainindependent.

All these machinations, along with ever-present consolidation among smaller vendors,illustrate how procurement is changing. Intelligence is shifting from the CSP to thevendor. The summer season saw five-year deals done by Amdocs with TIM Brasil andSubex with MTN.

Professionals who would have been employed byCSPs now work at vendors and the brains aredraining away from them. Some, of course, arebeing retained to maintain management insightinto the performance of long-term deals but CSPsare de-skilling. Should that be a concern for the CSPCEO? Absolutely not; they’re shifting expensiveheadcount to their suppliers and gaining access toinnovation and the economies of scale managed servicesproviders can deliver. It’s the mere clink of ice in a long, cooldrink. It’s the vendor CEOs that have to deal with the wavescaused by the belly flop from the big board.

Accanto Systems hasreached an agreementwith NetScout for the saleof assets and technologyassociated with the probetechnology component ofits intelligent CustomerService Assurance (iCSA)product line. Bytransferring the probetechnology to NetScout,Accanto Systems says it

will focus more on the evolution of itsCustomer Service Assurance solutionportfolio.

“The sale of our probe technology toNetScout is a logical progression for ourbusiness model,” said MicheleCampriani, chief executive officer anddirector of Accanto Systems. “Bytransferring these assets to NetScout,we are able to provide an even strongerend-to-end solution to our customers toenable the deeper level of serviceassurance capabilities they need to meettheir growing data and voice operationalchallenges. With this technology

divestiture, Accanto Systems may nowfocus more on its Customer ExperienceManagement (CEM) solutions. We arevery excited to become a reseller ofNetScout technology as we can leverageNetScout leading service managementportfolio as part of our end to endCustomer Service Assurance solutions.”

Anil Singhal, president and CEO ofNetScout, added: “The technologyacquired is consistent with our packet-flow strategy and brings important voiceservice monitoring capabilities that willstrengthen our unified service deliverymanagement strategy and accelerateour time to market to support emergingtechnologies like VoLTE. In addition,NetScout will be able to address abroader range of voice assurancerequirements for both NGN and legacydeployments for wireless, wireline andcable operators.”

The technology acquisition includes allof the Pantera hardware probes as wellas middleware and session analysisapplications.

CSG International buysAscade for $19mCSG International has acquired Ascade, anindependent Swedish software companythat provides trading and routing softwaresolutions to telecoms companies. The totalcost of the acquisition, excludingtransaction fees, was approximatelyUS$19 million. The purchase price waspaid in cash from CSG’s existing cashresources.

By bringing together Ascade’s flagshiptrading and routing solution, Ascade7,with CSG’s Wholesale BusinessManagement Solution (WBMS), CSG plansto strengthen its capability in the telecomswholesale marketplace.

Peter Kalan, president and chief executiveofficer of CSG International, said: “Ouracquisition of Ascade will help us continueto deliver market-leading solutions thathelp our clients operate nimbly andefficiently. Our combined offering andglobal presence ensures that operators ofall types — fixed, mobile, wholesale,broadband, MVNOs and ISPs - have apartner in CSG with the breadth offunctionality and flexibility in deliverymodels to meet their current and evolvingwholesale needs.”

Verint to acquireComverse Technology Verint Systems has signed a definitivemerger agreement with ComverseTechnology. Following the completion ofComverse’s previously announceddistribution of its telecoms business andsubstantially all of its other assets, otherthan its holdings in Verint, to itsshareholders, Verint will acquireComverse, eliminating Comverse’smajority ownership in and control ofVerint. Comverse currently holdsapproximately 41.0%, of Verint’soutstanding common shares and all ofVerint’s outstanding convertible preferredshares which, if converted, would result inComverse holding approximately 53.7% ofVerint’s basic outstanding common shares.

“We look forward to becoming a non-controlled and independent publiccompany. Clarifying our ownershipstructure is a significant positive for Verintas we continue to focus on increasingshareholder value,” said Dan Bodner, chiefexecutive and president of Verint.

C O M P A N Y N E W S

Syniverse has signed adefinitive agreement toacquire MACH forapproximately €550million in cash, subject toregulatory approvals.Once closed, thetransaction is expected tobe accretive within thefirst year of closing.

“The proposed acquisition will benefitboth mobile users and the entire mobileecosystem with greater reach, agilityand solutions for the Mobile 3.0environment, simplifying the increasingcomplexity of interoperability andservice ubiquity,” said Jeff Gordon,president and chief executive ofSyniverse. “As mobile continues topermeate everyday life around theglobe, Syniverse will have the addedscale to provide mobile serviceproviders, such as mobile operators,internet service providers, cable MSOs(multi-service operators), emergingproviders, enterprises and more,improved time to market andcapabilities that deliver the quality ofexperience that end users demand.Ultimately, mobile consumers will

benefit from more advanced servicesand applications while mobile providerswill realize additional revenueopportunities and cost savings fromservice efficiencies.”

The acquisition would add toSyniverse’s existing global customerbase of more than 900 mobile serviveproviders in over 160 countries and willenable the collective company to rapidlyaddress the latest marketplace demandsby bringing to market new solutionssuch as real-time intelligence, fraudprevention, revenue assurance as wellas more flexible roaming solutions thataddress ecosystem interoperability, Wi-Fi offload, multi-SIM solutions andmandated provisions to support localbreakout.

“The proposed acquisition will grow ourtop line revenue, while providing thescale and critical mass to furtherdevelop and speed to market advancedsolutions that will give providersthroughout the mobile ecosystem theability to deliver a better mobileexperience for end users worldwide,”Gordon added.

VANILLAPLUS AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 5

Jeff Gordon:Acquisition willgrow revenue

MicheleCampriani:Probe sale alogicalprogression

Syniverse to acquire data monetisationspecialists MACH for €550m

Accanto Systems sells probe business to NetScout

N E W S U P D AT E

N E W S U P D AT E

Mobile transactions to hit$730bn by 2017, saysJuniper Research The value of remote transactions fordigital and physical goods purchased viamobile devices is expected to exceed$730bn annually by 2017, a new reportfrom Juniper Research has found.According to the report, transactiongrowth will be driven by the increasingscale of real-world, non-digital purchasesfrom major brands and retailers, withcompanies such as Domino’s in the USand Argos in the UK already seeing 6 to7% of all sales occurring via the mobilechannel.

The report – Mobile Payments for Digital &Physical Goods: Opportunity Analysis2012-2017 – noted that as consumer tabletadoption continues to rise, there will besignificant migration of purchasing activityfrom laptops and desktops to tabletdevices, with consumers increasinglyengaging in online shopping whilewatching TV. Indeed, it found thedevelopment of this ‘couch commerce’trend would result in mobile and nomadicdevices accounting for 30% of eRetailwithin five years. However, it alsoobserved that such transactions wouldcontinue to comprise a small minority of aglobal retail sales marketplace currentlyworth more than $16tn.

Gartner Quadrant onintegrated revenue andcustomer managementfor CSPs in fullIn our feature on billing across the digitalvalue chain last issue (p. S8 VanillaPlusJune/July 2012) we referred to analyst firmGartner Group’s Magic Quadrant forintegrated revenue and customermanagement for CSPs (November 2011).We provided only an incomplete list. A fulllist is below:

Leaders: Amdocs and Oracle

Challengers: Ericsson and Huawei

Visionaries: Comverse and NokiaSiemens Networks

Niche Players: Alcatel-Lucent, CSGInternational, Convergys, MetraTech, OrgaSystems, Tecnotree and ZTE

Apologies to those companies omittedfrom the original article.

M A R K E T N E W S


Openet and Huawei have signed amemorandum of understanding tojointly explore opportunities within thetelecoms market. Openet becomes thelatest company to partner with Huawei'smLAB to create new business modelsfor global operators in the mobilebroadband era.

Under the terms of agreement, Openetand Huawei will be committed tocreating, validating and promoting newbusiness models. With these businessmodels, operators will be able tooptimise network resources, offerdifferentiated services to end users andincrease sales revenues to achievegreater success.

Huawei's mLAB is a mobile broadbandsolution research laboratory thatfacilitates close cooperation withindustry players. It will benefit fromOpenet's understanding of business

innovation and telecoms industryexperience. Openet will provide itsPolicy and Charging Control (PCC)solutions working with Huawei'swireless and EPC networks to determinevaluable mobile broadband businessmodels.

"Openet is pleased to work with Huaweiin mLAB. This joint effort will give us theopportunity to complement each otherin the areas both are best. We will beable to effectively explore and hatchfuture mobile broadband businessmodels," said Apollo Guy, Openet globalvice president, alliances. "We firmlybelieve that our software, with the abilityto quickly adapt to new businessrequirements, will innovate newbusiness use cases in mLAB. The endresults will give both Huawei andOpenet a chance to present to theoutside world what the future mobilebroadband business models entail."

Amdocs has released thefindings of a survey thathighlights the challengefacing CSPs’ networkplanning and logisticsdepartments as they seekto meet a more than 20-fold increase in datademand over the nextfive years.

According to the study, conducted byRethink Technology Research, serviceproviders are planning to deploymillions of small cells to increasenetwork capacity. This move is critical toservice providers’ ability to handleincreases in 3G demand and to deliveron 4G promises, both of which willvastly increase the burden on planningand logistic departments. The surveyfound that 59% of service providersexpect to deploy at least ten times moresmall cells by 2017 than in 2011, yetalmost half of network planners (47 %)say a lack of network planning resourcesis the biggest challenge facing themtoday, leading to rollout delays.

“The money is going to shift,” saidDavid Chambers, director of OSS

solution marketing at Amdocs. “Thereare things we can do with existingmacrocells but the big capacity gain willbe in having more smaller cells, the costof which will be comparatively low. Thebiggest issue [for small cell deployment]is around the logistics.”

“The specific expertise we bring to bearis around network planning andlogistics,” he added. “We have a singleclick network roll-out system thatenables you, once you’ve identified acell site, to fill in the parameters andallocate backhaul capacity. It takes timeto design down to matter of minutes andyou can activate tens or hundreds of cellsites per day.”

Chambers pointed out that, while thereare around 4.5 million cell sites inoperation worldwide to support sixbillion users, Amdocs expects that toincrease by anything up to ten times indeveloped markets.

“The market spends about US$50bn onbase stations each year and our surveyshows that up to half of that expendituremay shift to small cells within a five yeartimeframe,” he said.

DavidChambers:Money will shiftto small cells

Amdocs survey reveals network planningbottleneck for small cells deployment

Openet and Huawei announce mobilebroadband research partnership

Suntech launches networkroll-out management system OSS/BSS solutions provider, Suntech, hasintroduced its SunVizion Network RolloutManagement system. The system isspecifically designed to support atelecoms network roll-out processes andclaims to speed up network roll-out,reducing capex and improving keybusiness processes related to networkbuilt-out and maintenance.

"SunVizion Network Rollout Managementis our response to the needs of thetelecoms market," says MagdalenaJablonska, marketing manager of Suntech."The financial downturn and falling ARPUforce the operators to lower capitalexpenditures related to networkconstruction. On the other hand, operatorsneed to carry on these investments,because without a modern network theyare not able to meet the expectations ofcustomers and to compete effectively. "

The system can detect and eliminateabnormalities and frauds by pointing outsignificant differences between costs ofrealization of the same tasks in differentdepartments or regions.

C O M P A N Y N E W S

MACH has been selectedby Skype as the firstvendor to deliver directoperator billing to newand existing Skype usersin key markets across theglobe, starting in October.The rollout will enableSkype to offer itscustomers a fast andconvenient way topurchase Skype Credit,

creating new revenue streams inexisting markets, as well as in newmarkets where other payment methodshave low penetration rates.

When the solution is live, Skype userswill be able to purchase Skype Creditsfrom desktop PCs and mobile devices,through browser-based purchases and inthe future, through in-app functionality.Direct Operator Billing will enable Skypeto bring a vital alternative payment methodto these channels: Skype users will be ableto charge their Skype credit to their mobilephone bill or pre-paid account, andenjoy the frictionless user experience

offered by this payment method. Directoperator billing will also reflect the sameprice points as current payment methods,ensuring a consistent user experience.

Neil Ward, general manager, businessoperations, Skype Division - Microsoft,commented: Delivering a strong user-experience has been at the heart ofSkype’s adoption by millions of usersglobally, and we want to extend thisphilosophy to the payment options weprovide. We expect ease of payment toattract new users, while existing userswill become more profitable customersas they increase their spend with us.”

Morten Brøgger, chief executive officerof MACH, added: “With MACH’s DirectBilling Gateway, Skype has a far moreflexible, secure and reliable billingsolution than, for example, premiumSMS. Our Direct Operator Billingsolution also provides a great boon forthe operators we work with by allowingthem to enter the ecommerce valuechain and start to win market share fromthe credit card brands.”

MortenBrøgger: Directoperator billingopens newopportunties

Skype chooses MACH for direct operator billing N E W S U P D AT E

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N E W S U P D AT E

Amdocs signs five-yearagreement with TIM Brasil Amdocs has entered into a five-yearmanaged services agreement with TIMBrasil across its wireless, wireline andbroadband lines of business. As a result,TIM Brasil, the country’s second largestmobile service provider, will be able tofocus on customer needs and serviceinnovation while realizing operational costefficiencies.

Under the agreement, Amdocs will manageTIM Brasil’s operational support systems(OSS) across all lines of business, providingapplication development and maintenanceas well as assuming responsibility forlegacy systems and all third-party OSSvendor contracts. On the business supportsystems (BSS) side, Amdocs will manageits products deployed across TIM’sbusinesses, including the end-to-end orderto cash solution suite at TIM Brasil’s newfibre optic residential broadband service.

“The IT organisation needs to evolve,following the company’s growth. We arestandardising TIM’s systems and Amdocs is apartner in this project,” said Luigi Longarini,IT director of TIM Brasil. “We expect toachieve accelerated growth, cost reductionand further improvements in our customers’experience."

Telefónica UKdeploys ariesoGEO Telefónica UK, which operates under the O2brand, has worked with Arieso, a providerof customer centric, location aware networkperformance solutions, to enable rapidresponse to dynamic network conditions,and ensure a positive experience for bothexisting customers and those visiting theUK for the Olympic Games. Using Arieso’slocation-aware technology, ariesoGEO, O2has greater visibility of its network,including a precise geographicunderstanding of the voice and datademand within the busy regions.

Richard Owens, O2’s regional manager formobile access in London, said; “Key toproviding this level of service during theevent will be the speed and agility withwhich we will be able to react to changingdemands on the network. ariesoGEOenables us to monitor the network in nearreal-time, where possible reactimmediately, and then ensure an improvedservice across the remainder of the event.”

C O N T R A C T N E W S


Redknee has launched what it claimsto be world’s largest commercialinterconnect system at Indosat in AsiaPacific. Indosat delivers fixed andwireless services to more than 53million subscribers via its GSM andCDMA networks.

Redknee’s deployment at Indosat –processing more than 800 millionCDRs per day – is the largest single-instance commercial interconnectimplementation in the world. As itcontinues to increase its market share,Indosat expects that Redknee’ssolution will grow to support morethan one billion CDRs per day by theend of 2012.

Budi Irawan, Indosat’s head of ITarchitecture and strategy, said:“Redknee was selected for its low costof ownership and its commitment to

meeting a short deployment deadline.The proven performance of Redknee’ssolution also means that we areassured that our investment inRedknee will meet Indosat’s growingscalability needs today and in thefuture.”

Lucas Skoczkowski, Redknee’s CEO,added:“We are extremely pleased toannounce the successfulimplementation of the world’s largestcommercial interconnect system. Thisdeployment reiterates the value thatRedknee’s combined performance,scalability and cost of ownershipdelivers to CSPs across the world. AtRedknee, we continue to invest indeveloping cloud-based and on-premise monetisation solutions toenable service providers to increaserevenues, improve the customerexperience and grow profitability.”

Subex has been awarded a five-yeardeal to deploy its Revenue OperationsCentre (ROC) fraud management andrevenue assurance solutions across 14networks of the MTN Group. MTN isthe largest operator in Africa and theMiddle East, with over 170 millionsubscribers.

As part of a turn-key model, alongwith hardware vendors, Subex willprovide ROC fraud management andrevenue assurance solutions tosupport MTN’s networks. Thesolutions will be deployed individuallyin each of the operating countries,with a central programme officeprovided by Subex, which will workwith the MTN Group and theindividual countries to roll out thesystems in phases across the 14networks.

Nazir Patel, group CFO at MTN, said:“We were looking for a partner to

collaborate with uslong term, to addressour revenuefortificationrequirements. Subexwas selected for thisdeployment after ahighly competitivebidding process”.

Sudeesh Yezhuvath, chief operatingofficer of Subex, added: “We arepleased to have been chosen by MTNto deploy our ROC fraud managementand ROC revenue assurance solutions.We won the contract because of ourthought leadership and our uniqueability to address the total revenuechain through the bouquet of our ROCofferings. We are seeing more of ourcustomers opting for multiple SubexROC solutions, which is a testament tothe depth and quality of our ROCportfolio.”

SudeeshYezhuvath:Address thetotal revenuechain

Subex awarded five-year group deal by MTN

Indosat chooses Redknee for Indonesian interconnect

Syniverse appoints Alfred de CárdenasCOO, Prasad to head Americas sales

Alfred de Cárdenas has been appointed chiefoperating officer of Syniverse, an expansionof his previous role as president of globalsales and customer support, to includeresponsibility for the company’s lines ofbusiness. The company also appointedMahesh Prasad as president of sales for theAmericas.

“Alfred's leadership of our sales and customer relationshipmanagement has played a key role in the growth of ourcompany during the past four years,” said Jeff Gordon,president and CEO of Syniverse. “His appointment is anatural progression that better aligns the organisation withour strategic direction, keeping customers as our toppriority.”

In his expanded role, de Cárdenas is responsible for leadingthe direction of Syniverse’s roaming, messaging andnetwork lines of business while continuing to head thecompany’s global sales and customer support organisation.

“Syniverse is continually evolving to better serve the mobileecosystem in an era of unprecedented demand for mobile,”de Cárdenas said. “Mahesh Prasad’s deep mobile operatorexperience, mobile expertise and keen customer focus willserve our customers well as he leads the Americas.”

Prasad brings more than 20 years of telecoms expertise,most recently serving as the president and chief marketingofficer of Reliance Communications in India, where hewas responsible for the marketing of voice, data and contentservices. Prior to Reliance, Prasad worked in the UnitedStates with leading CSPs such as Nextel, Verizon (BellAtlantic) and MCI WorldCom.

Stewart Bloom joinsAspect Software as CEO

Aspect Software, which provides customer contact,enterprise workforce optimisation and Microsoft platformsolutions, has appointed Stewart Bloom as chief executive.Jim Foy will remain in the full time role of executivechairman of Aspect’s Board of Directors.

Bloom brings more than 28 years of experience in enterprisesoftware and professional services to Aspect, most recentlyas CEO of Escalate Retail. From his work leading one ofthe largest multi-channel retail software and serviceproviders, he has been immersed in the convergence ofinformation and technology with a focus on deliveringreinvented customer experiences.

“Aspect is an asset-rich organisation at a time whenenterprise businesses are rethinking how they competethrough differentiated customer experiences,” said Bloom.“This is a pivotal time for the company to capitalise on itstechnologies, strategic investments and industryrelationships in order to successfully prepare and positionourselves for sustained market growth and investor returnsin the years ahead.”

We all wish that we could earn a little moreand I hope that the following suggestionsregarding salary negotiation may prove usefulto those of you who are considering a new jobor looking to negotiate a salary increase.

Know what you wantBreak your expectations into three categories– Money, benefits and hygiene factors and jotdown your expectation against each and

prioritise them. Talk them through with family and agree what’svital and what might be a nice to have.

ResearchUnderstand the overall state of the industry in which you areapplying. Check on the company's profitability and its marketposition. Try to find out the urgency to fill the particular vacancy.Superior information will give you an edge during the salarynegotiation.

Delay the salary negotiationsHold back on talking about compensation until the employerhas confirmed that they would like to offer you the role. Simplysay something like: "I am keen on this role and yourorganisation but I'd like to hold off on salary discussions untilwe are both sure that I’m right for this job".

Patience Take your time, think about things carefully – You will bespending 8-10 hours a day in this new job so a 24 hour wait isworth it. Be reasonable, and always keep the negotiationfriendly, open and try to make it easy for everyone. This mustnot become a battle of wills because you may end up with theemployer changing their mind simply because of the badfeeling they got from you during negotiation.

Appear to be flexibleAs with any negotiation, your goal is to create a win-winsituation. Seek to understand what the employer hopes for fromyou, understand exactly why they want you and learn whatpackage limitations they have and why. Ask about the salarybands, the review process, the bonus structure, the decisionmaking process and how they have come up with the salarypackage they have offered. Company policy may dictate certainlimits, so work with the employer to understand what’s possibleand what’s not. Do not be frightened to explore whether anincrease is possible and if not what is preventing this.

If you would like any further advice, please do not hesitate tocontact me.

Jason Bandy, Director, identify Group [email protected]: +44 (0) 750 001 3084Tel: +44 (0) 845 370 2900www.identifynetworks.com

Jason Bandy

Alfred deCárdenas

Welcome to our regularJobs column, brought toyou by Identify Networks,Sponsors of People News

P E O P L E N E W S

VANILLAPLUS AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 9P E O P L E N E W S


C O N T R A C T H O T L I S T

VanillaPlus Hot List: August/September 2012

Acision Mobilis, Algeria Enhanced messaging system including personalised SMS forwarding and auto-reply 7.12Agama Technologies TDC, Denmark Agama DTV Monitoring deployed for CSP's Microsoft Mediaroom-based IPTV service 7.12Aito Technologies Omantel, Oman Deployment of Aito Customer Experience Analytics (CEA) system to provide insight into customer usage 7.12Alcatel-Lucent Etisalat, Nigeria Alcatel-Lucent Optism system deployed to support permission- and preference-based mobile marketing 8.12Alcatel-Lucent Belgacom, Belgium Dynamic Services Controller deployed to provide PCRF for 3G and 4G networks 7.12Amdocs TIM Brasil, Brazil Five-year managed services agreement covering OSS and BSS including order-to-cash system at new

residential fibre broadband service 8.12Apigee Telefónica Digital, global Apigee API platform chosen as partner for Telefónica Digital API 7.12Arieso Telefónica, UK Deployment of ariesoGEO network monitoring and performance system to ensure positive experiences

for customers and visitors to 2012 Olympic Games 7.12Assia China Telecom DSL Expresse software tools deployed for dynamic spectrum management of DSL networks 7.12

Jiangsu, ChinaAstellia Hutchison 3G, Austria Deployment of end-to-end mobile broadband network monitoring and optimisation system 7.12Clarity Globe Telecom, New phase of Clarity OSS deployment to address network discovery, alarms, performance and

Philippines provisioning capabilities 7.12CSG International Trader Media Group, UK CSG Singleview selected for convergent customer management, charging and billing 8.12HP Bharti Airtel, 20 countries HP Aggregation Platform for SaaS to provide basis for CSP's Cloud Enablement Platform for hosted IaaS

and SaaS 7.12Juniper Networks Telefónica Digital, Junos Pulse Mobile Security Suite deployed for smartphone anti-virus, back-up and parental control 7.12

pan-EuropeMavenir Metro PCS, USA mOne Convergence Platform deployed to support VoLTE service 8.12Mavenir HI3G, Sweden Circuit Switched Fallback system deployed to enable voice and SMS to be delivered to LTE handsets via

3G if necessary 8.12NetCracker Technology Suddenlink Converged BSS solutions to support US Multiple Services Operator (MSO) with 1.4 million customers

Communications, USA in seven states 7.12Neural Technologies Zain, Bahrain Minotaur fraud management system deployed including neural predictive analysis 7.12Neural Technologies Zain, Jordan Fourth Zain property rolls-out Minotaur fraud management system following Kuwait, Iraq and

Bahrain deployments 7.12Neural Technologies Safaricom, Kenya Minotaur fraud management systems deployed to support M-PESA mobile money transfer service 8.12OpenCloud Polkomtel, Orange Rhino Service Delivery Platform deployed to provide open service layer and enhance CSPs' ability to

and T-Mobile, Poland compete with OTT providers 7.12Openet Telus, Canada Openet Policy Manager selected to enhance subscriber experience and be ready for LTE 7.12Oracle Etisalat, Nigeria CSP goes live with Oracle Communications Data Model to enable faster analysis of diverse data 8.12Redknee Indosat, Indonesia Interconnect system deployed to process more than one billion CDRs by year-end 2012 8.12Subex MTN, 14 countries Five-year deal to deploy its Revenue Operations Centre fraud management and revenue assurance

at 14 group properties 8.12Syniverse Vodafone, India CSP's messaging hub will route international SMS into India and align with mobile number

portability requirements 8.12Tribold Teracom Group, Sweden Deployment of Tribold Enterprise Product Management and Configure, Price, Quote to support Boxer

and Denmark pay-TV service 7.12

Key IaaS = Infrastructure as a service PCRF = Policy Charging and Rules FunctionPaaS = Platform as a service VoLTE = Voice over LTE

The Hot List below shows the companies informing us of recent contract wins or product deployments. If your contract is not listed here email the details to us now marked "Hot List" <[email protected]>

Vendor(s) Client, Country Product / Service (Duration & Value) Awarded

Telus chooses Openet for policy management

Telus has selected Openet PolicyManager to offer an enhancedsubscriber experience with theflexibility to gain a competitiveadvantage in the Canadian wirelessmarket.

“Despite a challenging timeline forimplementation, the maturity ofOpenet’s product and the company’sexperienced team made it possible forus to deploy an LTE ready, strategicpolicy platform, quickly and efficiently,”said Ibrahim Gedeon, chief technologyofficer at Telus. “Today’s policymanagement solutions need to beflexible and easy to configure, andOpenet Policy Manager meets those

demands. The product provides a best-in-class PCRF (Policy Charging andRules Function) solution that is thedriving force behind our ability to offera better experience to our customers.”

As the policy landscape continues toevolve, operators are looking to rely onpolicy management solutions that havea strong focus on and aptitude forimproving user experiences andcreating new revenue streams. OpenetPolicy Manager enables Telus to driverevenue through an improvedsubscriber experience and a customerfirst focus. The Openet PCRF introducesadditional intelligence into the CSP’smobile networks. The solution provides

a foundation to improve subscriberroaming experiences through real-timeupdates, and enables Telus to enrich itsidentity-oriented services.

“With Policy Manager, Telus is preparedto keep up with the ever-changing PCRFdemands,” said Chris Hoover, vicepresident of marketing at Openet. “Theplatform not only puts the tools in placeto allow the company to shape a newsubscriber experience, but at the sametime drive incremental revenue fromthe initial deployment. We look forwardto continue working with Telus anddeploying additional use cases thatsupport its commitment to puttingcustomers first.”


Shirin Dehghan is chief executive andfounder of Arieso, the provider ofcustomer centric, location awarenetwork management solutions formobile network operators. Sheestablished the company in 2002, havingworked within Vodafone Group as atechnical expert for the company’s UMTSlicense auction team. That experiencemeant she foresaw – perhaps too early –the massive data consumption uptakethe market is experiencing and startedthe company to meet CSPs’ needs forefficient insight into their users’consumption. Here, she tells VanillaPlushow CSPs can make efficient use of thedata their users generate, optimisenetwork performance and improveend-user experience.

VanillaPlus: Why did you establish Ariesoten years ago? What need did you plan toaddress?

Shirin Dehghan: I started the company to focuson the then new 3G and the huge predicted growthin mobile broadband consumption. I based thedecision on my experience at Vodafone where Iwas part of the team preparing for the UK’s 3Gauctions, which gave me direct insight into thechallenges that this new technology would pose.It was clear that it would generate masses of datathat would need to continue to run over the sametechnical infrastructure, so I saw the need to planfor the impact that this was going to have on the

T A L K I N G H E A D S

Inefficiency is inexcusable –customer data transformsCSP performance engineering

�



network and, ultimately, customer experience.The first five years promised huge data trafficgrowth, although that took longer than I hadenvisaged to emerge into the market.

We started developing the products in 2002 butreally this whole thing started in 2008 with thelaunch of the iPhone. Everyone knows the historyand the really explosive growth and demand wehave seen since that happened. Today, thehighest data consumers are iPhone 4S users andthe whole focus for CSPs now is around whichsubscribers are hogging the bandwidth. One percent of subscribers now generate 50% of mobiledata so the challenge for CSPs is inunderstanding where these subscribers are andefficiently managing the network in those high-traffic areas.

The capacity crunch that I predicted ten yearsago finally happened. We’d spent the interveningtime developing the solutions to this problemand we’re now solving the same problem acrossfive continents. The market is coming to us.

VP: To what extent is the shortage ofcapacity a result of operators' getting itwrong when it comes to network planningand optimisation?

SD: Traditionally, CSPs have been basing theirnetwork planning and optimisation onincomplete information. The light bulb momentcomes when they recognise the source of datathey are using is out-dated. For example, drivetesting, with network centric data and keyperformance indicators, compromises theoperators decision making when they deployassets as the likelihood is that the network willhave evolved since that data was collected andthose KPIs developed.

It is really important to understand where thedata hoggers are and which of them representthe hotspots of bandwidth consumption on thenetwork because, if the hoggers are at the edge,they are causing far more damage. We estimatedlast year that the whole industry wasted $500million in opex through poor siting of basestations.

A significant part of the reason for that is theincomplete nature of drive testing. Very fewusers consume bandwidth in the same way asdrive testing. For instance, most people don’tdownload video while they are driving; they areindoors and traditional drive testing methodscannot monitor the network to this level of in-building granularity.

VP: Where did they start going wrong andhow are they fixing the issues they face now?

SD: We think CSPs have been basing theirdecisions on poor data and that data has beencostly to gather. The performance improvementsachieved from conducting greater amounts oftraditional testing wouldn’t justify the opexexpense involved, because the cost of theequipment and processes used is so high. CSPsface increased demand on their networks andthey have to address that efficiently. Many CSPsstill don’t get it – they need new networkperformance engineering solutions.

That is only going to become more apparent asoperators start to roll-out small cells to meettheir users’ needs. You need a multitude ofdifferent solutions in this area because of theamount of capex involved. Small cells are of biginterest as a way to offload data traffic but youcan’t place them anywhere and they are nottotally inexpensive. LTE is exactly the same. Nowyou have masses and masses of data rate but themore you give users in terms of throughput, themore they want. CSPs are starting to look at self-organising networks (SON), which will require farricher and more real-time inputs than traditionalnetwork-centric solutions can deliver.

Small cells, heterogeneous networks and LTE areways to add more capacity than 3G is capable ofdelivering but what becomes important is thatCSPs have to manage their network across 2G,3G and 4G as a single network. There are anumber of strategies needed to solve theseproblems.

VP: Have we reached a point whereoperators understand the scale of theproblem or is there still an attitude that ifthe network's operating, there's nothing toworry about?

SD: The pressure on network teams is definitelyintensifying. They shouldn’t think that just havingLTE is going to save the day. At a time wherethere are calls for greater returns to investorsyou can’t have inefficiency, it’s inexcusable.There is now recognition of the issue. I believe itis now one of the top three things that CEOsworry about in every CSP I’ve spoken to . Theywant to know what they can use to have leanernetwork teams, and what they can do to haveone network operation across all generations ofnetwork – 2G, 3G and 4G together. The issue isthat CSPs now don’t have the solutions toaddress those.

VP: Does simply throwing money at theproblem make it go away? If so, how willoperators find the money especially whenaccess to capital is constrained and theyare faced with new network roll outexpenditure with LTE?

�

We think CSPs

have been basing

their decisions on

poor data and

that data has

been costly to

gather


SD: The solution is staring us in the face – the subscribers themselves. The subscribers understandtheir experience of the network and how much they use the network over time. No amount of drivetesting or probes will provide that granularity. Every device in the network is providing vast amounts ofdata back from the end user which basically gives the CSP a very rich source of data that is specific toevery single subscriber about when, where and how much bandwidth they are using.

This should be at the heart of every CSP’s business decision. Wethink this is so critical because being efficient about the capital aCSP deploys is a core issue. If a CSP doesn’t put capacity inthe right place it has been inefficient, so you have to havean intelligent interface. Old-fashioned approaches areincomplete and they’re not going to give you the wholepicture, they’re old school and they’re out of date.

Understanding how the customer demandscapacity from the network is absolutely critical.You can use that in real-time for marketing, forassuring the customer experience and to gain adeeper understanding of corporate customers,for example.

We were the first to realize this and we’veworked on this for a very long time. This isa problem that is not unique to particularoperators and geographies; it’severywhere. In developing countrieseven more focus is required becausefixed data infrastructure isn’t there sousers have to use mobile. We see alot of opportunity in those markets.

VP: What business cases canbe constructed in supportof systems such asArieso's?

SD: We’ve dealt with manyestablished tier one CSPs,and CSPs that have grownto become tier ones. Youhave to prove your worth.We helped mobileoperators to sweat theirassets – we’ve improvedkey performanceindicators by 20%without addinghardware. We addvalue through creatingefficiency. We makeuse of the engineeringteam’s time and cutdrive test costs. Youdon’t need to do itbecause every deviceis doing it for you.Finally, we present a20 times return oncapital invested insmall cells. Thebusiness case isobvious.

"Understanding how

the customer

demands capacity

from the network is

absolutely critical".

S H A R E D D A T A P L A N S


Shared data plans for families and affinity groups are atthe front line of mobile competition. Verizon Wireless was

the first large CSP to announce a shared data plan, but nosooner did Verizon reveals its plans, but arch rival, AT&T, said it

would quickly follow suit with a similar programme. Here, Amit Danielexamines how CSPs can support all the strands of family plans effectively.

The stakes couldn‘t be higher. Mobile CSPsthat can successfully lure families and affinity

groups to their shared data plans will achievenew levels of customer lock-in. In turn, thatcapability will enable them to aggressivelycherry-pick a competitor’s base. Yet as simple asthe concept of shared data plans is, they areincredibly hard to revenue assure.

You can look at shared data plans in two ways.On the one hand, it’s a fresh, greenfieldopportunity that could rake in rich profits. But theflip side is also true: if shared data services arepriced wrongly and targeted at the wrongsubscribers, you could lose a ton of loyalcustomers in a hurry.

All of which points to the absolute necessity ofhaving a great analytic tool behind you. Frankly,earlier generations of pricing analytics tools areof limited usefulness in this new area. Normally,when you create new price plans, you analysethe behaviour of typical users and determinehow the proposed price plan is likely to affectcurrent subscribers. But shared data plansintroduce a new wrinkle. Tracking individualusage is not enough. You also need to analysefamily usage as a whole.

And that causes the number of factors and

variables to juggle to greatly expand. If you offerthe plan to more members of the family, will itencourage more data usage or not? The shortand long term effects of these new shared datafamily plans are completely unknown. Will thewhole family move? Will the people mostattracted to these plans be the family membersusing iPads or iPhones? Other vital analyticscheckpoints are around comparing the currentplan to previous data plans — and also looking atprice plans of competitors.

Having a carefully thought out rollout strategy isalso key. Which customers should you encourageto move to shared data plans? And how shouldyou treat valuable customers who are already onlucrative individual plans? Clearly, manyscenarios need to be tested to ensure thatrevenue is maximised during the transition —and beyond.

Ensuring customer satisfactionthrough pricing plan adjustmentsMediating the needs of different family membersis a challenge all of its own. Let’s say the childrenlike to download HD movies. Well, a single HDmovie consumes about three gigabytes of data.And if the family has only budgeted for tengigabytes a month, will the parents be satisfiedto reserve one gigabyte for themselves and

How to manage a familyof pricing, revenueassurance, fraudand networkpolicy

Mediating the

needs of

different family

members is a

challenge all of

its own


allocate the remaining nine gigs to their kids?Probably not. And what happens when theservice gets maxed out?

These issues are all brand new challenges, butthe current thinking is that parents need tocontrol their family’s bandwidth usage and thebudgets of family members. And that databudgeting might extend to certain types ofusage. For instance, parents could allocate acertain percentage to movies versus email versusweb surfing.

Though some form of plan managementsoftware will clearly emerge, a bigger issue is theoperator’s ability to suggest appropriate plans asa family’s understanding of its usage evolves orthe family tries to staying in a budget. If you seethat most of your data is movies, analytics cansuggest, say, a plan that takes advantage of lesscostly late night downloads.

Network policy controlThis subject of maximising family usage bringsup the issue of network policy control – the rulesan operator sets for controlling the bandwidth afamily uses each month. Normally there are twopolicy options widely used when a dataallowance is fully consumed, either: throttlebandwidth down which reduces the quality of theuser experience or; charge a fee for an additionaldata allowance.

A key component in network policy control —and a brand new monitoring point for revenueassurance and fraud professionals — is thePolicy Control and Rules Function or PCRFsystem. It boils down to one simple fact: userscan get very upset when you play around withtheir bandwidth. If you cut a family’s service inerror, you’ve got four angry customers to answerto, not just one. You could lose that family’sbusiness forever. And if they’re really upset, theyeven tell their entire social network about theirexperience. This is precisely why you, as anoperator, need to be constantly checking thePCRF, ensuring it is operating correctly, and

keeping accurate track of bandwidth consumed.

The shift to shared data plans will requireconstant monitoring of family usage, and inNorth America, where the vast majority of themobile business is postpaid, the effect will be tomake postpaid billing shops much more onlineand real-time.

Opportunities for fraudstersOne last area of concern is fraud. A big windowwe feel fraudsters will try to exploit is thedifference between the price offered for onedevice versus another. Normally tablets arebanned from doing regular calls and SMSactivities, yet certain models permit it and otherscan be hacked to permit it.

As currently conceived, Verizon’s Share Everythingservice includes a price gap between tablets andsmartphones within the shared data plan.Smartphones cost $40 a month and tablets costonly $10. No doubt, a key factor in that pricedifferential is the fact that tablets are often usedwhere free Wi-Fi service is available. Smartphones,meanwhile, are more likely used in the town andin moving vehicles where you need to access therelatively more expensive 3G radio network.

Households might be tempted to commit smallfraudulent activities such as taking advantage ofthis price disparity by fooling the operator intothinking a smartphone is a tablet. Tamperingwith the SIM card or other device interface couldaccomplish this objective so it’s important foroperators to be aware of these tricks. Using theVerizon Share Everything Plan as an example, if afamily has three smartphones masked as tablets,the equivalent lost revenue could be $70 permonth and over a $800 a year.

One solution is to constantly monitor the type ofequipment the SIM card is being used in andbase the subscription on the equipment ID, notjust a SIM card. Another solution is to verify thatevery SIM card sold to a tablet is associated witha data plan only in the CSP’s network, and tobase the pricing on the SIM capabilities and notthe type of device.

To win in this emerging assurance area, youmust first offer the right price plans to the rightsubscribers – and be able to quickly adapt towhat competitors are offering. You must takesteps to stop insider and equipment swappingfraud. Finally you must wrap tight businesscontrols around policy-driven bandwidththrottling that are bound to anger subscribers ifthey are not implemented correctly.

The author, Amit Daniel is executive vicepresident of marketing and businessdevelopment at cVidya.

Amit Daniel:Shared dataplans willrequireconstantmonitoring

Households mightbe tempted tocommit smallfraudulent activitiessuch as takingadvantage of thisprice disparity byfooling theoperator intothinking asmartphone is atablet


THE BILLING EXPERIENCE

CSPs have always used the bill as a consistent means of communicating with customersbut for many it creates huge inward calls as users make enquiries about the accuracy oftheir bills. Here, Cullen Davidson argues that bills must be easy to understand, clear andaccurate – only then will the billing experience become good and present CSPs theopportunity to do more with the monthly bill.

How often do service providers interact withtheir customers? If they’re providing theagreed upon service at the agreed upon price,the chances are, the interaction is limited. Formany consumers, the scenario of walking intoa bricks and mortar store and actually havinga conversation with a service rep has becomeforeign. You can buy a phone, establishservice and activate a device while neverengaging with an actual person. You cansearch for services and change your rate planwith a few simple clicks.

While the benefits of the digital world –convenience for consumers and cost savings

for service providers – are definitelywelcomed, it’s interesting to look at the flipside of how this change in interaction isimpacting customer relationships and placingincreased pressure on each and every touchpoint.

The bill has always been a consistent meansof communicating with customers but withthis shift in how customers are engaging withtheir providers, for many, it has become theonly touch point. It’s the link between thevalue that you promise and what you actuallydeliver. It can build enormous trust or in amatter of an instant, tear it down. Yes, the bill

Transform users’experience of billing

CullenDavidson: Thebill needs to beaccurate, ontime and easyto understand �

needs to be accurate. It needs to be on time.It needs to be easy to understand. Somewould argue that it even needs to look pretty.But is there a more strategic opportunityrelated to the monthly bill?

For many CSPs, billing enquires account formore than 50% – at some it's as high as 80%– of their customer inquiries. Is this becausecustomers don’t understand their bill? Or thatthey’re confused by the charges for arecently added service? Or that they’reamazed by how 5MB of data usage translatesinto cost?

It’s all of the above Billing is never viewed as an easy task butregardless of what’s happening behind thescenes, translating the information thatappears on a bill into a way that’s meaningfulto customers is a must. Rest assured that thisdoesn’t require an extensive integrationproject and the consolidation of billingsystems; it means pulling all of the data intoa single source to deliver an enhanced billingexperience. Consolidation of the data is thefirst step; applying analytics to helpcustomers understand their bill, save themtime, and build their trust with their provideris the next step.

As a company, if you only have twelve timesa year to engage with your customer, youbetter make it count. Thinking back ten orfifteen years ago, the paper bill was paramountwhen it came to customer communications.Product teams stood in line to make theircase to the marketing team, hoping to earnthe marquee placement on the next month’sbill. For those who succeeded, they anxiouslyawaited to see the uptake rates. For thosewho didn’t, they waited for the next month topitch their product as the next big offering. Itwas a fairly basic decision process –determine which product had the mostuptake potential and promote it on the bill –to every customer. Some basic segmentationwas put into play but if you and I had thesame income, were both careerists, had agood payment history and subscribed to twoof the same services, there’s a good chancewe received the same communication. So aswe look forward to today, has the processreally changed?

CSPs have all of the data to move beyond

generic product promotions to engagecustomers in a relevant, more personalisedmanner. Instead of product teams lining upfor marketing to determine the best productto highlight, operators need to shift to a morecustomer-centric approach and determinethe best communication for each customer atthe right time. What this means is that forsome customers in the right context the bestcommunication may be the new productoffer while for others it may be educationregarding their existing service or a changein plan recommendation based on usage.The bill is an opportunity to create a relevantdialogue with customers to not only helpincrease revenues, but also drive long-termloyalty. For example, if a customer who hassigned up for a new data plan in the pastthree months but has shown low usage, thebill can be used to educate them on dataservices that they will find valuable. Or if acustomer is trending to exceed their coveredvoice services within the next three months,the bill can be utilised to provide them withpersonalised usage and trendinginformation. In many cases, the bill can beused as a preemptive strike, eliminating theneed for customers to call due to bill shock,and potentially churn, because the value theyrealize doesn’t align with the chargesincurred.

With telecoms products and servicesbecoming a commodity, customerexperience has become the key differentiatorfor many providers. Whether you use onlinebilling or receive a paper bill, are a consumerwith one account or an enterprise with athousand, are a new customer or tenured,you depend on your service provider toprovide you with a consistent, accurate vieweach and every month. Now if your serviceprovider goes one step further andproactively provides relevant andpersonalised information, the bill can havean even bigger impact on customersatisfaction and loyalty.

Instead of viewing the bill as a necessary evilin terms of volumes handled and accuracyrates achieved, operators need to embracethe bill as a valuable touch point – one withwhich they can build ongoing trust and value.

The author, Cullen Davidson is directorof product management at Globys.


As a company, if

you only have

twelve times a

year to engage

with your

customer, you

better make it

count

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OPERATOR CASE STUDY

CenturyLink, the US CSP, decided to transform itsbusiness from delivering highly bespoke servicesto its enterprise customers into a productassembly line, with products conceived andplanned according to market opportunity andindustry advances, and then introduced into thenetwork in a clean and orderly way.

“CenturyLink sees products not just convergedfrom within the telecoms industry, but we alsosee them coming from outside the traditionaltelecoms space – cloud services being a perfectexample,” says Donald Toland, director ofprogramme operations at CenturyLink. “In yearspast, the cloud was viewed as an IT service,however now it’s seen as an extension of ourhosting operations.”

CenturyLink, like most other service providers,tended to productise in silos in the way thetechnologies evolved and productisation wouldhide the disjointed way the services wereprovided. Rather than presenting a catalogue ofdefined and configured products, CenturyLinkoffered their enterprise customers a range ofservices tailored to meet their individualrequirements. This resulted in each customerhaving a unique configuration of services, pricingset by the market or by sales managers externalto the product management process and aconstant requirement to align data betweenorder capture, contract negotiation, fulfillment,billing and CRM.

CenturyLink realized it needed a ProductInformation Management (PIM) solution thatwould consistently federate its network andsoftware services into a common platform andoptimise service delivery.

“The business requirement was loud and clear,”adds Toland. “Our efforts now needed to focuson connecting the business with IT to deliver thebest possible PIM solution.”

CenturyLink wanted to provide the ability tomodel products, understand them and talk tocustomers about their requirements beforeinvesting in any manufacturing costs. Onceimplemented, product managers wanted to beable to update and manage the products andtheir attributes. These processes were a problemcompanywide and were in dire need ofimprovement.

“We were looking at an evolution on the samescale as manufacturing several decades agowhen the industry transformed from designingwith a pencil to full blown CAD modeling,” saysToland. “We wanted to model product, but hadn’tthe tools to do so.”

Product implementationEric Hudson, principal business architect atCenturyLink, explains: “CenturyLink’s productlifecycle was far too slow and our product designIT-driven and based on ordering and billingsystem capabilities,” he said. “We knew what wewanted to do, it just took too long to implement.It was clear that our products would only ever beas good as the definitions in the OSS/BSS, putsimply: if we can’t define and deploy a productthen it’s only an idea.”

CenturyLink took full advantage of the TM ForumCatalyst programme – a collaborative approachto solving critical industry challenges. Byincluding business partners, which now includedTribold, CenturyLink prototyped anddemonstrated its proposed solutions as a TMForum Catalyst. This process not onlydemonstrated feasibility, but also confirmedcompatibility of the solution across CenturyLink’sbusiness partners. CenturyLink then selectedTribold’s EPM (enterprise product management)software which has resulted in a 4% revenueincrease, a 5% cost reduction, a 25%improvement in product deployment cycle timeand a decrease in unique provisioning andassurance job steps.

When CenturyLink wanted to streamline its new product introduction capabilityit deployed an enterprise product management system from Tribold.

CSPs should build an assemblyline for enterprise products

GridWeek 20122-4 October, 2012Washington DC, USAOrganiser: Clasma Eventswww.gridweek.com

Futurecom8-11 October, 2012Rio de Janeiro, BrazilOrganiser: Futurecomwww.futurecom.com.br/2012/en/

Comarch User Group 20129-10 October, 2012

Berlin, GermanyOrganiser: Comarchwww.comarch.com

MobileCon9-11 October, 2012

Sand Diego, USAOrganiser: CTIA

www.mobilecon2012.com

Ovum Big Data & Analytics Forum16-17 October, 2012London, UKOrganiser: Ovumbigdataforum.ovumevents.com

Broadband World Forum16-18 October, 2012Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Organiser: Informawww.broadbandworldforum.com

The Mobile Show17-18 October, 2012London, UKOrganiser: Terrapinnwww.terrapinn.com/2012/mobile-show-europe/index.stm

Gridcomms22 October, 2012London, UKOrganiser: smartenergyIPwww.gridcomms.com

4G World29 October - 1 November, 2012Chicago, USAOrganiser: UBM TechWebwww.4gworld.com

AfricaCom13-15 November, 2012Cape Town, South AfricaOrganiser: Informaafrica.comworldseries.com


D I A R Y

CLOCK ING OFF!

The scope and ambition of conferencing systemsnever fails to amaze me. A recent demo of aTandberg meeting room system was stunning.Still videoconferencing has never caught on and Ican't help thinking that a low-tech solution mightbe just as effective at bringing people together.For example, if you come back from your lunchbreak with a bag of chips, people will descend onyou from all points of the company. You canassemble entire teams using this principle.Commercialising it would be fairly easy forsomeone experienced in monetising newconcepts.

The onset of 4G should provide more opportunityfor the industry to over-complicate things as itoffers so many options. It should be interestingto see the effect of 4G on the mobile CSPs. Iwonder how quickly all that extra capacity will beswallowed up as people take the opportunity toexploit all the possibilities of an IP network.

Still, what can you do? As we have seenelsewhere in this issue, CSPs haven't quite gotthe systems in place to fine-tune their networksin response to big data insights. In the meantimethough, there are other alternatives to help themjuggle supply and demand.

If CSPs wanted to really simplify the gathering ofcustomer insights, why don't they just ask them?Nobody at the CSP I use ever asks me what Ithink of their service, or how. Not until I ask formy PAC code when my contract is up forrenewal. That's the moment when, for a briefmoment, I become a VIP customer, whereasnormally I'm a Not Very Important Customer. Ifany CSP wants insights into what subscribersthink of a service and how they use it, theyshould walk down the corridor and speak to thepeople in the customer retention unit. They knowwhere all the bodies are buried. If you take thema big of chips I bet they'd tell you everything.

All the big data systems the CSPs are attemptingto build or buy are designed to help juggle thedemands of subscribers with the supply ofcapacity. They seek to manage demand byspotting the capacity hoggers, such as the man

downloading a film, and enticing them withoffers to do this another time. This involvescreating an entirely new system and rationalisingall the various silos of information together. Thenfinding a box with enough processing oomph tohandle all the billions of real time calculations.

Why not come at the supply-demand equationfrom reverse angle? In a parallel universe (thesales department) Demand Generation systemsare all the rage. These systems, from the likes ofEloqua, DemandGen and Marketo, are used torationalise the new customers and grade them.The idea being that the best prospects areidentified first, and these juiciest leads are fed tothe sales team. The sales army marches on itsstomach but for years road warriors have beenfed an endless supply of duff leads, leading themto drive down blind alleys and talk to timewasters. Surely this principle, of auditing thecustomers, before you engage them, could beused by the CSPs.

So under my scheme, before you acceptcustomers into your subscriber base, they haveto fill out a form describing their intentions.When will they download content, where andwhat type. This will enable the CSP to map outits usage patterns before they actually happen.

There's a marketing advantage too, as auditingthe customers before they join will create an airof exclusivity. Anyone who desperately cravesthis sort of celebrity status is already declaring toyou their capacity for manipulation. This is a giftfor the marketing manager, who will inherit acustomer base of proven gullibility. Bythreatening the subscribers with potentialrejection, you will only make them try harder toplease you.

Once they are into your exclusive guest list,you'll probably have them for life.

Reverse psychology marketing like this isprobably the perfect low-tech alternative to thecomplicated challenge of big data and customeranalysis. It has to be worth a try. Which CSP willbe bold enough to pioneer it?

Sometimes the technology industry tries to be too clever and shunsthe simple low tech solutions. Nick Booth vents his frustration

The author,Nick Booth, is acontributor toVanillaPlus anda technology journalist.

Audition yourcustomers beforeyou allow them in

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TEST &MEASUREMENT

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

END-TO-ENDMONITORING

Why monitoring inisolation isn't

enough any more

DANGER! HIGH'VOLTEAGE'

The voice over LTEtesting challenge

END-TO-ENDMONITORING

Why monitoring inisolation isn't

enough any more

DANGER! HIGH'VOLTEAGE'

The voice over LTEtesting challenge

TALKINGHEADS

JDSU's Doug Fantuzzisays CSPs need to

collect intelligence –not just raw data

TALKINGHEADS

JDSU's Doug Fantuzzisays CSPs need to

collect intelligence –not just raw data

�

COMMENTCSPs learn tolook inwards aswell as outwards

▼

DRIVING PROFITS FOR

COMMUNICATION SERVICE PROVIDERSwww.vanillaplus.com

Website

CONTENTS

CSPs lookinwards aswell as outwards

Provided network operations could gain visibility into indicators suchas throughput everything was rosy in the CSP garden. Alerts wouldpoint to problems that could then be fixed with some but minimiseddisruption to users. Hopefully they wouldn’t notice.

However, the complexity of the test, measurement and monitoringtask has greatly increased partly because it now needs to take intoaccount multiple network types within the CSP and also because itneeds to address on-net and off-net factors such as mobile deviceperformance, problems in third parties’ systems and a user that has a

greater willingness to complain and a greater choice to leave if they’re not satisfied.

For that reason, CSPs are now looking to monitor and manage the entire end-to-endexperience. This is no longer solely a network operations discipline. Alarms may nowtrigger a marketing response, feed into partner relationship management and alsocustomer experience management.

The widening in scope of the remit of test and measurement has made it vastly morecomplex and that is costly to address. Fortunately, that situation also means thatinvestments in these technologies are now applicable to far more than just networkoperations departments. That means a clear return on investment case can beconstructed even though the costs are potentially greater than old fashionednetwork-centric techniques.

One of the greatest challenges for CSPs is in making the cultural shift to allow this tohappen. They have many millions of Euros tied up in old-fashioned networkmanagement systems. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with those apart fromthe fact they only address one problem in isolation – the network.

The industry is starting to make the shift into the new era but it is a difficult andlengthy journey.

Enjoy the supplement

George Malim, editor, VanillaPlus

Test and measurement used to be self-contained within the CSP.More accurately, it was a network operations function andexclusively confined to that discipline. After all, who else neededto know the network was up and performing as expected?

JDSU innovates and markets diversetechnologies that enhance the waypeople experience the world everyday. We enable fast, high-qualitycommunications, secure financialtransactions, reliable consumerelectronics, green energy,differentiated brands and a host ofother solutions. We provide thesesolutions through three businesssegments: Communications Test andMeasurement, Communications andCommercial Optical Products, andAdvanced Optical Technologies. Tolearn more about JDSU, please visitwww.jdsu.com and www.jdsu.tvand follow us on JDSU Perspectives,Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Supplement Cover:

C O M M E N T

S3VANILLAPLUS TEST & MEASUREMENT AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

S3 Introduction and contents

S4 Talking HeadsDoug Fantuzzi, vice president ofJDSU’s Communications Test andMeasurement, explains how CSPattitudes to test, measurement andmonitoring are changing

S7 End-to-endmonitoringGeorge Malim explores why notechnology can remain an islandanymore

S9 LTE preparationCSPs need to eliminate guessworkfrom their LTE backhaul networks

S10 Danger! HighVoLTEagePaul Beaver explores the demandssupport VoLTE places on CSPs

George Malim,Editor:VanillaPlus

VANILLAPLUS TEST & MEASUREMENT AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012S4

VanillaPlus: What do you see as the mainfactors driving the test and measurementsector?

Doug Fantuzzi: There has been much talk overthe past few years about the unprecedentedgrowth in data traffic and what that means forconsumers. However, the full scale of thisrevolution really hits home when you take acloser look at the stats. Just a few years ago,mobile apps weren’t part of the collectiveconsciousness – today, users download 792mobile apps each second. The popularity of

social media has undoubtedly been a key driverfor this uptake; Facebook hosts 1,627 mobilestatus updates per second while Twitter boastsover 13 million mobile users. Smartphonesequipped to process high-quality content haveadded vast amounts of video, music, and high-resolution images to what’s being carried overmobile networks; 29 million mobile usersstreamed music in 2011, while Instagramreported a colossal 1,900% increase in thenumber of photos posted in a single year.Video content now accounts for 52% of allmobile data traffic.

Doug Fantuzzi is a vice president in JDSU's Communications Test andMeasurement business segment. He has served in various leadership positionsin the communications industry in areas of next-generation operational supportsystems, IMS and service assurance. His role at JDSU includes using JDSU'sIPTV and mobile assurance portfolio to support 4G/LTE deployments,expanding platforms for wireless and converged assurance, as well as drivingthe recently announced JDSU PacketPortal solution. Here, he discusses howattitudes to test, measurement and monitoring are changing within CSPs.

CSPs need to collectintelligence – not justdata – from test andmeasurement systems


�


For network operators, the pace of this growth isboth exciting and unnerving. The opportunity forinnovation is huge, but succeeding in a newworld of massive bandwidth demand anddelivering consistently strong service involvessubstantial challenges. At the same time,network operators are under constant pressureto reduce costs, maximise profits, guaranteequality of service, increase customer satisfactionand support new and real-time applications. Todo this, operators need complete visibility intothe network to develop effective networkstrategies.

VP: You talk about network and serviceenablement. Can you explain this?

DF: The industry is at a crossroads. Network andservice enablement is about meeting thechallenges around big data, over the top (OTT)services, and service personalisation. A networkitself can be a key differentiator, letting providerscreate services from the intelligence in thatnetwork so it becomes self-aware and self-healing. And, providers need new businessmodels to adjust to the changing consumerlandscape.

VP: Everyone is talking big data. How doesJDSU address this industry issue?

DF: The idea of big data revolves around threekey axes: volume, velocity, and variety – andthese need to drive value. JDSU is introducingsolutions that address big data head-on withsolutions such as PacketPortal, which weannounced in February this year. We recognisedthat to get real intelligence from the network, youneed to remove the blindspots in the network –blindspots where, at best, you get a partial viewof what is going on. To see what the consumer istruly experiencing means getting as close to thecustomer as possible in terms of intelligencegathering. This is not just looking at keyperformance indicators, but getting a real,personalised view of content and the customerexperience. This lets the provider address datavolume because you can now gather real,personalised intelligence right across thenetwork, as close to the consumer as possible.And, this intelligence is available to anyapplication, it doesn’t matter what the service is.What’s crucially important is that you get theintelligence in real-time, on-demand.

VP: How does your PacketPortal solutionachieve this?

DF: PacketPortal is a breakthrough solution forthis communications industry problem. Bydecoupling data collection and filtering frommanagement and analysis, we can dramaticallyreduce the cost, footprint, energy consumption,and complexity of information collection.

Operators can now deploy data collectors acrossthe entire network, connected via a unique cloudapproach. This ensures maximum security, auto-discovery, and management with a massivelyscalable solution, delivering unprecedentedreach and visibility. The PacketPortal data-collection technology can not only be embeddedin microprobes, which slot into network elementsas standard small form factor pluggables (SFPs),it can also enable instruments and customer-premises and end-user devices. Your entirenetwork, and the devices that connect to it, canall share intelligence through PacketPortal.

In addition, because PacketPortal is an openplatform, you can not only empower existingapplications – you can also enable and extendnew business models and new revenue streams.PacketPortal intelligence can be shared with all ofyour business, monitoring, and managementapplications.

This open platform has allowed JDSU to developPacketPortal Connect, the ecosystem ofapplication developers, system integrators andequipment manufacturers who can deliver valueadded solutions based on PacketPortal. As partof Connect, the application developer community

�

For network

operators, the

pace of this

growth is both

exciting and

unnerving


facilitates new solutions, ideas, concepts,applications and business models to be sharedand exchanged promoting exciting new solutionsfor service providers and their customers.There is an obvious need for complete networkvisibility into the applications that customers arerunning on their devices, as well as the varyingbandwidth flows and demands placed on thenetwork from individual users and businesses. Tomanage a network’s performance, operators needreports on bandwidth in real-time. What all thisreally amounts to is a need for greater intelligence.

With greater visibility comes the intelligence toimprove troubleshooting, create new products,and enhance the customer experience. Toacquire this intelligence, you have to be able tocollect the data at the edge, where 80% of serviceissues occur. Data should be compiled in realtime through a cloud-based approach tointelligent collection and network management.

This can help to achieve cost savings. Betterintelligence optimises performance andimproves troubleshooting time. A technician at acentral location can quickly locate and fixproblems without deploying field technicians,saving opex.

It also achieves improved customer experience.By reducing service issues and offering customersservices more tailored to their needs, networkproviders can also reduce customer churn.

In addition, revenue opportunities can beaddressed. By unlocking network intelligence,service providers can create new billingstrategies based on customer usage models, newmarketing campaigns based on content andcustomer data, and cost effectively offermanaged services that previously requiredexpensive hardware deployments.

Finally, users can get on-demand access to thecustomer experience. Combining this type ofpacket access with a multi-user, multi-probeaccess platform allows users to view anycustomer, service, or quality of experience on-demand, leading to quick diagnoses and fasterproblem solving.

VP: How will the next 12 months look forthe test and measurement industry?

DF: There will be 50 billion internet-connecteddevices by 2020 and total internet traffic growthis set to more than quadruple by 2014. By anystandards, these are lofty predictions. However,with the smartphone and tablet phenomenagaining ground and the wider industry buzzingabout the potential of machine-to-machinecommunications, all evidence points to the factthat the current unprecedented growth occurringin the telecoms industry is set to continue.

We need to move from thinking aboutsubscribers to thinking about customers – to fullyconnect the customer experience. What serviceswill help them, what services do they use, whatover the top (OTT) applications are beingprovided? For network operators, the opportunityto deliver and monetise new services is huge, butthere are a number of barriers to overcome toachieve full network visibility and convertnetwork data into real, actionable intelligence.

To achieve these next generation networkservices, packet acquisition must be cost-effectively embedded in optical componentsthroughout the network, and a cloud-based,software application platform is essential inorder to access and manage critical networkdata. With a greater level of intelligence abouttraffic and applications running over a network,operators can create new classes of services,opening up new revenue potential and profitstreams.

Preparing the networks for an influx of 50 billioninternet-connected smartphones, tablets,computers and appliances is no small task.Rolling this out while keeping customer serviceat an optimum level is even more of a challenge.However, the technology now exists to provideoperators with the greater level of networkintelligence needed to cost-effectively managethese massive networks and applications,ensuring that customers receive an excellentstandard of quality of experience and service,even during the earliest stages ofimplementation.


We need to

move from

thinking about

subscribers to

thinking about

customers – to

fully connect

the customer

experience

For further information visit: www.jdsu.com/go/packetportal

E N D - T O - E N D M O N I T O R I N G


CSPs used to rely on test and measurement tomake sure their operations were performingas expected. Measurement of throughput andavailability delivered the indicators theyneeded to know the network was workingwithin the performance parameters they set.Those systems were good but they only wentso far and provided only insight into a limitedrange of indicators across a single network.

Now though, it's no good having a systemthat purely monitors the performance of the3G radio access network, when the user'sexperience might be delivered over LTE, GPRSfibre backhaul and even Wi-Fi as well asUMTS. What's needed is a complete end-to-end picture of the session, download orinteraction across multiple bearers.

For instance, CSPs have seen traditional testand measurement approaches trigger analarm within a 2G network because it isbecoming congested. Those systems haveworked and alerted the CSP to the problembut on investigation it turns out there’snothing wrong with the 2G network – except itis buckling under the strain of users failingover onto it because of an issue within the 3Gnetwork. CSPs in that scenario have wastedtime investigating the 2G network for a problemthat doesn’t exist, whereas an integrated, end-to-end approach to monitoring would havedirected them immediately to the root causeof the problem within the 3G network.

However, bringing these disparate systemsand technologies together so the goal of an

The picture of a user's experience that traditional approaches to test andmeasurement provide can no longer view parts of the network in isolation.Services and applications are delivered across multiple networks and devicesand CSPs, therefore, need to monitor the complete session. George Malimexplores the challenges

No technology is anisland so CSPs mustmonitor end-to-end

Richard Stone:We see bizarreapplicationbehaviour

�


integrated, end-to-end monitoring system isachieved, is easier said than done. Bothtechnical and cultural changes are required.

“It always strikes me as really strange thatthere are CSPs out there that still think if youlook at one little bit of the chain you canmonitor the whole experience,” says RichardStone, senior solutions manager atCompuware. “The chain is complex andinvolves devices, the network provider and anover-the-top provider (OTT). If you want tolook at the experience, you have got to doeverything because we see bizarre behaviourof applications and content moving acrossCSPs’ networks. The days of having a probe-based system across the network are goneyou can’t rely on that alone anymore.”

Neil Coleman, director of marketing at Actix,says the challenge isn’t just about deployingdifferent technology, it’s about putting in placea new process: “There are a couple ofadjustments we're seeing. Firstly at a peoplelevel engineers are expected to understandand be able to fix issues on multipletechnologies. This is putting strain on analready overstretched workforce,” he says. “Ata monitoring level – there is a lot of legacy[technology] out there. CSPs are looking tophase out point monitoring solutions that aresingle technology focused. For example, arecent operator we were talking to had morethan 50 point tools to help them monitor andfix the network. They were desperate to cutthrough the noise the only way they could dothis was to run a tools consolidation exercisestarting with our multi-technology monitoringand optimisation platform and working outwhich ones they could get rid of.”

Steve Bowker, chief technology officer ofAircom, says that correlation and aggregationof all the disparate monitoring data is the corechallenge – and one that is becoming moredifficult to address. “It’s quite easy to get anend-to-end picture of network performance,”he says. “For example, if the data circuit

throughput is x and the response time is y,you have a fairly clear idea but, when youhave a problem, you need to drill down intothat information to address it. That will beacross multiple network types so the picturebecomes a lot more complex – the biggestproblem is bringing together the data andmaking it useful.”

Stone points out that end-to-end monitoringisn’t just an additional cost that CSPs will haveto bear. They can realize significantoperational savings from the insights itprovides. “In the testing on UK networks thatwe have done, we’ve found that every popularservice suffers from what we call wasteddata,” he says. “That’s data sent across thenetwork in response to user requests. Onaverage 8 to 10% of the data going acrosswireless networks is wasted data. Forexample, a user might log in to Facebook,check what their friends are doing, updatetheir status and exit. One device doing thatcould consume 30 to 40% more data thananother doing exactly the same thing.Monitoring therefore has to be done in thesame way that a user experiences [a service].”

Those kinds of statistics have helped get themessage across. “CSPs have understood it, orat least are starting to,” adds Stone. “Theproblem is they have millions invested innetwork management tools that enable themto say all the lights are green so everything isOK. You can understand that because they feelthey are taking care of their part of thebusiness but more and more they’re askingwhy, if all the lights are green, everyone isn’tsatisfied.”

That demonstrates that CSPs recognise thevalue of end-to-end monitoring. “We’re seeingcustomer experience related activityhappening again because it is really valuableinformation and CSPs are putting a lot morevalue against it,” adds Bowker. “Planningteams see the problem clearly.”

Stone points

out that end-to-

end monitoring

isn’t just an

additional cost

that CSPs will

have to bear

Neil Coleman:Workforcesunder extrastrain

E N D - T O - E N D M O N I T O R I N G


E X P E R T O P I N I O N :

As mobile networks continue to grow, so do the needs of mobile users. Mobiletechnologies such as LTE are in direct response to the incredible growth of mobile data,by enabling networks to handle a growing number of mobile devices with higher bandwidthand more differentiated services. The wide-scale deployment of LTE that will occur over thenext 3 to 5 years is creating challenges for carriers and operators, specifically, that ofquickly and efficiently enabling Ethernet and IP services in their mobile backhaul network.These networks are also facing continual stress as a result of the exponential increase inbandwidth demand and in LTE growth. Plus, carriers and operators have to improve theiroperational efficiency, reduce their OPEX and CAPEX pressure to maximize revenues aswell as ensure customer satisfaction.

To support this growth, carriers and operatorshave started transitioning the mobile backhaultowards packet-based technologies such asEthernet. The purpose of this is to provideenhanced services to the end users. However,upgrading the backhaul network is a dauntingtask, considering the impact on the transition onthe users, the higher likelihood of failures anderrors and the sheer amount of work that has tobe performed with the number of towers alreadyin service or to be added. For this reason, theirtechnicians need tools to help them understandthe new mobile backhaul network architectureand eliminate guesswork.

EXFO created Ethernet One to be an integrated,centralized network turn-up and monitoring toolwhich supports effectively the deployment,maintenance and growth of LTE networks. Thissolution consists of an ecosystem of deviceswhich seamlessly interact to provide powerful,integrated and efficient network testing,assurance and troubleshooting. Ethernet Onerelies on a powerful and versatile centralizedunit, the BV-3100 and enables seamlessinteraction with field-portable tools andleverages existing network elementsimplementing standards-based networktroubleshooting tools. It combines existing toolsspecifically developed for the Ethernet marketwith a new Brix Verifier, the BV-3100, which takestesting at a centralized location to the next level.

In fact, Ethernet One enables simultaneous turn-up tests as well as the parallel monitoring ofthousands of endpoints whether at cell sites orbusiness service locations. It is also powerfulenough to monitor back into the core, providingcomplete visibility. Moreover, turn-up tests canbe automated to reduce activation time andsignificantly reduce human intervention. In short,when you add the verifier to multiple places inthe network, it scales to hundreds of thousandsof endpoints and simultaneous tests. Havingboth turn-up and monitoring capabilities within

the same platform is a benefit for mobileoperators, enabling these entities to stretch theirCAPEX investment, and for technical staff, whobenefit from a single powerful solution for alltheir needs while enhancing team efficiency.

The key benefit of Ethernet One is that it helpsuntangle challenges by addressing issues relatedto team efficiency, cost-effectiveness andcustomer value.

In terms of team efficiency, the idea is tooptimize service deployment, while coping withfewer resources. This is achieved by simplifyingOSS integration and eliminating human errorthrough first-time-right test results and servicedelivery. Efficiency is also achieved by reducingturn-up testing time with industry standard Y.1564,by continuously monitoring SLA performanceand by providing automated troubleshooting.

With respect to cost-effectiveness, Ethernet Oneimplements standards-based methods. It alsoleverages existing investments by being able toevolve with the carriers’ needs and operators’hardware. Plus, it ensures effective resource-sharing through multi-user, multi-instance andsimultaneous testing and monitoring.

Finally, in terms of customer value, the objectiveis to ensure on-time delivery. Ethernet One willpredict and proactively diagnose issues, thusreducing downtime and increasing customersatisfaction. Thanks to flexible configurationsand options that match CAPEX constraints, thismulti-service monitoring platform offers highscalability and better performance.

For all the reasons above, wireless carriers andoperators need a centralized solution that canprovide total network visibility at every layer,from transport to advanced services, which willmake it easier to isolate and diagnose faults aswell as direct troubleshooting efforts, therebyreducing the mean time to repair (MTTR). This isexactly what EXFO’s Ethernet One provides.

Preparing YourInfrastructure for LTE

In terms of team

efficiency, the

idea is to

optimise service

deployment,

while coping with

fewer resources.

ClaudioMazzuca,Vice-Presidentof EXFO'sServiceAssuranceDivision

T E S T & M E A S U R E M E N T


Paul Beaver:VoLTE mustprovide a topquality service

Global LTE deployments are continuing toaccelerate and the technology is gaining moremarket recognition. However, LTE currentlypossesses a key limitation that the industry isactively looking to resolve – the issue of voice. Asit stands, LTE networks can only support dataand are incapable of handling voice calls. From aconsumer’s perspective, this could be viewed asa rather remarkable omission, considering thattraditionally, the key role of mobile CSPs was toprovide voice services. As a result, they could beleft vulnerable to being superseded by OTTproviders, such as Skype, in the mobile voice market.

The industry is increasingly determined todevelop a solution to allow voice calls to bemade over LTE networks. Voice over LTE (VoLTE)technology will also enable CSPs to pioneer newbusiness models, reinstating them as the primarypurveyors of premium voice services.

VoLTE trials are currently being undertaken; withdevice manufacturers, chipset vendors andoperators all testing VoLTE solutions in thelaboratory. VoLTE is still in a state oftechnological infancy; and this has resulted in adiverse range of mobile CSP interpretations inregard to how VoLTE should be integrated withnetworks and devices. These uniquerequirements mean that here can be no one sizefits all VoLTE solution for CSPs. They will insteadhave to test a diverse range of variableconditions; all of which could potentially impacton their ability to deploy and uphold VoLTE.

Mobile subscribers will continue to expect topquality voice services on their mobile, and a best

effort Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service,such as Skype, will not be sufficient. VoLTE mustprovide a top quality service, or risk gaining anegative perception amongst consumers. UponVoLTE’s introduction, network signalling levelswill naturally escalate and this will put networksunder increased strain. CSPs will need to preparefor this, and build this scenario into theirprogramme of testing.

VoLTE’s ultimate success will be determined byits proficiency in delivering top quality voiceservices across an all-IP network, on the latestLTE devices. However, cooperation within themobile industry is a necessity if VoLTE is toemerge as a viable commercial possibility.

A rigorous testing programme will be a decisivefactor in determining the success of VoLTE’sintroduction – particularly in consideration of thevariety of implementations taking place. Thiscould be a costly and labour intensive process. Byusing lab-based testing, handset manufacturers,chipset vendors and mobile CSPs can utilise asimulated network environment to test bothcomponent interoperability and audio quality. Byadopting this method of testing, CSPs no longerrely on live network testing and expensive, timeconsuming device field trials. Meticulous VoLTEtesting can be performed more easily and at areduced cost. Lab based testing can help toensure that VoLTE works as expected and in turn,will maintain mobile CSPs as the leading serviceproviders in the mobile voice market.

The author, Paul Beaver, is products directorat wireless device testing company, Anite.

Danger!High VoLTEage

– how lab testingcan mitigate the

OTT threatLTE presents a challenge to CSPs because it doesn’t support voice at this stage. Voice-over-LTE is coming but the technology is still in the trial phase and the testing burden issubstantial. Here, Paul Beaver explores the demands supporting VoLTE places on CSPs.

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IBM: “Throughout the incredible journey of

the telecom OSS/BSS sector over the last

10 years, VanillaPlus has remained a

reliable source of both key news but also

informative, objective and thought-

provoking assessments of the key trends

which have shaped our industry. I am

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What others say

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› Monitor to proactively detect degradation

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To maximize deployment efficiency and customer satisfaction, you can’t afford to fight with your network. Part of

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thousands of endpoints. Call it performance optimization—with extra bite.

VanillaPlus Magazine August-September 2012 Edition

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