Redknee, a provider of business-critical billing and charging software and solutions for communications service providers, is advising operators to review how they are providing transparent billing as regulatory attention and the evolution towards 3G networks and beyond begins to pick up pace.
The role that greater transparency and subscriber control has on preventing bill shock and driving data revenues will be discussed at next week's Billing & OSS World Conference and Expo and is detailed in a position paper ‘Eliminate Shock – Know Your Subscribers'.
The urgency for greater transparency and subscriber control in the wireless industry is twofold, says Redknee: regulatory action and the growing momentum of the evolution to and beyond 3G networks.
Today, operators in the European Union (EU) are already in the process of providing a higher degree of communication and transparency to their data roaming customers. And further afield, the issue of bill shock is increasingly going under the microscope by regulatory authorities including in the US, where the industry is currently being called upon to discuss how it can protect subscribers with similar notification and cut-off mechanisms that have been instigated in the EU. Redknee says it is expected that numerous other authorities will quickly follow suit, particularly following a survey conducted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which demonstrated the extent of the problem by finding that one in six mobile users has experienced bill shock related to a sudden increase in their monthly bill without any significant changes to their service.
In addition to providing the mechanisms to eliminate bill shock, Redknee is advising that transparent billing and enhanced subscriber controls will enable operators to effectively and quickly drive data revenue as they roll out their 3G networks and continue to evolve. It has been estimated by the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) that while 41 HSPA+ networks were commercially launched prior to February 2010, by the end of 2010 more than 100 HSPA+ networks are expected to be in service, bringing with them more advanced services and also added complexity for the consumer.
Redknee concludes that to capitalize on the high growth of these data services it is imperative to create an environment of real-time systems for subscriber and service management to successfully support a business model that enhances the subscriber experience, drives data services adoption and the monetization of 3rd party applications and services. Value can, therefore, be derived by having true visibility of the subscriber's behavior, spending and communication in order to deliver a contextually relevant service to their subscribers and also create the opportunity to upsell and cross-sell services.
Lucas Skoczkowski, Redknee's chief executive commented: "The provision of greater transparency and control to their subscribers not only eliminates bill shock but also contributes towards increasing the customer experience, drive data revenues and enables operators to retain value when they interact with their customers. Redknee has been supporting operators in tier 1 markets, including those in the European Union, to protect their customers from bill shock and to launch transformational business models that increase revenue and drive profitability. At Redknee, we continue to invest in real-time monetization solutions to support the growth of mobile data and content for wireless subscribers around the world."