A recent poll by Comptel Corporation, a leading vendor of dynamic Operations Support Software (OSS), found that operators around the globe have not prepared their OSS for the advent of Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC). The poll, carried out at Comptel’s annual user group, found that while 41 per cent of respondents stated their OSS was ‘somewhat’ ready, 39 per cent admitted to being completely unprepared for FMC. This was despite the fact that a majority of operators questioned were planning to deploy a FMC strategy in the short-term (50%).
When broken down by type of service provider, the poll demonstrated that mobile operators are lagging behind fixed line providers in terms of the readiness of their OSS. Whereas only 29 per cent of fixed line providers thought their OSS totally unready for FMC, a total of 71 per cent of mobile operators placed themselves in the same category.
Mr. Simo Sääskilahti, Senior Vice President Products and Solutions at Comptel commented: “These results are encouraging as they show that operators are keen to enjoy the fruits of FMC as soon as possible. That said, service providers need to ensure they have the correct software platform in place to ensure the transition to FMC is completed as smoothly as possible. Such software is already being used today, an example being Comptel’s convergent solutions. The problem arises when legacy, non-convergent software is being used in other parts of the operators’ OSS (for example billing systems). It is apparent that OSS vendors need to advise operators effectively on how best to move to a fully convergent OSS.”
FMC is the convergence of devices and networks that will allow a voice or data session be seamlessly carried over a variety of fixed and wireless networks. FMC will allow service providers to offer value-added services across multiple access media.
Sääskilahti continued: “It is up to operators to ensure their OSS is ready for FMC. Comptel’s Dynamic OSS solutions enable telecom service providers to deliver services flexibly and charge for them effectively in a converged or legacy environment. Our software allows operators to launch new services with a fast time-to-market and we already proving beneficits to customers deploying FMC solutions, such as Taiwan’s FarEasTone and many other of Comptel’s customers.”