TM Deployments [292]: MTN [Congo] Deployed Comviva PCEF/PCRF

Mahindra Comviva announced that its "Mobile Data Platform (MDP) [a package of PCEF, PCRF and Mobile Internet Gateway - see chart below] has gone live with MTN in Congo B. MTN will now be able to offer an unrivalled number of personalized data plans to its subscribers in Congo B. A holistic broadband management platform, MDP will also help MTN to manage, optimize and monetize its data infrastructure. It will provide enriched user experience by employing intelligent bandwidth management techniques, such as dynamic bandwidth throttling. It will provide real-time advice for charges, notifications and credit/usage limits to subscribers on home and roaming networks for bill shock management over all communication channels such as SMS, USSD, Web application".

MTN Congo has more than 1M subscribers.

See "Mahindra Comviva's Mobile Broadband Solution goes live at MTN CONGO B" - here.

Juniper Research: MNOs can and will Fight Churn with Analytics (MTN, C Spire)

A new report by Keith Breed, Juniper Research finds that ".. Mobile Operators worldwide are set to gain from a significant reduction in churn through the adoption of Big Data and Analytics techniques, equivalent to an increase in revenues of almost $4bn a year by 2018. The report found that the implementation of analytics platforms was enabling operators to anticipate the likelihood of customers to churn, to take preventative action and thereby reduce revenue loss"

• MTN South Africa, which in 2012 deployed a Big Data programme combining subscriber information and social network analysis to determine priority users and customer networks and subsequently saw annualised churn decline by more than 20 percentage points
   
• .. players in more developed markets – such as C Spire Wireless in the US – were increasingly coupling analytics with a customer loyalty programme to improve user retention.

See also "[Juniper Research]: Analytics May Save MNOs $9B by 2018" - here.

See "Mobile Operators to Gain Almost $4bn by 2018 from Applying Analytics to Reduce Churn: Juniper Research" - here.

Cache Deployments [262]: MTN [Cyprus] Selected PeerApp

PeerApp announced that it has been "..selected by MTN Cyprus to provide its UltraBand transparent caching platform. UltraBand will help MTN Cyprus deliver Internet content, including video and multimedia, with improved quality, while reducing associated network congestion and costs.

MTN Cyprus, a member of the MTN Group, offers integrated telecommunications solutions for mobile, fixed telephony and broadband services based on its advanced fiber and HSPA+ networks, for private and business clients.

See "PeerApp Transparent Caching Helps MTN Accelerate Internet Content Delivery for Cyprus" - here.

[GSMA] Top Global MNOs - Q1, 2013

GSMA Intelligence published its latest ‘Scoreboard’ operator ranking.

"China Mobile remained the world’s largest mobile operator based on connections and annual mobile revenue – strengthening its lead over second-placed Vodafone - while domestic rivals China Unicom and China Telecom both increased their ranking score from a year ago. China Unicom climbed two places to #5, surpassing Verizon Wireless (#6) and VimpelCom Group (#7), while China Telecom also increased two places to #11, jumping ahead of Deutsche Telekom (#12) and MTN Group (#13)".

See "The top 20 global mobile operator groups by connections and revenue, Q1 2013" - here.

NI Deployments [251]: MTN [Uganda] Selected JDSU/Arieso

JDSU announced that "MTN Uganda has selected its ariesoGEO platform and GEOperformance application to improve network quality and customer experience. MTN Uganda operates the country’s largest multi-vendor, multi-technology network" [JDSU acquired Arieso in March 2013 for $85 million in cash].

"JDSU’s customer-centric ariesoGEO solution will support MTN Uganda’s GSM and UMTS networks, and is ready to support the rollout of its LTE network that was launched on April 25, 2013. MTN Uganda has become the first operator in Uganda, and one of the very first in the region to successfully launch its 4G LTE network. ariesoGEO uses location intelligence to transform RAN planning and performance engineering. This increases operational efficiency and improves network performance, enhancing the customer experience".

At the end of Q1, 2013 MTN Uganda had 7.95M subscribers, if which 1.2M had data subscription. Data revenue increased 53,6% in local currency YoY.

Rami Farah [pictured], CTO, MTN Uganda said: “.. ariesoGEO will enable us to take a proactive approach to customer service, helping us react quickly to issues, while improving the quality of the overall network. As our network continues to grow, so too will customer expectations”.

See "MTN Uganda selects JDSU to support mobile network quality enhancements" - here.

DPI/Security Deployments [102]: MTN [Nigeria] Deployed AdaptiveMobile to Protect the Network

     

AdaptiveMobile (whom had recently partnered with Allot - here) announced that it has ".. successfully completed a mobile content filtering, anti-spam and anti-virus protection project with MTN Nigeria, enabling the operator to protect its network and subscribers from undesired mobile content through mobile handsets and mobile data-enabled PCs. The AdaptiveMobile Network Protection Platform is reducing network load, protecting the operator’s IP reputation from the growing threat of spam-related IP blacklisting and is reducing customer complaints"

"AdaptiveMobile’s Network Protection Platform provides network-based protection across a range of service bearers and is enabling MTN to: Drastically cut spam, Remove MTN’s IP addresses from blacklists, Reduce customer care costs, Block access to illegal sites and Identify the source of viruses"

MTN Nigeria, part of the MNT group that operates in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East, has over 40M subscribers.  The operators see a nice growth in its data revenues (see chart), from 3% of total revenues in 2009 to 5% in the first half of 2011.

Obinna Nweje (pictured), General Manager, MTN Nigeria said:. “As with many operators globally, the shared nature of mobile IP addresses means that attacks from unscrupulous spammers can have a huge impact on IP address reputation and potentially result in innocent subscribers’ emails being unnecessarily blocked”

See "MTN Nigeria, Africa’s Largest Mobile Operator, Improves Network Security and Efficiency by 98 Per Cent With AdaptiveMobile" - here.