India's Regulator Demands Data Usage Transparency

India's regulator, TRAI, takes another step towards transparency and bill shock prevention, in addition to the other Net Neutrality laws (see "India Planned Net Neutrality Laws" - here).

Telecom Lead reports that the "Telecom Regularoty Authority of India today said Indian telecom service providers should share data usage related information with their subscribers on regular basis".

See "TELECOM CONSUMERS PROTECTION (EIGHTH AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2015 (5 OF 2015)" - here.

"Indian telecoms such as Vodafone India, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications, Tata Docomo, Aircel, Uninor, MTS India, Videocon Telecom, MTNL and BSNL must issue notices in form of USSD or SMS about data usage to its customers, TRAI said in its Telecom Consumers Protection (Eighth Amendment) Regulations, 2015.

TRAI said it received several complaints from mobile Internet consumers regarding non-availability of information relating to the amount of data used during a data session .. Mobile network operators now need to send information about the usage to data users at every 10 MB of data consumption except customers opting for special schemes like add-on packs, combo offers and others. The consumers are to be provided with an option to opt out if they do not desire to receive such information.

.. Further the consumer shall be informed about the details of tariff applicable after exhausting the data limit, when the data limit reaches 90 percent or the data balance available in the account reaches 10MB .. Telecom operators also need to send an alert to international roaming customer cautioning the person to deactivate data service if one does not intend to use data services.

TRAI ordered the service providers to implement the same by November 1 this year". 

See "TRAI wants telecoms to share data usage info with subscribers" - here.

Opera Enables Zero-Rated App Access; Piloted by Telenor Asia

Opera software announced that "Mobile operators can now offer their subscribers free-of-charge access to selected apps for a set period of time, with sponsored and paid passes to apps coming shortly. This has been made possible by App Pass, an innovative new feature for Opera Max, the mobile data-savings and management app from Opera Software.
 
For operators, App Pass is a way to present offers to users when they open any app on their phones. With two clicks, users can gain free access to the data that app consumes via Opera Max: they can then return to the app knowing that any data consumed while using it will be zero-rated for the duration of the App Pass" 

Related posts - Zero rates services in Colombia, Pakistan and Zambia - vs, "Canada: Operators Directed to Stop Zero-Rate Video" - here.

"Telenor will be the first operator to partner with Opera and launch Opera Max with App Pass, testing it out in some of the company’s Asian markets. In the pilot phase Telenor is testing a number of short-term passes for different apps and offers that help its users gain a first-hand, low-risk understanding of the internet. These users can also see and then manage their own personal internet consumption patterns from within Opera Max"

Rolv-Erik Spilling [pictured], Head of Telenor Digital, said: “We’re eager to see how this service is received in our markets. App Pass is designed to give customers easy control over costs related to data usage. The challenge of so-called “bill shock” is high on our agenda, and these kinds of initiatives from Opera play an important part in addressing the issue”.

See "Consumers in emerging markets gain affordable access to apps" - here.

Telstra Deployed MATRIXX for Bill Shock Prevention

MATRIXX Software announces that "Telstra,  has deployed MATRIXX and its Convergent Charging solution to deliver real-time mobile data usage alerts to millions of Telstra customers. MATRIXX Convergent Charging enables service providers to deploy a single real-time platform for rating, balance management and charging across all access networks, services, devices and payment methods.

Scott McGibbony, Director of Mass Market Mobility, Telstra said the MATRIXX capabilities ensure Telstra can better protect customers from surprise data charges as Australians adopt high-speed 4G services: “Bill shock can be a real frustration for our customers. Mobile data usage alerts dispatched by mobile operators in Australia are typically delayed by up to 48 hours, meaning mobile users can receive an alert after they have exceeded their allowance ..  We have worked with MATRIXX to take the worry out of using mobile data by offering our customers market-leading data usage SMS alerts that arrive in real time when they have used 50 percent, 85 percent and 100 percent of their monthly data allowance”.

"The MATRIXX solution has also enabled Telstra to improve the timeliness of data usage information available on its Telstra 24×7 app (iOS and Android) Telstra One app, My Plan Manager and My Account tools"

See "Telstra implements MATRIXX Software" - here.

PCC Deployments [321]: INWI [Morocco] Uses Openet for Monetization

Openet announced that "INWI, a leading Moroccan operator, has deployed Openet’s Policy Manager to successfully provide convergent policy control and advanced allowance management .. INWI has integrated Openet’s Policy Manager with its advanced Balance Manager and Offer Catalog solution to monetize and shorten time-to-market for innovative new use cases. 

These will include: 

• the offer of ‘one day’ mobile data service passes 
• real-time data upsell notifications to its 13 million subscribers

These new innovative services will ensure new levels of offer transparency and Balance Management to maximize customer quality of experience, control local and roaming traffic and reduce bill shock".

INWI has ~28% of the local market.

See "Openet Enables INWI to accelerate data innovation and optimize the customer experience through real-time visibility and account control" - here

DPI Deployments [305]: Econet Wireless [Zimbabwe] Uses Sandvine for Application-based Charging

A recent Sandvine case study presents their deployment at Econet Wireless Zimbabwe - "Econet Wireless Zimbabwe is using Sandvine’s Usage Management product with plug-and-play capabilities that will enable them to roll out new revenue-generating services for their pre-paid and post-paid subscribers. 

Sandvine was selected based on our ability to fulfill the technical requirements of usage-based charging over 3GPP Diameter Gy and policy enforcement over 3GPP Diameter Gx, which are critical for rolling out new services such as roaming notifications, bill shock prevention, family plans, and data bundles [including  promotions deals such as "Facebook Bundles" and "WhatsApp Bundles"}".

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has over8M subscribers.

See "Success Story: Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Raises the Bar" - here.

PCC Deployments [286]: Robi Axiata [Bangladesh] Expands Tango Telecom System

 
Tango Telecom announces a ".. major upgrade and expansion win with Robi Axiata Limited to increase capacity and to provide new and innovative Policy Control use cases such as Dynamic Pricing for Data Services to the operator’s rapidly growing subscriber base .. Tango Telecom’s Policy Control solution enables Robi Axiata’s subscribers to benefit from highly innovative plans and promotions such as tiered service level packages, roaming controls to prevent bill shock, volume and time based quotas, pay-per-use packages and dynamic on-demand self-care options.

   

The new features also include Tango Telecom’s Dynamic Pricing for Data Services giving the operator the ability to price and promote mobile data services dynamically based on cell load, location, time of day, subscriber type and/or subscriber activity

See "Tango Telecom awarded major Policy Control expansion deal by Robi Axiata Ltd" - here.

Singapore Telcos Plans for Data Monetization: Tiered Services, Music and Gaming

How will operators increase their revenues in 2014? Joyce Hooi, The Business Times, interviewed the 3 telcos in Singapore:

• Kevin Lim [pictured], Chief Commercial Officer, StarHub: "We are primed for data monetisation next year as we expect more customers to adopt tiered data plans".
  
  See "PCRF Deployments: Starhub Selected NSN" - here and "StarHub  Selected Neuralitic for Usage Profiling and Monetization" - here.

• Chua Sock Koong [pictured], CEO, Singtel : "In Singapore and Australia, we are actively promoting data usage, including the use of innovative plans that help customers' avoid bill shocks like Optus My Plan .. In the emerging markets that our regional mobile associates operate in, we are rolling out 3G networks to accelerate data usage"
  
  See "Singtel: 10% of Subscribers Consume 64% of Data; Implements Tiered Services" - here and "Optus Uses Cisco and BroadHop" - here.
   
• M1 - "The telco will bank on mobile games, music and video content to drive data usage, said Chua Hian Hou, its assistant general manager for corporate communications".

See "Data monetisation: Telcos' holy grail in 2014" - here.

PCC Deployments [276]: DNA [Finland] Uses Comptel for Roaming Cost Control

   

Comptel Corporation announced that ".. Finnish communications service provider (CSP) DNA Ltd has extended its use of Comptel Policy Control. The operator has leveraged the company’s roaming cost control functionality to launch defined data packages for a fixed price, to enable customers to affordably use their services while abroad and to reduce their fear of experiencing ‘bill shock' .. Comptel was selected for this data roaming pass project, which was taken into production in June 2013, based on its positive, long-standing relationship with the CSP, its flexibility and efficient time-to-market, and the quality of its products".

At the end of Q3, 2013 DNA had 2.437M mobile subscribers.

Related post - "DNA Uses Comptel for RAN Congestion Control" - here.

See "Finnish Operator DNA Encourages Customers to Affordably Use Data Services While Abroad with Comptel Policy Control" - here.

Sandvine Adds PCRF Functionality

Sandvine is now offering its own PCRF.

The vendor announced the release of its "..latest Service Delivery Engine (SDE) platform version with new Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) functionality to roll out revenue generating services faster than ever before, such as roaming notifications, bill shock prevention, family plans and data bundles.

Sandvine’s SDE is LTE standards-compliant, conforming to 3GPP Release 11, and offers an open architecture that closes the gap between the control and data planes. Sandvine’s SDE is a fully-compliant PCRF product. It can work in conjunction with Sandvine’s Policy Traffic Switch (PTS) to provide a unified platform for network policy control in fixed, mobile and converged operator networks, or alternatively the SDE interfaces with third party Policy and Charging Enforcement Functions (PCEFs)".

See "Sandvine’s Service Delivery Engine Strengthens PCRF-PCEF Interface" - here.

FCC: No More Data Bill Shocks

   

The deadline for US bill shock regulation [see "[US] Bill Shock Prevention: VZW, AT&T and T-Mobile will Alert on Exceeding Data Charges" - here] has passed, and the FCC was proud to announce that ".. approximately 97 percent of wireless customers across the nation are now protected from bill shock as participating U.S. wireless companies have met an April 17 deadline to provide free, automatic alerts to customers who approach or exceed their wireless plan limits. A recent FCC survey found that 30 million Americans – or one in six wireless users – have experienced bill shock".

Related posts about Sprint, C Spire Wireless, Verizon

   

".. As of the April 17, 2013 deadline, participating members of CTIA are voluntarily providing free,
automatic usage-based alerts when they approach or exceed plan limits for data, voice, and text, or when international roaming charges may be applied .. the FCC updated its Bill Shock Web Portal to give consumers at-a-glance status of carriers’ reported compliance on bill shock alerts".

Carrier	Voice	Data	SMS/Text	Int'l Roaming
AT&T	Yes	Yes	N/A	Yes
Cellcom	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cellular One of NE Arizona	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Clearwire	N/A	Yes	N/A	N/A
Plateau	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
SouthernLINC Wireless	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
Sprint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
T-Mobile USA	Yes	Yes	N/A	Yes
US Cellular	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Verizon Wireless	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
N/A = Carrier does not offer the service or offers it only on an unlimited basis on all domestic plans offered as of or after October 17, 2011, making the sending of usage alerts unnecessary.

Last Updated: April 17, 2013 - Source: FCC

See "FCC MARKS MILESTONE IN EFFORT TO ELIMINATE ‘BILL SHOCK’" - here.

PCC Deployments [241]: C Spire Wireless [US] Deploys Shared Data Plans and BoD with Openwave Mobility

Openwave Mobility announced that "C Spire Wireless has implemented Openwave Mobility’s Promotion and Pricing Innovation (PPI) Mobile Data Charging solution to power the company’s CHOICE and SHARED Data plan offerings, providing unmatched flexibility, control and value for customers: 

• C Spire’s CHOICE plans enable prepaid and postpaid customers to purchase passes for premium data services such as video streaming and tethering at the time of consumption via an intuitive in-line subscription experience. CHOICE passes allow customers to pay for only the services they need, when they need them, and comes with the ability to monitor usage in real time to avoid bill shock.

• C Spire is also leveraging PPI to power its SHARED Data service plans which allow customers to purchase monthly data plans with varying quotas that can be shared among multiple subscribers and devices. C Spire’s SHARED Data plans provide a much wider range of options for customers to choose from to meet their individual needs as compared with other similar offerings on the market. Subscribers of both CHOICE and SHARED Data plans benefit from the overage protections provided by PPI’s intuitive real time end-user engagement interface. Upon reaching data quota thresholds, subscribers are notified in-line and can elect to purchase a Top-Up pass with a simple click of a button.

See "C Spire Wireless Partners with Openwave Mobility to Launch CHOICE and SHARED Data Plans" - here.

CSG Updates PCC; Adds Parental controls, Tethering, Bill Shock

CSG Systems International announced "CSG Integrated Charging and Policy (ICP) 2.0 .. Key features include support for the use of parental controls, mobile tethering, managing bill shock, and setting defined usage and spending limits and notifications ..  When policy and charging are combined, solutions for managing flexible customer consumption caps, and enabling choices for monetary top-ups, quality or speed upgrades/downgrades become possible. CSG ICP 2.0 enables these scenarios in an adjunct fashion to the CSP’s existing systems through an interoperable, standards-based framework.

With CSG ICP 2.0, CSPs can realize faster time to market and monetization of new services on advanced networks using new pre-configured use cases that support multi-device plans and tethering plans out of the box"

See "CSG Evolves Integrated Charging and Policy Capabilities" - here.

Sprint Expands Bill Shock Alerts

A month before the CTIA deadline [see "[US] Bill Shock Prevention: VZW, AT&T and T-Mobile will Alert on Exceeding Data Charges" - here] Sprint announced the ".. expansion of its current usage alert program to include wireless voice and text messaging services .. Customers can elect to receive these free alerts via text message or email through Sprint’s Ready Now program or by accessing their account via Sprint.com. If a customer doesn’t choose a preferred method of communication, Sprint will provide alerts via text message as a default".

For International use - "Sprint sends a "welcome" text message when an international roaming subscriber first registers in a foreign country. The text message includes details on the casual rates for voice, texts and data in that particular country. In addition, Sprint sends notifications in approximately $50 increments of international data roaming charges. Casual international roaming users will be required to opt-in when usage charges meet or exceed approximately $100 and $300. Customers on international data plans must opt-in when they meet their data allowance and when they incur approximately $300 in overage charges. All customers incurring approximately $500 of international data usage charges will be suspended, but usage can be restored by contacting Sprint. Sprint will continue to send notifications at approximately $50 increments over $500".

See "Sprint Launches Voice and Text Usage Alerts Fulfilling its Industry Commitment" - here.

Bill Shock Prevention: Promises and Reality

I has a number of posts about mobile operators, regulators and industry organizations announcing their plans to implement bill shock prevention tools (see "24 Operator Groups (4B Subscribers) to Adopt Bill Shock Prevention Measures This Year (2012)" - here; "Latam MNOs to Implement Bill Shock Prevention by H1 2013" - here, "Australia - Bill Shock Prevention Self-Regulation is Coming" - here; "Bill Shock Prevention is Coming to the US Mobile Service" - here and "EU Helps Preventing Mobile Bill Shock" - here.

And the reality?

A survey conducted by MACH (see "MACH Launches a Cloud-based Bill Shock Prevention Solution" - here) shows that the ".. majority of mobile operators (62%) have not yet implemented any form of bill-shock prevention to protect their customers against unexpectedly high data roaming bills. Furthermore, only 24% of mobile operators worldwide have a solution that can monitor subscriber data usage habits in real-time, thus complying with the GSMA Data Roaming Transparency Initiative launched last year. Such solutions, that consider the subscribers’ data roaming experience first and foremost, boost uptake of data roaming services, leading to more revenue for operators and increased customer satisfaction".

Nevertheless, I also covered several deployments of bill shock prevention by Telefonica, Zain Jordan, Orange Africa, Belgacom and Telekom Austria.

See "Mobile Operators Slow To Protect Consumers From Bill-Shock, Says MACH" - here.

Israel Prepares for Bill Shock Prevention; Opt-In for Data Roaming

The Israeli Ministry of Communications published a call for consultation (here and below, Hebrew) regarding bill-shock prevention regulation for roaming services.

The ministry plans to amend MNO licenses, following complaints it got from subscribers getting huge bills, sometimes reaching 5 figures (in Israeli currency - i.e. over $10,000). This may be also caused, according to the ministry, by data charges for "always-on" applications, such as Email and other application synchronization, that the subscriber is not aware they consume data even if not actively used.

The main suggested changes for data roaming are:

• New subscribers will be blocked for international data roaming and will have to opt-in for the service
• Existing subscribers will be blocked for international data roaming (unless they are already signed to a special service plan)
• An SMS will be sent to any subscriber reaching 50% and 85% of their data plan. At 100% the service will be blocked.
• Subscribers trying to use data roaming, without a data package will be blocked and the MNO will have to send an SMS detailing the rates and instructions for enabling the service. 

[Ericsson] OSS/BSS in 2013: OTT Partnership, Tiered Services, Analytics and Bill Shock

 
Beau Atwater, Director of marketing strategy for Ericsson (previously from Telcordia, pictured), outlines the main reasons for CSPs to spend money on OSS/BSS systems upgrades in 2013 ("part evolution, part revolution"). As we have seen these vendor wishes many times before, I can only join Beau's statement "The more things change, the more they stay the same" - in selling side pitches and predictions.

• In 2013, consumers will continue to flock to over-the-top (OTT) voice, video and data services. What’s changing is that instead of sleepless nights pondering a future as a dumb pipe, CSPs will start turning OTT from a problem into an opportunity .. In 2013, many CSPs will partner with OTT players. For example, a mobile operator could provide a certain amount of bandwidth and prioritization to a video OTT provider that agrees to share revenue because the QoS would help differentiate its service. The video OTT provider’s brand also could help the mobile operator attract customers. Both companies also could market to each other’s customer base. CSPs will have to optimize their OSS/BSS infrastructure to execute this
   
• "OSS/BSS overhauls also will enable the trend toward tiered pricing, which will take off in 2013
   
• CSPs will spend more and more time analyzing customer behavior so they can capitalize on it
   
• Finally, 2013 also will be the year that CSPs began to turn another problem into an opportunity: bill shock. CSPs suffer financially when surprised customers become former customers or share their anguish with their social networks. CSPs also bear the cost of fielding all those billing inquiries. See "24 Operator Groups (4B Subscribers) to Adopt Bill Shock Prevention Measures This Year" - here, "Bill Shock Prevention is Coming to the US Mobile Service" - here and "EU Helps Preventing Mobile Bill Shock" - here. 

See "The OSS/BSS-enabled revolution begins in 2013" - here.

Openet PCC Helps MNO to Generate Roaming Revenues

  

Openet announced that a leading EMEA mobile operator is ".. relying on the flexibility and configurability of Openet’s PCC (policy and charging control) solutions to enable subscribers to activate roaming-specific data packages when traveling. The Openet PCC solution supported the timely launch of 40 new data roaming packages, offering rich subscriber choice that improved customer experience and increased data roaming revenues by over 35 percent ..  roaming represents a lucrative potential source of revenue for operators. However, much of this revenue remains untapped because most roamers choose to turn off mobile data or substantially reduce usage for fear of bill shock. To differentiate itself in the EMEA region, the Openet customer expanded its data service portfolio to offer more than 40 new roaming service pass options".

"In addition to pre-activated, pre-purchased data roaming service passes, subscribers can opt to travel using a “pay as you go” format. When roaming, pay-as-you-go subscribers are notified by SMS message and given the opportunity to set data limits and tailor usage based on travel location. Both options are configurable and enable subscribers to turn packages on and off when roaming or making travel plans".

See "Openet Enables Leading EMEA Operator to Offer Data Roaming Service Passes to Better Serve Traveling Subscribers" - here.

Sandvine: [Telefonica?] $4.5M Orders for Bill Shock and Tiered Services Enabling

  

Sandvine announced that it has ".. received Network Policy Control orders from two Western European mobile operators, totaling over $4.5 million. The orders expand existing Sandvine deployments that enable “bill shock” notification and differentiated subscriber services .. The customers are part of a multinational operator group with properties in Europe and Latin America. Sandvine expects to recognize the majority of related revenues in the first half of 2013".

The description fits Sandvine's major end-customer - Telefonica (see "Update: Sandvine/ALU Agreement Signed; $2.5M Orders Received" - here). During the Q3, 2012 (here), Alcatel-Lucent generated 36.8% of Sandvine revenues. The Caribbean and Latin America region generated 27% (compared to 18% for North America, 18% for EMEA and 37% for Asia).

See "Sandvine Receives Over $4.5 Million In Follow-On Orders" - here.

Bill Shock Deployments [186]: Zain [Jordan] Selected Globitel

  

Globitel announced that ".. Zain Jordan launched its Bill Shock Prevention Solution, which will enable Zain subscribers to control data roaming expenses .. With Globitel’s bill shock prevention solution, Zain subscribers receive spending alerts while roaming, and have the option to set usage thresholds to fit their spending targets".

At the end of Q2, 2012 Zain, the largest MNO in Jordan (38% market share), had 3.2M subscribers, 17.8% increase compared to Q2, 2011.

See "Zain Jordan Launches Globitel Bill Shock Prevention Solution" - here. 

PCRF Deployments [179]: Orange [Reunion + 15 African Locations] Implemented Volubill's PCRF

 
Volubill announced that Orange Reunion has ".. implemented Volubill’s solution for pre and post-paid data charging, including policy for new features such as anti-bill shock ..  Orange has implemented Volubill’s Business System (VBS) [here] designed to manage user experience and interactivity with access and data services in real-time"

"The implementation at Orange Reunion is just one of many in which Orange Group have utilized the expertise of Volubill .. policy and charging installations at 15 other locations including, Senegal, Central Africa, Cameroon [here], Tunisia [here], Botswana and the Ivory Coast".

 

Orange Group African Business

See "Orange Reunion Chooses Volubill for Policy and Charging" - here.