OVUM: Shared Data Plans are "here to stay"; Require Management Tools

 
Nicole McCormick (pictured), Senior Analyst - Telco Strategy, Ovum covers the recent adaption of shared data plans by major MNOs.

"After a significant amount of discussion and hype, “bucket plans” are beginning to gain traction around the world. Bucket plans are a tariff structure where a monthly data allowance is shared between all of a user’s connected devices"

"Telefonica, Canadian operator Rogers Wireless, Hong Kong operator CSL [here], and Norway’s Telenor are just some of the growing number of operators that offer data bucket plans. These plans are typically aimed at the “connected person” who owns a smartphone, laptop, and tablet".

Related posts:

• Verizon Wireless Adds Shared Data Plans (1-10GB) - here
• [Gartner]: "CSPs should adopt these multidevice plans- here 

See also "Shared Mobile Data Plans Savings Opportunities at A Cost" (here) for more examples: Bell Mobility[Canada], Orange Mobistar and Proximus [Belgium], Vodafone and Telstra [Australia],Orange Austria and Vodafone Ireland.

 

Source: CSL/one2free 

Back to Ovum - "Bucket plans provide operators with significant cost savings as they do not have to acquire and manage two separate subscriptions for a single customer. A combined account also makes it far easier for operators to find out what a customer is using their device for and when. This information makes upsell opportunities clearer and easier to implement, and enables the possibility of providing the data to third-party applications and advertisers .. Unified plans increase customer stickiness, which results in lower churn".

 

"Operators will also have to ensure that bucket plan users are provided with adequate data monitoring tools to prevent excess usage charges if big-screen devices unknowingly consume a high proportion of the bucket. These should also provide a mechanism that enables customers to upgrade to a larger plan if required" (see also "Infonetics: Shared Data Plans - an Opportunity with OSS Needs" - here).

  

See "Data buckets arrive to cater for the “connected person” - here.

Ovum: "Mobile Operators in Asia will Increase Focus on QoS in 2012"; Hong Kong Carriers Lead

   
A survey by Nicole McCormick (pictured), Senior Analyst Telco Strategy, Ovum finds that " .. For the first time in four years, QoS topped Ovum’s Mobile Broadband Industry Survey, Asia-Pacific (conducted jointly with Telecom Asia) as the “most important differentiator in the mobile broadband market”. In comparison, last year’s survey found that coverage was the top issue .. the gap between incumbents and challengers has narrowed, putting more onus on QoS .. However, unlimited data tariffs remain a major barrier to improved QoS in a number of markets"

McCormick added: “Ovum was surprised to find that approximately 40% of respondents in this year’s survey believed that unlimited plans were the most effective way to charge for mobile data. As data usage increases, unlimited plans will only lead to the degradation of customer experience. Operators will need to abandon these plans if they are to differentiate themselves based on QoS .. As the findings from our survey show, many operators will increase their focus on QoS in 2012. Those that don’t may well face the wrath of regulators”.

See "Quality of service is more than just a buzzword in Asia-Pacific"- here.

In related news, CIO Asia reports that "Three Hong Kong mobile service operator -- CSL [here], SmarTone, and 3 Hong Kong -- announced Monday [13/2] that they will continue to offer unlimited local data service plans to customers in Hong Kong, but will apply network priority management in real time to ensure fair network access .. Another mobile carrier PCCW Mobile however has ceased all unlimited mobile data service plans on Monday". 

See "Hong Kong mobile carriers apply priority management to unlimited data usage" - here.

Ovum: "Experience is showing that the move to LTE without flat rates can be achieved with positive results"

 

Nicole McCormick (pictured), senior analyst, Telco strategy, Ovum says that ".. There is now solid evidence that leading operators in Asia-Pacific, the US, and Sweden now accept this. These operators are devising new ways to transition to LTE without continuing to offer burdensome unlimited tariffs". 

"Experience is showing that the move to LTE without flat rates can be achieved with positive results .. this has been the approach taken by SK Telecom [here] and LG U+ in South Korea, Singapore Telecom [here] in Singapore, and AT&T Wireless [here, here, here, here, here, here, ],  in the US .. In Asia-Pacific, Hong Kong mobile operator CSL [here] recently adopted a new LTE tariff strategy centered on volume-based pricing, which has proven popular with customers. US mobile operator Verizon Wireless [here, here, here] also phased out unlimited data tariffs for LTE in July 2011, and this has not adversely affected its LTE uptake"

(follow the embedded links to previous relevant posts, such as the PCRF vendor these MNOs are using).

See "Mobile operators begin to abandon unlimited data" - here.

ZTE's ZOOMs (DPI/PCRF) Solution Customer List

    

A year ago ZTE launched ZOOMs, a DPI/PCRF solution (covered here). The solution's web page has been updated recently, and now includes a list of ZTE customers deploying the ZOOMs:

"Till 2011Q2, ZOOMs has already been deployed in dozens of countries, including China Mobile, HongKong CSL [here], Indonesia PT Smart, Germany KPN E-PLUS, Montenegro Telenor, Portugal ZAPP, Malaysia DiGi, French OMT, etc.

See "ZOOMs: ZTE Optimized Operation and Management System" - here.

"ZOOMs solution includes the following 4 parts:

• Intelligent Deep Packet Inspection Gateway xGW (inbuilt DPI)
• Dynamic Policy and Charging Control (PCRF/SPR)
• Intelligent User Behavior Analysis System (UBAS)
• Mature Online/Offline Charging System (OCS/OFCS)

"Use dedicated DPI hardware index chip, to reduce performance degradation of GW system caused by DPI. GW performance degradation is less than 30% under DPI function. Use SPI, DPI, HPI and other packet inspection technologies. More than 300 types of protocols could be identified."

DPI Deployments (19): CSL [Hong Kong] Uses ZTE's ZOOMs to Optimize Network

ZTE reports in its ZTE Technologies magazine that CSL is using its ZOOMs solution to "control and management functions such as smart user behavior analysis, smart service billing, smart service bandwidth management, and smart service access control" - see more on ZTE's ZOOMs - here.

See "Hong Kong's CSL Optimizes Network Management with ZOOMs" - here and "World's First Dual-Band LTE Commercial Network Deployed by ZTE and CSL in Hong Kong" - here.

The article explains the 3 stages of implementing the solution:

1. P2P service control and management - reduce congestion caused by P2P applications
2. User internal service resource management - control resources based on per subscriber policies, including quota and parental control  
3. In-depth service control and management - analyze network performance and subscriber behavior