[Infonetics]: Why Operators Need Subscriber Analytics?

While we saw carriers planning to monetize on their collected analytics (see "Telefonica to Monetize on its Mobile Analytics Data" - here), it seems that the main reasons for being the "big brother" are different, and many are developing their own solution rather then buying products.

A new survey, by Shira Levine, directing analyst for service enablement and subscriber intelligence, Infonetics Research, conducted in partnership with TM Forum to explores ".. operators’ deployment and use of subscriber intelligence solutions, as well as their supplier preferences"

The conclusion is that "Subscriber intelligence solutions will grow in popularity because they enable operators to better pull together and analyze subscriber data to gain a unified, holistic view of their customers and how they’re using the network"

"When asked to identify the business drivers behind their investment in subscriber intelligence solutions, operator respondents most often named better understanding subscriber preferences .. Over half of respondents do not plan to make subscriber information available to outside third parties Standalone analytics vendors are respondents’ top choice to supply subscriber intelligence solutions, though a large number operators said they plan to build their own analytics tools"

See "Operators' subscriber data intelligence plans unveiled" - here.

TM Forum: 75% of SP have/Plan to Implement PCRF

A new report from the TM Forum (sponsored by Amdocs, BroadHop, Intracom, Orga Systems, Vedicis and Volubill) reviews " .. the evolution of the policy server from the first wave of risk reduction and bandwidth management applications, through the current personalization & monetization phase and on through to the emerging service and device expansion stage". 

"We find that the significance of the policy server continues to grow as we migrate to long-term evolution (LTE) and introduce new services like cloud, OTT enablement and M2M .. Almost seventy five percent of [service providers] have already implemented policy servers, or are planning to in the near future.. Policy management in conjunction with other network and systems elements like charging is among the most important emerging capabilities for service providers looking to differentiate themselves and create higher levels of customer loyalty and revenues".

".. the only way to realize its potential is through cross-departmental collaboration, in depth planning and analysis, careful selection of components, and high degrees of integration".

See "Policy everywhere: Acting on network intelligence" - here.

TM Forum's “Real-Time Charging for High Volume Mobile Data" Architecture to be Exposed

 
MATRIXX Software announces it will 'demonstrate a TM Forum Catalyst project at Management World 2012 to show how mobile broadband data traffic can be cost-effectively monetized .. The project, called “Real-Time Charging for High Volume Mobile Data" will demonstrate how high volumes of data traffic being driven by Smartphones and tablets can be profitably handled by Communications Service Providers (CSPs)"

".. The Catalyst project is championed by France Telecom-Orange and includes participants Capgemini, DigitalRoute and Vedicis .. Demonstrating a new reference architecture for integrated DPI, policy and online charging, the project offers new opportunities for carriers to reduce OPEX, monetize broadband with tiered services, and create interactive customer experiences".

According to the TM Forum project page (here) the project "demonstrates real time user feedback and policy enforcement on user mobile data consumption that integrates innovative solutions covering:

• Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) and Deep Packets Inspection (DPI) for user bandwidth control, usage metering and APPs classification
   
• Active mediation and Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) for portal integration, multi network and policy orchestration
    
• Online Charging System for customer and offer management

With the following Demonstration Scenarios:

• Scenario 1 – User once authenticated on the portal, accesses contents and follow his consumption in real time on the web portal or the Smartphone application.
   
• Scenario 2 – User is notified when his quota is over, he can purchase in real time data package, within the same session.

See "MATRIXX Software demonstrates mobile data Catalyst project at Management World 2012" - here.