Telco 2.0: Billing & Payments Archives

Security Breach at M-PESA: Telco 2.0 Crash Investigation

Fraudsters have relieved a Safaricom M-PESA agent of 35,000 Kenyan shillings. This may not sound like a lot (about €340), in a business where figures in the tens of billions are routine, but it’s a business-killing loss for a Kenyan reseller agent. In fact, it’s equivalent to 26.8% of per capita GDP. With a savings ratio of 17%, it would take a typical Kenyan a little over 18 months to replace the capital loss. (Actually it’s worse - there’s no reason to think the savings ratio is evenly distributed. Usually, the rich save more, because they have money to spare.)

And if your business depends on thousands of reseller agents, anything that can wipe out their capital in 20 minutes is a serious threat. Therefore, security is a major challenge in delivering the promise of mobile money.

Seems fairly clear - but how many users have iPhones?

Continue reading "Security Breach at M-PESA: Telco 2.0 Crash Investigation" »

Posted at 03:58 PM | Link to this article | Add a comment

Guest Post: Richard Mishra, Amdocs - In All the Excitement, Do Not Forget the Basics

There is always something to be really excited about in the information and communications industry; Next Generation Networks, Media Services, Service Delivery Platforms, IMS, Service Orientated Architectures, Software as a Service, Virtualization, there is so much to look forward to. The public face of our industry has always focused on service and service delivery, and now we want to take this further and focus on the whole customer experience. This is great, but it’s only half the picture. If we throw into the mix a deep and global economic recession, then ‘may you live in interesting times’ starts to look like the curse it’s claimed to be. So who is looking after the dull old fashioned business that pays most of our salaries? Where is the discussion about managed, optimized investment? Is the shareholder and the service provider getting good value from what we have in the ground today?

Continue reading "Guest Post: Richard Mishra, Amdocs - In All the Excitement, Do Not Forget the Basics" »

Posted at 03:22 PM | Link to this article | 3 comments

Zoompass: Implementing Mobile Money, Right

A major milestone has been achieved; the first inter-carrier mobile payments system in a developed market since PayForIt. We were impressed when we first met Zoompass at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC); we’re more impressed now. It will offer Canadian subscribers a comprehensive transfer, transaction, and account management service with encryption, whichever of the three main mobile operators they use. In so doing it has adopted key Telco 2.0 concepts - trusted agent networks, inter-carrier cooperation, and extending telco assets and capabilities into thousands of other business processes.

Continue reading "Zoompass: Implementing Mobile Money, Right" »

Posted at 12:52 PM | Link to this article | Add a comment

Pilot 2.0 (Part 2): Using Old Systems for New Business Models

Sometimes new business models feel too complicated to undertake. However, new methods and technologies are enabling operators to trial new business models without having to change their existing systems or processes. Some people are calling this “BSS 2.0”. Building on our last post on how to pilot Telco 2.0 ideas, this guest article from Andrew Thomson, VP Solutions at Infonova expands on his stimulus presentation from May’s Telco 2.0 Executive Brainstorm and provides some examples of where and how “BSS 2.0” could add value. PS: Scroll down to see an interview with Simon Torrance and Andrew Thomson for TelecomTV on the same topic

Continue reading "Pilot 2.0 (Part 2): Using Old Systems for New Business Models" »

Posted at 09:28 AM | Link to this article | Add a comment

M-Banking: can Zain’s new business model for ZAP rival M-PESA?

One of the major successes of the mobile industry in recent years has been the growth of m-banking in the developing world. (Safaricom is adding 10,000 M-PESA accounts a day) although a considerable number of well-funded, vendor- and operator-backed efforts to deploy m-payments systems in Europe have failed, m-banking succeeded in Africa and Asia - largely because it catered to needs that the rest of the financial system simply didn’t supply. Now, a major emerging market operator, Zain, has entered the game with a radically different business model. Will it work?

(source)

Continue reading "M-Banking: can Zain's new business model for ZAP rival M-PESA?" »

Posted at 03:59 PM | Link to this article | Add a comment

Tackling the Bit Pipe Nightmare with a post-ARPU strategy

In October 2008 we took a trip to BSS specialists Martin Dawes Systems’ Customer Forum to learn about how telcos can get better at retail - and by extension, wholesale too. In the guest post below, the company’s Head of Solution Strategy Cato Rasmussen dreams of becoming a fly and wakes to find he’s become…a telco! Fortunately he got over it in time to participate in the Telco 2.0 braintorm next week. It’s rather like a horror B-movie. You go to bed, fall asleep and have a frightening nightmare about turning into a fly. You wake up in a cold sweat relieved it’s all been a bad dream - only to look down at yourself and scream. Of course the scenario is less colourful, but telco operators waking up one day and finding themselves a bit pipe is also a nightmare that won’t go away. It scares many CEOs senseless and could actually now become reality. What can telcos do? They need to accept a new reality - change the way they measure product value and accept that customers will be their ultimate judge. The bit pipe nightmare has lurked in the industry’s sub-consciousness for many years now. The threat stemmed from how the Internet would merge with mobile communications, smashing down the traditional operator and subscriber relationships. So far this threat has been contained. Mobile operators adopted a walled garden approach where they aimed to hold on to an exclusive relationship with their customers and gauged their value by the money spent directly with them. And, despite the proliferation of viable mobile broadband, subscribers haven’t strayed very far from the walled garden. That is until now.

Continue reading "Tackling the Bit Pipe Nightmare with a post-ARPU strategy" »

Posted at 11:34 AM | Link to this article | 6 comments

Why a bank is like Lebara Mobile

This year’s MWC Mobile Money Transfer seminars were interesting, as usual. But the really interesting thing is what nobody said; there was a lot of talk about what you might call the transport layer, the long-haul section in the middle of the transaction, but surprisingly little about the user interface - the point at which the eventual customer pays money into the system or takes it out. That’s especially odd, as the participants were all very keen to point out that they realised the vital importance of getting cash in and out. Cash is, in a sense, the killer application here; using mobile credit transfer for direct payments, sexy though it is, requires you to beat a powerful negative network effect. It’s the first fax problem; it’s useless until other people accept it, but there’s no reason for them to accept it until people start using it. But if you can convert this funny invisible stuff into cash immediately and without paying usurious commissions, there’s no reason not to accept it - because it’s as good as cash.

Continue reading "Why a bank is like Lebara Mobile" »

Posted at 05:48 PM | Link to this article | 1 comment

Guest Post: New ‘Order to Cash’ outsourcing models for Telco 1.0 and Telco 2.0

In the guest article below, HCL and Infonova discuss the opportunities to outsource key business processes in a world where Telco 1.0 and Telco 2.0 coexist. Situation - Some indisputable facts In order to reduce costs, many telcos and cablecos have utilised business process outsourcing, usually outsourcing processes with high volumes of repetitive tasks. An example of this would be Order Provisioning or L1/L2 Customer Support. This type of outsourcing has often delivered significant labour cost arbitrage gains as well as better management and improvement of Service Levels and Performance Metrics in the initial phase of such engagements - thereby initiating an expectation of continuing year-on-year increment of benefits. However the business benefits of outsourcing have not always been scalable, replicable, and above all, sustainable.

Continue reading "Guest Post: New 'Order to Cash' outsourcing models for Telco 1.0 and Telco 2.0" »

Posted at 01:34 PM | Link to this article | 1 comment

Guest Post: Charging for Bandwidth - the world is not flat

The broadband incentive problem is causing ISPs to crack all over the world. In this guest post Fergus O’Reilly, CTO of Highdeal, discusses the changes we need to make in our IT systems to deliver new business models. Broadband operators across Cable, ADSL, Fiber and Wireless networks are beginning to re-examine how they charge for bandwidth. The flat-rate, one-size-fits-all broadband tariff offer has been a big hit with consumers since it is easy to understand, easy to compare across ISPs and does not require understanding exactly what “bandwidth” is and which services actually consume it. Broadband has seen strong adoption over the past years in part because of that simple pricing model. But this model is now under challenge:

Continue reading "Guest Post: Charging for Bandwidth - the world is not flat" »

Posted at 05:14 PM | Link to this article | 1 comment

Guest post: Integrated billing and policy management is key to Telco 2.0

Today’s ISP model frequently fails to align behavioural incentives of users, costs of this behavior to the network operator, and revenue. In a guest post, Openet’s CMO Michael Manzo looks at the crucial transition to what might be called ‘Telco 1.5’: The industry is generally in agreement that “Telco 1.0” triple play bundling of voice, video and data will lead to a long slow decline for network operators. Price erosion and disintermediation will drive revenues down and churn up. Control of the value chain will move upstream to content and application providers. I do subscribe to the Telco 2.0 vision of obtaining new revenues by servicing the needs of new ‘upstream’ customers who want to interact with the ‘downstream’ telco retail customer base. However, I also believe mainstream adoption is a ways off. Most operators are still grappling with the “ex-land grab” implications of their Telco 1.0 businesses, trying to understand a more classical segment marketing approach, and embracing the long tail phenomenon.

Continue reading "Guest post: Integrated billing and policy management is key to Telco 2.0" »

Posted at 01:41 PM | Link to this article | 1 comment

Ring! Ring! Hot News, 24th November, 2008

In Today’s Issue: Internet forecast wars on again; Odlyzko fights the nonsense; experimental high-def YouTube, and how to get it; BT: OFCOM ate my homework; Amazon’s CDN has landed; Telefonica wants a spaceship or two; T-Mobile UK is down; T-Systems blows the German secret service’s cover; VZW peeks at BHO’s CDRs; SearchWiki, another Google web-hoover; Ubuntu for mobiles; Lotus Notes for Nokia; Nokia and Yahoo!; Nokia and TD-SCDMA, possible faster Chinese rollout; HOWTO manage devices OTA in S60; GPS SIMs coming; Qualcomm’s WLAN LBS; CTIA fights for lucrative convict market; Clearwire-Sprint JV signed, shares tank; Indian consolidation coming; T-Mobile USA’s digiframe comes with data but no music; a cautionary tale about age verification. It’s another round in the Internet traffic forecast wars. The vendors’ side last week published research claiming that a coming exaflood would lead to “Internet brownouts”; as TelecomTV points out, not only did they use identical language to everyone else who’s predicted this over the last 16 years, but just as always, world authority Andrew Odlzkyo disagrees and is probably right (his MINTS project claims that backbone traffic actually fell recently).

Continue reading "Ring! Ring! Hot News, 24th November, 2008" »

Posted at 11:50 AM | Link to this article | Add a comment

Being a better Retailer: Martin Dawes Systems Customer Forum 2008

Earlier this month we had the pleasure of presenting and facilitating at the user conference of “Martin Dawes Systems”:http://www.martindawessystems.com/ (Martin Dawes Systems), a provider of integrated billing and CRM systems, as well as analytics via their business unit “Lavastorm”:http://www.lavastorm.com/Home__.html, now rebranded as Martin Dawes Analytics. p=. !http://www.telco2.net/blog/images/mdslogo.PNG! Martin Dawes Systems’ history is in supplying both large and small operators who want an integrated BSS back office solution. These operators want to avoid the cost and integration headache of the “best of breed” approach. The integrated solution also brings its own benefits, such as enhancing the ability to manage business processes end-to-end. We’ve picked up in this article some highlights of their products, and some new ideas about how to run billing, CRM and analytics systems based on the debate with the senior execs who attended - from AOL, Vodafone, GSMA, Carphone Warehouse, BT, KPN, Orange, Telefonica O2, T-Mobile, DTAG, Thus…

Continue reading "Being a better Retailer: Martin Dawes Systems Customer Forum 2008" »

Posted at 12:41 PM | Link to this article | Add a comment

Ring! Ring! Hot News, 20th October 2008

Just when I thought I was out, they drag me back in: Siemens shows a concept phone using the “big touchscreen” iPhone design meme to include a large solar panel in the device. Nice; but hasn’t Siemens given up making phones?

Continue reading "Ring! Ring! Hot News, 20th October 2008" »

Posted at 10:14 AM | Link to this article | Add a comment

Ring! Ring! Hot News, 13th October 2008

In Today’s Issue: Crunch crunches Chinese corporate creativity; Nextel spinout shaky; Sprint execs “industry’s most overpaid”; WiMAX smartphone leaked; VZW starts charging for bulk SMS delivery; IfByPhone understands your call centre campaign; vendor-pays data is here; RIM’s AppStore for enterprises?; Comcast gets social TV; Vodafone buys more of Vodacom; IBM: still has money; Indian cellsites get fuel cells; MBNL-BT backhaul superdeal; xG shenanigans; yet another security nightmare at DTAG; GSMA without the GSM; mobile filmmaking to fight the Taliban. scary! This week’s main theme was telcos calling off planned corporate action in the face of the financial crisis; Huawei, like so many other vendors, has been thinking of getting rid of its handsets business, a low-margin job better left to cheap Chinese ODMs…hold on, some of us remember when Huawei was a cheap Chinese ODM. But this week, the sale was put on indefnite hold for fear someone might bid one euro and get it.

Continue reading "Ring! Ring! Hot News, 13th October 2008" »

Posted at 12:48 PM | Link to this article | Add a comment

Telco 2.0 Interview: Steve Zimba, Microsoft

Continuing our “series of interviews”:http://www.telco2.net/blog/2008/07/big_cheese_interview_tony_rall.html with major industry thinkers, “Steve Zimba”:http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/busresources/execbiostevezimba.mspx is Microsoft’s Managing Director, Global Telecoms Business. We interviewed Steve about “their ‘Telco 2.0’ strategy”:http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/default.mspx. This integrates their PC, IPTV and mobile offerings with a combined software and services offering, supported by telecoms-specific capabilities and a third party ecosystem. p=. !http://www.telco2.net/blog/images/zimba.jpg!
Steve Zimba Microsoft is a particularly interesting company to us because they are in a unique position. They bridge the consumer and enterprise markets, which places them well to create technologies and operational businesses for “two-sided markets”:http://www.telco2.net/blog/2008/07/twosided_markets_why_do_they_m.html. Their Internet competitors are consumer-centric, and don’t have channels into the enterprise. Rivals such as IBM don’t have the consumer brand or media properties to run experiments on the scale Microsoft can. Furthermore, Microsoft is active across all of the B2B value-added service areas we believe will drive “future telco growth”:http://www.telco2.net/manifesto/: identity, advertising & marketing services, e-commerce, order fulfilment, content delivery, billing & payments, and customer care/CRM. The difficult challenge is whether Microsoft can make the whole more than sum of its software conglomerate parts.

Continue reading "Telco 2.0 Interview: Steve Zimba, Microsoft" »

Posted at 09:05 PM | Link to this article | Add a comment

Telco 2.0 Research Programme, Autumn/Winter 2008

Following the publication of the new Telco 2.0 Manifesto, we’ve refreshed our overall strategy research programme for the coming year. (Like the fashion industry, our products change with the seasons.) This new programme will address the key strategic challenges that lie at the heart of creating new value in Telecoms and adjacent markets. Here’s a quick preview. 5 x New “Research Practices” We’ve organized our research into 5 Research Practices to address the key Telco 2.0™ strategic challenges.

Continue reading "Telco 2.0 Research Programme, Autumn/Winter 2008" »

Posted at 03:23 PM | Link to this article | Add a comment

How Billing can become a Revenue Generator

Billing within Telcos is often seen as a necessary evil — an overhead which frequently puts a brake on marketing visions of grand new services. Whereas, billing within the Telco 2.0 world is a great asset offering the capability of pricing nearly any transaction on any number of variables in real time in huge volumes. One approach to leveraging the telco billing asset is for the telco itself to provide billing services to an upstream partner, and quite often also to collect the money on their behalf. In our recent report on ‘Sizing the Two-Sided Telecoms Business Model’ we estimated that there could be over US$26bn in new revenue for Telcos offering billing and payments services to vertical industries by 2017 (mature markets alone). A good example today is the mobile content industry which has already evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry. This approach is best suited to two situations: # when the telco network is being used to deliver the goods, or # when the telco network is being used as a channel for purchasing the goods and the buyer is a customer of the telco. Billing is a key enabler for a telco wanting to pursue a two-sided business model, together with a collection of related services: identity, authentication, advertising, business intelligence, e-commerce sales, content delivery, and customer care. The Telco 2.0 team was therefore delighted to be invited to participate in a recent industry roundtable, organised by Highdeal. (Highdeal provides real-time rating systems that scale to high volumes at low cost using a clever technological approach akin to a compiler for rate plans.) The workshop was entitled “Stop Reinventing the Wheel: Comparing Cross-industry Pricing & Billing Strategies”. Telcos can learn lessons from other industries, both good and bad. Here are just three examples from the Transport Industry:

Continue reading "How Billing can become a Revenue Generator" »

Posted at 09:41 AM | Link to this article | 1 comment

February 12, 2010

Security Breach at M-PESA: Telco 2.0 Crash Investigation

July 07, 2009

Guest Post: Richard Mishra, Amdocs - In All the Excitement, Do Not Forget the Basics

June 19, 2009

Zoompass: Implementing Mobile Money, Right

June 18, 2009

Pilot 2.0 (Part 2): Using Old Systems for New Business Models

May 04, 2009

M-Banking: can Zain’s new business model for ZAP rival M-PESA?

April 28, 2009

Tackling the Bit Pipe Nightmare with a post-ARPU strategy