Dear Colleague:

How many of you are “young” enough to remember the long distance telecom wars between AT&T and MCI?

Back then, MCI conceived a brilliant sales scheme called Friends and Family. The idea was that anyone in your family circle could get lower rates on long distance calls if they only switched to become MCI customers.

The program gave MCI a wonderful sales boost, but its significance goes beyond the success of that one campaign, for Friends and Family marked a turning point:

It was perhaps the first time a large telco used its billing capabilities as a strategic selling tool.

Shortly thereafter the market for off-the-shelf and service bureau billing systems took shape; billing conferences began attracting people, and 100 financial analysts in New York were being briefed on this exciting new market called telecom billing.

In a few short years, telecoms large and small retooled their billing systems for “bundled bills” and put some of their in-house legacy systems to rest; GSM operators in Europe and Asia-Pac installed prepaid charging and postpaid billing platforms for their 2G and new GPRS networks; and two formerly small billers, Convergys and Amdocs, grew past the billion dollar sales mark.

Then suddenly, without warning, the market lost steam. With the growth of the giant vendors, the slow uptake of 3G wireless, and the telecom recession, the billing market gradually cooled to the point where Wall Street lost interest and the telecom press was writing billing off as a “mature market.”

Well, surprising as it may seem, billing is catching its second wave of growth.

That’s the finding of Dittberner Associates’ recently published report, a sweeping 235-page analysis on the state of the market. The report entitled, The Telecom Billing Market: Retail Billing, Interconnect Billing & Real-Time Charging Systems pinpoints what sectors of the market look most fruitful and which vendor players are making a difference.

The report puts several telecom industry trends into focus, finding more than a few good reasons to believe that billing’s on the rebound:

• Stocking the Data Services Candy Store -- The explosion of data services in mobile markets is prompting telecoms to buy billing systems for their revenue-generating direct marketing skills, not just for their accounting dexterity. The report shows how certain vendors are leveraging merchandising and contextual advertising techniques to boost the bottom lines of their clients.
  
  
• The Convergence of Postpaid and Prepaid. These used to be very different markets, but the growing use of “dual use” phones and the advantages of pricing from a single consolidated database is  forcing the prepaid and postpaid billing systems to converge.  Dittberner’s uses examples such as the Telkomsel case in Indonesia to show how telecoms are tackling the organizational and vendor-management problems that convergence brings.
  
  
• Network Technology Uncertainty -- Network equipment vendor mergers such as Nokia/Siemens and Alcatel/Lucent are rocking the telecom world, but what’s the significance of these mega-mergers on billing? And how quickly will IMS, IP, and other next-gen technologies take hold? The report chimes in on these issues as it shows how one biller is pitching a rather interesting “network-future-proof” solution.
  
  
• The Rise of Virtual Network Operators. Robust billing and realtime charging is a critical need for emerging MVNOs such as Mobile ESPN, Helio, and Disney Mobile. The Report shows what kinds of billing solutions MVNOs are looking for, the prospects for growth of the virtual operator market, and which kinds of billers should pursue it.
  
  
• Billing as a Strategic Platform -- A number of strategic issues surround the choice of a billing platform. For instance, how does a telecom make progress towards system consolidation and SOA?  Is it best to buy a custom or product solution?  And should a hosted service bureau be in your future? The report discusses the pros and cons of these critical questions.
  
  

Dittberner’s study not only sorts through the complex web of billing trends and players, but the intelligence can also help you avoid making bad decisions: investing in the wrong kind of billing solution, for example -- or if you’re a vendor -- entering a market segment that’s either too competitive or too specialized to attract sufficient customers. The Report will help you discover:

• What are the most important market priorities?
• Which operator success strategies can you adopt at your own telecom organization?
• Which vendors have industry market share and are leading in specific niches?
• Which Billing/Charging players should be your partners?
• What emerging trends can your company capitalize on?

Please scan the table of contents below. You'll see why this report delivers the tactical and strategic information you need to understand where the telecom billing market is headed.

To access this market intelligence today, contact Dittberner's offices at 301-652-8350.

Sincerely,

Dan Baker
Research Director, Dittberner OSS/BSS KnowledgeBase

P.S.  The Telecom Revenue Assurance & Cost Management report is one research module in Dittberner's on-going OSS/BSS KnowledgeBase covering the breadth of telecom software innovations on a yearly basis.

The Telecom Billing Market

Table of Contents

A. Executive Summary (2 pages)

B. Definitions of Major Billing Functions (2 pages)

Pricing Management
Customer Management
Partner Management
Rating
Service Authorization
Discounting and Promotions
Billing Cycle Management
Financial Management
Payments and Collections
Revenue Assurance

C. Billing Market Drivers (2 pages)

The Strategic Importance of Billing
Why Billing is on the Rebound
System Consolidation
Fixed Mobile Convergence
Wireless Subscriber Controls over Access & Budget
Dual Use Handsets
The Threat of Real-Time Market Share Grab
Lower Cost of Ownership
More Services, not Lowered Fees

D. Real-Time & Convergent Charging (4 pages)

Traditional Pre-Paid Platforms
The Evolution of Real-time Prepaid and PostPaid Operators
Why True Real-Time Capability is Vital
The Convergence of Prepaid Billing and Postpaid Billing
Hybrid Customers and Privacy of the Bill

E. The Merchandising & Direct Marketing Role of Billing (4 pages)

Thinking Like a Retailer: Amazon Style
Friends, Family, Affinity Plans
The Role of Subscriber Profile in Contextual Marketing
One-Click Decisions in the Wireless Operator's Store
Impulse Buying & Real-Time Offers

F. The Mobile Virtual Network Operator Opportunity (2 pages)

Capitalizing on Individual Customer Hot Buttons
Content Takes the Lead
Inside Mobile ESPN, the Sports MVNO
Tapping New Markets that Large Telecommunications Carriers Can't Reach
Wholesale Carrier Attitudes towards MVNOs
How Fast and How Far Will it Grow?
The Business MVNO

G. Billing Consolidation (4 pages)

Billing Systems Integration Problems
Reconciling Different Billing Software Development Cycles
Billing Consolidation at AT&T (before SBC merger)
- AT&T Billing Systems Landscape
- Consolidation via the "Concept of One"
- Concept of Zero
- Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance
- The Database of Record (DBOR)
- The Common Customer Identifier System
- Leveraging an SOA (Service Oriented Architecture)

H. Interconnect Billing Systems (3 pages)

Wholesale/Interconnect Billing Systems
Architecture of a Interconnect Billing System
Interconnect Billing Challenges

I. The Billing Technology Platform (3 pages)

Custom vs. Product Debates
Single Unified Platform for the Small Operator
Partner Value Chain Management
Advanced Platform for Service Creation
Portability of Platform Across Multiple Network Types

J. Mergers & Acquisitions (1 page)

K. Market Threats & Opportunities (4 pages)

Long Term Prospects of Wireless Billing Market
Triple Play & IMS in the Wireline Market
Prospects for Service Bureau Offerings

L. Carrier Recommendations (2 pages)

8 Suggestions for Selecting a Billing/Charging System
7 Categories of Billing Convergence Explained

M. Vendor Recommendations (2 Pages)

Market Segments & Forecasts

Dittberner has also sized and forecasted the worldwide assurance market for the billing software market in this report.  Our forecast model is based on several parameters: Dittberner's historical tracking of the OSS market; Dittberner’s forecast of Next Generation Network (NGN) services growth; discussions with carrier experts; and interviews with software and consulting vendors.

The report provides 2005 base revenue and 2006 to 2010 forecasts for the global market in the following segments:

Overall Market Revenues 
- Corporate, Telecom Industry & OSS/BSS Revenues
Business type
- OEM software, Telecoms software, Consulting/SI services
Channels of Distribution
- Direct, Indirect
Service Provider Type
- Circuit wireline, Broadband, Wireless, Cable/DBS, Virtual Network Operator/Non-Facilities Operator, Other
Size of Carrier
- Tier 1 (>$10 bill. revenue), Tier 2 ($250 mill. to $10 bill.), Tier 3 (<$250 million)
Geographic Region
- North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, Latin America
Software Delivery Method
- Software License, Prof. Services, Service bureau/Hosted
OSS/BSS Application Revenues of Billing Vendors
Billing Applications
- Billing, off-line/batch, Interconnect billing, Charging, on-line/realtime, Mediation

Case Studies

Telkomsel’s Move to a Consolidated Prepaid & Post Paid System
Vodafone Australia Convergent Billing
Turkcell KampusCell 
BoostMobile Prepaid
BT Billing Consolidation

Vendor Profiles & SWOT Analysis

Dittberner's vendor profiles section delivers a comprehensive snapshot of the leading billing companies.  Twenty-two of the leading software vendors and network equipment providers are profiled in the report as follows:

Each of the profiles, which are between 4 pages (e.g. Cellution) and 13 pages (e.g. Amdocs) in length, are presented in the following sections:

1. Company Specifications and Web Links

The upfront infoce and each profile is organized in the same format so you know immediately where to go to find what you need.

Here you'll find basic company information organized for fast retrieval and web access such as:

• Corporate backgrounder
• Overall OSS/BSS business
• Significant investors and stock market reference for public firms
• Significant customers
• Major vendor partnerships
• Major worldwide locations
• Summaries of key products in the billing market

• Number of employees

2. Company Revenue Breakdowns

In this section, we provide an estimate of each company's individual revenue breakdown in the billing market.  The numbers of gathered from public documents, conversations with people at the companies themselves, and Dittberner's experience tracking the billing market since 1994.  Here are the segments we breakdown for each company:

• Overall Market Revenues 
  - Corporate, Telecom Industry & OSS/BSS Revenues
• Business type
  - OEM software, Telecoms software, Consulting/SI services
• Channels of Distribution
  - Direct, Indirect
• Service Provider Type
  - Circuit wireline, Broadband, Wireless, Cable/DBS, Virtual Network Operator/Non-Facilities Operator, Other
• Size of Carrier
  - Tier 1 (>$10 bill. revenue), Tier 2 ($250 mill. to $10 bill.), Tier 3 (<$250 million)
• Geographic Region
  - North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, Latin America
• Software Delivery Method
  - Software License, Prof. Services, Service bureau/Hosted
• Billing Applications
  - Billing, off-line/batch, Interconnect billing, IN-prepaid and Charging, and Mediation

By the way, this data is further documented in a database program (delivered as software with the text report) where you can create instant tables and graphs comparing various company market shares across these segments.

3. Dittberner Discussion of Company and SWOT Analysis

We'll probably this section the most valuable of all because it's here where each company's billing business is put into context.   The section is presented as a free wheeling discussion where we talk about recent success stories, failures, and significant product developments.

The discussion doesn't follow a straight line.  In fact, we meander quite a bit on the significance of the company's history, new product/marketing initiatives, telecom customers, geographic markets, and competitive

We also conclude our company discussion with a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportuniites, and Threats (SWOT) analysis -- a candid assessment of where each vendor stands against its competitors and the suitability of its products and services for the billing market.

Dittberner's analysis of these competitors isn't some clever repackaging of web information.  Not only did we attend significant billing conferences and dialogue with billing experts at telecoms, we also held 45-minute or longer conversations with executives at 21 of the 22 billing companies we profiled for this report.

Getting so many billing vendors to participate was an invaluable aid to the research effort because Dittberner got to hear how each company interpreted its role in the marketplace.  In turn, Dittberner could challenge each company on competitive issues, evaluate trends, and gain insights on the company's strategy.  

When Dittberner finished its profiles, it also gave each company a chance to check the profile for accuracy and argue with Dittberner's analysis in the SWOT section.

* * * * *

In short, we feel the

About Dittberner’s
OSS/BSS KnowledgeBase

Since 2004, Dittberner’s OSS/BSS KnowledgeBase is a market research service that has helped telecoms, investors, software vendors, and integrators track innovations and companies in the OSS/BSS market.

The KnowledgeBase provides a sweeping view of the marketplace with analyses on everything from Billing and Middleware. . . to Provisioning and Service Assurance.

Dittberner feels it’s important for a telecom research firm to make the leap from market analysis (seeing all the parts) to true market synthesis (pulling all those parts together).

Our research goes beyond discussing market trends to synthesizing those trends in the context of market opportunities, threats, and their strategic impact to your business.

Bottom line: When you finish reading Dittberner's research, you don't ask: "Ok, what's it all mean?"

Web Database and Desktop Analysis Software

Dittberner’s OSS/BSS KnowledgeBase delivers a fully organized body of knowledge and analysis across two interfaces: 

1. On-Line Database for searching the text and visuals of our analysis modules, case studies, and vendor profiles, and 
2. A desktop Software Application (written in Microsoft Visual Foxpro) with market segmentation and forecast data that you use to view customized data tables, graphs, vendor comparisons, and print documents.  Note: all data and forecast tables are also provided in  Microsoft Excel and comma delimited files can be created too.

Below are some sample screens (NOTE: the examples show non-revenue assurance and non-fraud companies)

Search analysis in On-Line Database. . . 

Compare vendor market strength in grids. . .

View, modify, and print our estimates of company financials. . .

View market share graphs in international currencies. . . 

Compare company financials. . .

About Dittberner Associates

Founded in 1966, Dittberner Associates, Inc. is an international market research and consultancy with over 70 Telecom Service Providers, and in excess of 100 telecom suppliers as clients. The firm specializes in areas of OSS/BSS, NGN Switching, Broadband Access, and Wireless market segments. . . more

Dittberner Associates
44641 Montgomery Avenue
Bethesda MD 20814

Tel: 301-652-8350
To order or get more info, contact Wyatt Greenwalt
wyatt@dittberner.com