Challenges facing mobile operators as they consider a digital transformation

Following the recent launch of our whitepaper – A Network Operator’s Guide to Differentiating in a Digital Era: How Consolidated Policy & Charging Can Provide A Competitive Edge, Product Manager, Victor Fernández discusses the challenges facing Mobile Operators thinking about undergoing a Digital Transformation.

Digital Transformation presents Telecom Operators with an opportunity to rebuild their position in a commoditised market, rebuild customer excitement, and reshape their operating cost structure, which could result in improved value for the industry.

Customers are now thinking in terms of services, rather than traffic. They want to stream videos and music on demand, they want to stay up to date with social networks, and play online games on the go. They don’t want to worry about their traffic consumption whilst they do this.

1. Digital Transformation starts with real-time control. Empowering customers to decide, buy and configure their mobile services according to their specific needs in a given moment, means that real-time control is a must. Mobile Operators who want to offer a full digital experience must react accordingly to customers’ expectations, as well as react appropriately to subscription characteristics. The need to adapt their offering is a consequence of being in control in real-time, and being more aware of how customers are using their services.
2. Huge growth in data consumption needs streamlined network optimisation. To be able to provide the quality of service expected for each and every situation, service or application that customers are utilising their mobile devices for, and to ensure a satisfactory experience, the right policies need to be applied to the right customer at the right time to preserve network optimisation. Mobile Operators invest a large percentage of their budget in improving access network capabilities and capacity, and it is vital to enable tools that streamline the use of capabilities and capacity to serve all customers equally, and to provide a quality experience, allowing Mobile Operators to stay ahead of the competition.
3. The more integrated the PCC functions are (PCRF, SPR, OCS), the more cost-effective the operation is, and the shorter ‘time to market’ becomes. It is not a secret that operating a mobile network is a huge and complex task. And, as has already been mentioned in the previous points, expectations and demands from customers are increasing every day. So, short time-to-market for new products and services, as well as cost effective operating processes are key when it comes to generating value and reducing cost, complexity and risk. Mobile Operators should look for network functions that are tightly integrated to each other, to minimise configuration processes, reducing not only the headcount, but also the need for highly skilled competences which could be difficult to find in the market place.

For these reasons PCC architecture is becoming a must in Mobile Operators networks. Symsoft have gone a step further by consolidating the main functions of PCC – the Online Charging System (OCS), the Subscription Profile Repository (SPR) and the Policy and Charging Control Function (PCRF) into one network entity, reducing potential points of failure, integration efforts, and time-to-market to roll out new products and services.

More information on the combined PCC product that Symsoft offer can be found here, or for more in-depth information on the advantages that a PCC approach can bring, take a look at our whitepaper – A Network Operator’s Guide to Differentiating in a Digital Era: How Consolidated Policy & Charging Can Provide A Competitive Edge.

Originally posted on www.symsoft.com, find out more about Symsoft’s rebrand to Sinch in the press release here.