Billing and charging are two of the most vital functions for MNOs, MVNOs and MVNE. While the bigger companies have vast resources to implement billing and charging system as per their specific requirements, the smaller companies struggle to keep up with them. Nowadays, the pressure is intense when it comes to the competition between different telecom companies. If you are not supporting your customers on time, and not providing them the required support, you are likely to lose ground.
Telecom industry is growing at a rapid rate. The number of subscribers is increasing fast and so is the responsibility on the shoulders of telecom operators. Due to the variety in type and scope of services, every operator is scrambling for the best billing system in the market.
The MVNO model has been in prevalence for more than one decade. It has been relatively successful in the developed world, which can be gauged by looking at the projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 9% between 2017 and 2022. Of late, the technology powering MVNOs in the developed world is reaching developing countries such as Thailand, India and Philippines. As a result, we are expected to see a striking change in the fortunes of MVNO in the developing countries. One of the most coveted MVNO technologies pertains to convergent billing, which is implemented by a centralized real-time charging system like Online Charging System (OCS).
Convergent charging is an essential requirement of modern-day MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators). It is the holy-grail of billing as it can empower your monetization and billing strategy. The inherent strength of a convergent charging platform lies in its real-time charging functionality, which ensures all the services delivered by an operator are charged accurately.
Covid-19 pandemic outbreak has impacted the fate of many businesses in 2020. However, telecom industry has stood strong in these times, and has allowed people to stay in touch via technology. It does deserve special credit for mitigating the impact by allowing companies to operate via work-from-home model. Despite all the work, telecom industry is still experiencing a trend of reduced revenues, which can be attributed to the excess use of OTT platforms like Skype, Whatsapp, and more recently ‘Zoom’ calling. To counter these OTT platforms, there is an exigent need for convergent charging and more flexible monetization solutions.
In 2021, the telecom industry has high hopes from 5G. The amount of options that 5G presents is endless. Never before, there has been a technology as versatile as 5G. Network slicing allows a single 5G connection to be used for multiple QoS-based networks. Also, the connectivity via 5G has the highest speed and immense potential. But the potential of 5G and other emerging technologies can only be harnessed if you monetize the services via a reliable convergent charging platform.
As we move towards a new year after Covid-19 stricken 2020, the challenges are expected to rise for MVNOs. An MVNO would need an MVNE and a proven telecom billing and charging services provider that can help it in its day-to-day functions.
2021 is a year that promises hope after the disastrous 2020 for the whole world. Telecom industry has stayed a constant factor in the lives of the people, connecting them to each other when they cannot go out. Despite their positive roles in the crisis situations; MNO, MVNE, MVNO have suffered greatly. 2021 offers a chance to get back the lost revenue, but it requires billing and charging platform of the next generation.
The wide array of changes made in the Covid-19 era have been hard to acclimatize to for every single player in the market. Whether it is MVNA, MVNO, MVNE or the big-budget and independent MNOs; everyone has faced great challenges. The outcomes for the entire telecom industry haven’t been positive, which mirrors the situation of other struggling industries.
Modern-day telecom operations have become extremely complicated. The new entrants into the market like MVNO and MVNE often do not get their billing right and suffer in the end. Out of every 10 MVNOs, only 1 makes it big and the rest falter. This can be attributed to their lack of insight in the telecom process and failure to understand the value of a convergent charging system.