Billing services and mediate transactions in real time will be priority demands of Latin American operators to “OSS BSS vendors" in the next two years. The business has some stability in the region, moving around US$ 1 billion and its annual growth rate varies, depending on product category - between 4% and 9% per annum. For it to skyrocket one will have to wait for more LTE operations to enable new services. Otherwise, the percentage of income that goes to OSS BSS each year -between 10% and 15% - will not increase.
TTO. Mediation systems must adapt to two business models: one in which the operator becomes a TTO partner, establishing compensation models with content providers, or an alternative in which the operator develops e-commerce environments around TTOs. For both models, mediation systems, that is, processing traffic information for delivery to the billing area -should be updated to run in real time and connect with a billing platform that also meets this requirement under immediate response.
CSG is already offering its product "Content Direct" in the U.S. , which helps monetize content of TTOs. Raúl Rodríguez, vice president at the firm for Caribbean and Latin America, said that "TTOs would benefit from agreements with major operators offering differentiated services and guaranteed quality. We manage content with operators' own websites, monetizing, for example, the marketing of films with shirts, bloopers or others related to that digital content. "The 55 customers who joined CSG in Latin America after acquiring Intec could now access this product.
TIM has an OSS contract with Amdocs, and one of BSS, with this and other companies. Luigi Longarini, TIM IT director, mentioned as major needs "the integration of products, services and networks, reduce time-to-market and time to deploy new services, and control network information." But he acknowledged that there is a need for changes in the business model (for example: TTOs billing, the definition and collection by SLAs) for the operator to achieve increased profitability as part of the revenue generated by TTOs ".
Current concerns. Orga Systems, dedicated to the collection and real-time billing, is working in the region with TIM Brazil, Entel Chile, Personal Argentina and America Movil. Diego Giménez, VP of Sales for Americas at Orga, acknowledged that operators in general are still concentrating investments in networks and hardware components. "The investment in equipment to increase speed and response time is very high, and therefore no efforts are being devoted to OSS BSS beyond 10% of annual income. Today Latin American operators have no real-time solutions, specific information management or "profiling" of customers. Nevertheless, some operators are one step ahead, but are niche solutions, not of integration. Tigo Guatemala is highlighted in this regard, with marketing strategies in real time."
Giménez’s evaluation applies to the case of Chile's Entel, who hired Intec (CSG) to bill access charges, but has not yet turned to BSS systems to bill for services. Oscar Avila, assistant manager of Measurement and Valuation of wholesale traffic at Entel Chile, pointed out to Convergencia Latina: "We see an opportunity to generate analysis and studies based on traffic information to reorient how we attack different markets. But now are considering management solutions for access charges and the incorporation of MVNOs as Partners that will eventually use our networks. "
Meanwhile, in OSS ... "Vendors" recognize that investments in OSS are far from a priority over the amounts invested in layings, hardware and operation. According to Mats Palving, Ericsson's head of OSS/BSS in the region, "to deliver what the customer expects, in terms of coverage, capacity and speed – we need data tools to increase control over where networks grow, and more intelligence to deliver the capacity and availability of the network based on its use, geographical areas and time of day."
Along with these trends, the OSS BSS market does not abandon mergers and acquisitions, which highlights: the purchase of Telcordia by Ericsson, and Bridgewater by Amdocs. CSG acquired Intec, while NEC purchased Convergys, oriented to information management, for US$ 449 million (the Japanese had already acquired Netcracker dedicated to billing, in 2008).
Other variants in search of higher returns. Tecnotree officials consider that to obtain more profits, operators will have to deploy packages that go beyond broadband, voice and television services incorporating the option of TTO contents. Under the concept "Comfort is King", the company aims to combine a personalized package -for example, meeting the needs of a family-: as a way to recover the central role of the operator in customer relations and lessen revenue that today move towards TTO boxes. For the user, the added value is in comfort, in the possibility of choosing services and contents when contracting the operator.
(Yearbook Article of the ICTs 2012)