Page 518 - Handbook of Modern Telecommunications

Network Organization and Governance 4-49

economies of maintaining two separate systems, the need to introduce advanced services, and pressure
to reduce TCO (total cost of ownership) is compelling service providers to redraw OSS/BSS solutions.
Subscribers across the world markets have selected prepaid as a preferred payment method over
postpaid. At the same time they demand the products and services offered to other postpaid custom-
ers. Existing prepaid systems heavily rely on network-based charging, which can deal with time-based
charging, but are incapable of charging the combination of voice, data, and content services.
For service providers, the additional revenue streams that can be generated through offering advanced
services to the postpaid subscribers are limited by the ability to charge for these services. With pres-
sures to offer competitive services and increase ARPU, service providers find the ever-increasing need
to adopt a converged BSS solution for their prepaid and postpaid customers.
Prepaid services, primarily introduced to develop new market segments, meant the service pro-
viders had to add stand-alone systems. These systems are limited in terms of scalability, rapid growth
in the subscriber base, flexibility, and complex offerings of advanced services. Efforts to migrate
prepaid subscribers to postpaid services to overcome these challenges have not been met with the
desired results.
This has led service providers to think of alternate strategies and the emerging needs for a converged
prepaid-postpaid solution to handle all the rating, billing, and customer relationship management
demands. The converged solution provides service providers with operational efficiencies, increased
customer satisfaction, and the ability to introduce products and services quickly and efficiently to sub-
scribers regardless of their preference of payment method. With all the capabilities of their postpaid
systems available to prepaid subscribers, the difference between these types of subscribers is reduced to
a choice of payment method.

4.3.8.8 Business Challenges
• Hybrid Prepaid and Postpaid Accounts: Service providers cannot offer bundled prepaid and post-
paid services and price plans.
• Advanced Products and Services: Many complex voice and data services cannot be offered to pre-
paid subscribers as the prepaid systems cannot charge them.
• Integrated Customer View: Individual subscriber needs cannot be addressed.
• Customer Service: Limited communication with prepaid subscribers restricts target promotion.

4.3.8.9 Operational Challenges
• Vendor: Different vendors for the prepaid and postpaid systems result in integration, upgrade,
and maintenance issues.
• IT and Operations: Separate database and operations teams associated with prepaid and postpaid
results in overhead and reduced bottom lines.
• Customer and Product Data: Prepaid and postpaid customers; product data is maintained sepa-
rately, resulting in duplication and increased cost of maintenance.
• OSS/BSS Infrastructure: Diverse infrastructure resulting in higher maintenance costs and inte-
gration challenges.

The business technical and operational challenges are inefficiencies resulting from disparate prepaid
and postpaid billing systems if addresses can effectively offer increased revenue streams and give a much
required boost to the service providers’ bottom line.
4.3.8.10 BI for Convergence
Currently, most service providers are maintaining separate systems for prepaid and postpaid. This situ-
ation has many drawbacks on both the marketing and operational levels, including duplication of effort
and the lack of an integrated view of the customer. The end result is that service providers have higher
operational costs and yet are not able to generate new revenue streams.