The mobile telecom industry is intricate and filled with several players. It might occasionally be challenging to comprehend what they actually accomplish and how they bring worth. MVNOs will be able to build B2B and B2C services and will have access to cheaper rates in the telecom wholesales sector. They can, for instance, develop exclusive deals for IoT. (data only). The MVNO will charge the customer. In actuality, the MVNOs are mostly just a different MNO brand. MVNAs rely on the MNOs they collaborate with. For instance, it’s doubtful that an MNO will want to engage closely with MVNAs if they wish to have direct contracts with each MVNO they enable.
A bill shock
is as bad for you as it is for your subscribers. It happens when a customer
receives a bill that surpasses his expectations, and in not the right way.
While most big operators have the wherewithal to absorb pain of a lost
customer, it is the MVNOs that are worst hit by such an event. The negative
publicity it generates, no matter how small, has the potential to compromise
MVNO’s best laid plans, which generally revolve around creating customer
goodwill. Mostly, it has been seen that such debacles happen when the OCS you
have is not up to the mark.
Enhance your Prospects with a Better MVNE and OCS
Losing out on customers can be debilitating for an MVNO business. Therefore, as an MVNO owner you should focus sincerely on finding the right OCS. The best and the most convenient way to do this, is by partnering with a competent MVNE that has already delivered successfully in the past. An MVNE that is capable of creating tailor-made solutions can help you build an OCS that meets your particular requirements.
There are many things that you should expect from your MVNE, however, the two most important features you should never compromise on are:
Complete convergence
with itemization: Customers of today are extremely choosy when it comes to their
billing. They want all their usage details and service rates to be present in
their invoices. Even more importantly, they want one invoice for all the
services that they are using. For this, a quality OCS is required that can
charge, rate and maintain customer account information at one location. This
allows for complete convergence in billing, which lets you create converged
bills with complete itemization as per your subscribers’ requirements.
Meets 3GPP’s technical specifications – A 3GPP compliant OCS ensures no revenue loss. Hence, it is important that your MVNE can provide you an OCS system that meets every single technical specification laid out by 3GPP.
When a customer receives a bill that he did not expect, it is called a bill shock. Too many bill shocks and you, as an operator, risk losing your customers. The situation is particularly grim for MVNO when it comes to bill shock. As they already have a smaller number of subscribers when compared with MNOs, a loss of customers can be back breaking for their business. After analysis, it has been proven that a faltering OCS is mostly the cause of bill shocks.
Transform Your Fortunes with a Better OCS
Your OCS directly dictates how well you are able to monetize your services and bill the subscribers. Therefore, you should always pay special attention to your billing software and especially the OCS. Below are some essential functions that you should look for in your OCS system.
Convergence – The constant increase in the number of services offered by mobile operators has created a need for convergence in billing. Customers simply abhor the prospect of receiving too many bills from the same vendor. An OCS that serves as a single point of charging of all services eliminates the need for creation of different bills. By using a quality online charging system, you can send your customers fully bifurcated bills with complete itemization. This creates more transparency in the billing process and fosters customer trust in your services.
Adherence to 3GPP – Before selecting an OCS and telecom billing software, you should ensure that it adheres to the technical specifications prescribed by 3GPP. Only when your OCS is 3GPP compliant, you can expect real-time charging with no errors in billing. Flawless billing is the key to preventing revenue leakage.
Scalability and flexibility – If your OCS cannot be scaled to meet the future requirements then it is worthless for you. Hence, you should invest in an OCS system that can perform billing and charging for an increasing customer base and expanding catalog of services. Your OCS should be flexible enough to charge present and future technologies for it to be of any real value to your business.
Security of customer information – OCS has an ABMF function that stores vital customer information. This information needs to be protected from hackers. Hence, security of OCS should always be your primary concern before making a purchase. Telgoo5 is a cutting-edge OCS and it is fortified with latest security measures to prevent hack attacks.
Innovative discounts – Discounts play a key role in evoking customer trust in your services. Always select an OCS that helps you quickly launch services and also apply innovative discounts. Discounts can be used for enforcing new business strategies. For example, if one of your services is not utilized by your customers as per your expectations, then you should provide the option of cross-product discounts and offer that service at a reduced price when bundled with any other popular service.
Conclusion
OCS plays a key role in managing the billing and charging functions of a telecom organization. To ensure that all billing tasks are handled efficiently and accurately, you should partner with experienced telecom billing vendors that can offer you a reliable OCS.
The modern-day telecom industry is going through transitions faster than ever before. Addressing the demands of finicky customers, fighting off the competition at every step of the way and countering the threat of OTT platforms is proving too much to handle for even seasoned telecom operators. This is the main reason why they are trying to maximize their outreach in every way possible. As a result of their efforts, new platforms for telecom service delivery have being created in the form of: MNO, MVNO, MVNA, and MVNE.
Why MVNOs Have Become so Popular?
While an MNO
(Mobile Network Operator) builds his operation from the scratch and make
investments in creating network infrastructure, radio frequency spectrum, HLR,
VLR, BSC, MSC, OSS etc., an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) receives
frequency spectrum and network resources at a cheaper rate from MNOs (Mobile Network Operators). This allows it
to sell its telecom services at a lower rate and attract new customers.
An MVNO does
not have its own network but uses a network from a carrier or MNO. An MVNO can
be a full MVNO with its own HLR. Such MVNOs only use an MNO’s radio base
stations for providing 3G, 4G or 5G services. On the other hand, a light MVNO
mainly focuses on relations with
customers along with marketing and billing. It does not have its own HLR.
Whether full
or light, to become MVNO you need
good marketing skills and a unique idea that differentiates you from other
players in the market. You can either specialize in mobile data and become a data MVNO or earn your stripes in
providing voice call services. But whatever you do, make sure that you are
excellent in the niche that you have chosen. Good customer relations and the
ability to attract new customers are essential for any MVNO to succeed.
The Importance of MVNE/MVNA Partnership for Overcoming Challenges
As MVNOs are
considerably smaller than a full-fledged MNO (Mobile Network Operator), they
need support from MVNEs (Mobile Virtual Network Enablers) to get their job
done. A capable MVNE with a comprehensive MVNO
software solution like Telgoo5 can provide the following benefits to an
MVNO:
Better billing – Billing is probably the toughest task for an MVNO to undertake
all by itself. Any mistake or inefficiency in billing tasks can have a major
bearing on MVNO subscribers. But when you partner with an MVNE like Vcare, you
get access to a cutting-edge MVNO
billing software solution. With a convergent billing solution by your side,
you can create itemized bills with details of all types of services used by
your subscribers.
Profitable deals with MNOs – Partnership with a competent MVNE/MVNA can
help you get better-priced deals with an MNO. This will allow you to deliver
the services at a lower rate to your MVNO
subscribers while still making a profit.
Avoid red tape – Running a successful MVNO operation requires you to get into contracts
with different carriers and vendors. By partnering with a competent MVNE like
Vcare (who already has fully-licensed platforms and contracts with vendors),
you are able to bypass the process of signing new deals, thereby saving
considerable time and effort.