The Next-Generation Bill: commercial and technical strategies

SUMMARY

The Next-Generation Bill: commercial and technical strategies examines the changing role of the bill in the next-generation world from the perspective of three different groups of telecoms service users: residential subscribers and small businesses; corporate customers; and wholesale customers (including network and content partners). For each group, the report explains the extent to which fixed, mobile and converged service providers' billing propositions meet customers' real requirements in terms of account structures, product and service packages and bundles, payment options, level of detail, design, and delivery mechanisms. Bi-directional and multi-directional charging and payments, tariff structures, and the enabling technologies required to create and deliver optimal next-generation bills are analysed. The report also shows how providing a better billing and payment experience for customers can help to meet service providers' commercial objectives.

The Next-Generation Bill: commercial and technical strategies answers your key questions:

• Do I really know what customers want or am I assuming what they want based on legacy thinking?
• What does each type of customer want from bills and how does meeting their needs fulfil my commercial goals?
• How can I use bills to improve loyalty, increase service take-up and reduce costs?
• How can I use better billing to combat my competitors - particularly new retail competitors?
• How does technology enable me to achieve these goals and what technology should I be investing in?
• What are other service providers doing and how has investing in key technologies helped them to become more competitive?
• Are there things I could do quickly and easily, and without a substantial investment, to improve my customers' billing experience?

Who should read this report

• Telecoms service providers: corporate strategy executives, legal and public affairs personnel and BSS/OSS operations managers can understand the opportunity presented by the next-generation bill, the consequences of getting it wrong and how getting it right can support commercial goals.
• BSS and OSS vendors: product development managers can discover what the key buying points are for operators and understand how to provide the best value for customers.
• Regulators: can understand the ways billing and payment are going to change, the key issues that need to be addressed to protect customers - in particular, vulnerable groups such as children - and the vital role that regulators can play to ensure clearer pricing.
• Systems integrators: business development managers can understand key investment patterns, new architectures and the way technology can be used to meet service providers' commercial goals.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Executive summary
• Billing is evolving to support next-generation services
• Residential customers and SMEs will value ease of use
• Corporate customers will value the utility of the next-generation bill
• Wholesale billing is set to become more like corporate billing
• A vision of the next-generation bill is emerging
• Actions

Companies cited in the report include:

BassetLabs, BT Mobile, Carphone Warehouse, Convergys, Deutsche Telekom, Formula Telecom Systems (FTS), Globe Telecom, Highdeal, ICCS, KTF, LogicaCMG, Martin Dawes, NTL, NTT DoCoMo, Opal Telecom, Ryder Systems, Siemens, SkyTalk, SubexAzure, TalkTalk, Telarix, Telecom NZ, Telenet, Telewest, Telkomsel, uSwitch.

Figures and tables

• Figure 1: Factors affecting the move to the next-generation bill
• Figure 2: Example of a uni-directional billing relationship
• Figure 3: Example of a bi-directional billing relationship
• Figure 4: Example of multi-directional billing relationships
• Figure 5: Example of a current payment environment
• Figure 6: Example of service delivery and payment flows
• Figure 7: Different processes illustrating the evolution of billing from a technology-centric to a customer-centric model, and changes in the language used to describe these processes
• Figure 8: Types of wholesale provider
• Figure 9: Examples of standards for the exchange of billing data
• Figure 10: Example of revenue-assurance problems arising from the delivery of complex services sourced from multiple providers
  • Table 1: Factors driving the commercial objectives of service providers that will influence the next-generation bill
  • Table 2: The next-generation billing needs of residential and small business customers mapped against service providers' commercial objectives
  • Table 3: Evolution of types of bundling
  • Table 4: Benefits to service providers of intelligent bundling and issues affecting its implementation
  • Table 5: Service providers' satisfaction ratings for billing, based on YouGov survey of UK telephone customers
  • Table 6: Evolution of types of presentment
  • Table 7: Technical issues that service providers must address in order to provide intelligent presentment
  • Table 8: Evolution of types of payment
  • Table 9: Benefits of intelligent payment and issues affecting its implementation
  • Table 10: Payment issues for minors
  • Table 11: The billing requirements of corporate customers in relation to service providers' commercial objectives
  • Table 12: Key customer issues relating to corporate roaming tariffs
  • Table 13: Benefits that corporate customers receive by splitting bills
  • Table 14: Opportunities for the adoption of corporate m-payment, potential barriers to widespread adoption and examples of implementation
  • Table 15: The billing requirements of wholesale customers in relation to service providers' commercial objectives
  • Table 16: Evolution of wholesale rating and tariffing
  • Table 17: Characteristics of billing types incorporated in the next-generation bill
  • Table 18: Functions of the next-generation bill from the perspective of service providers' commercial objectives
  • Table 19: Technologies that underpin the next-generation bill, according to typical rates of deployment in the telecoms industry