How to Guide: Monetizing the iPad and New Mobile Devices (2010)

How To Guide Monetizing the iPad and New Mobile DevicesThe Role of Subscriber Initiated Provisioning and Services Passes in Over-The-Air Service Delivery

© Copyright OPENET Telecom, 2010

transactional intell igence

© Copyright Openet Telecom, 2010

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Monetizing the iPad and New Mobile Devices

The unprecedented success of new mobile devices, including the iPad, netbooks, or smartphones, combined with the explosively growing demand for mobile broadband, presents operators with a unique revenue opportunity to capture as voice revenues decline. However, not all customers want to commit to the traditional long-term contracts, or need access to all applications and content on the web. Many of them would like to be able to access the Internet on their own terms, time, and budget. In fact, most customers want more flexibility, choice, and control.

The emergence of new mobile devices supporting over-the-air Activation makes subscriber initiated provisioning easy and convenient. When combined with flexible monetization capabilities as provided by Service Passes, it enables operators to move beyond the concept of long-term subscriptions to change how mobile data services are sold, ordered, provisioned, and delivered; giving customers access to data services when they need it, wherever they need it, in the amount they need.

WHAT THE SOluTION DOES FOr YOuusing Subscriber Initiated Provisioning and Service Passes, operators can rapidly launch flexible mobile data plans for new mobile devices, allowing subscribers to:

¨ Access data services when they need it, from anywhere, with the ability to self-activate the service in real time on their device

¨ Purchase data services for a limited period of time, volume of data, number of events, or specific services: e.g. unlimited access for a day, 300 MB for a month with automatic renewal unless cancelled, access to webmail only five times or for one week, unlimited access to Facebook only

¨ receive regular notifications: e.g. charge, usage, and invitation to renew the service

¨ View their usage on a self-care portal

¨ Automatically renew their data plan or upgrade to a longer-term contract if they want to

As a result, operators will be able to:

¨ Fully leverage the success and potential of new mobile devices such as the iPad to generate more revenue

¨ Save on customer service costs and make purchases/renewals convenient

¨ Extend market reach to increase revenue potential: make money from subscribers who would not commit to a data contract, including travellers and vacationers wanting data access for a limited period of time

¨ Build loyalty: provide a more compelling and customized experience, meeting subscribers’ needs when they need it, and providing them with visibility and control over their service

¨ Create competitive edge: create multiple, innovative data plans for various new mobile devices and rapidly deploy them on a single platform to achieve faster time to market

Operators could also use the solution to launch effective promotions that can be quickly defined, rolled-out, and retired. E.g. allowing a subscriber to download a limited amount of content to encourage service adoption.



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THE SuBSCrIBEr’S VAluE PrOPOSITIONOperators will be able to provide personalized data services that meet the subscriber unique needs, offering them the flexibility, choice, and control they want to fully enjoy their iPad or other new mobile devices. Subscribers will be able to:

¨ Purchase a data plan that fits their needs, when and where they need it

¨ Access data services without having to commit to a long-term contract

¨ Have better control over their budget and view their usage in real time

MONETIzATION SOluTION rEquIrEMENTS FOr iPAD AND NEW MOBIlE DEVICESWhen looking for a complete solution to monetize the opportunity presented by the iPad and other new mobile internet devices, there are a number of key capabilities to be considered:

End-to-end solution providing a rapid deployment environment - for faster time to market and lower total cost of ownership: when rolling out new mobile devices on existing network, key goals for operators is to minimize the impact on the network and billing systems, to reduce integration overheads, and achieve fast time to market. They can achieve these with an end-to-end, flexible service delivery solution that provides a rapid development environment, based on industry standards and best practices. The capabilities to deploy multiple data charging plans, to activate the data services over the air, to manage sessions in real time, and a customer self-care portal allowing visibility over service usage are key elements of such solution.

Standard-based, scalable, supporting convergence – for more flexibility and to maximize return on investment: the solution must be able to support operators’ evolving needs, networks, and converged operators, offering them the flexibility to use the same solution for different types of services and on different networks. Also mobile data consumption is fast growing, requiring a scalable solution that must be able to support high volume of data and enable operators to maximize this revenue opportunity.

Subscriber Initiated provisioning - for a personalised subscriber experience and reduced OpEx: subscribers want the freedom to activate their services at their own convenience, to select the plans that fit their specific needs, and to have the service delivered now – without needing further assistance from the operator’s customer service staff. Subscriber initiated provisioning is made possible with new mobile devices, enabling real-time over-the-air service activation and dynamic device control, allowing operators to give their customers easy and convenient access to the Internet . While reducing costs related to customer service resources that would be otherwise much consumed.

Flexible charging capabilities and support for various payment types – for creative data plans and more options to subscribers: the key to monetizing new mobile devices is to be able to develop transparent, easy-to-understand data plans and provide subscribers with payment options that are convenient for them and risk free for the operator. The solution should enable operators to develop session-based pricing models and rapidly deploy various types of plans to meet customers’ needs and turn them into revenue. Payment types supported should include credit card, Paypal, and even the ability to bill pre-paid mobile data sessions to post-paid accounts.

Dynamic Account/Session Management – for real-time experience and control: key to enable data services to be accessed for a limited period of time, volume of data, number of events, or for specific services, is the real-time management of sessions and account balances. Once the subscriber purchases a plan, it needs to be actively monitored to ensure the related limits are enforced as the service is consumed.


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Self-care portal – giving control to subscribers and saving customer service costs: subscribers want to be able to have more control over their services and budget. A self-care portal should allow them to view up-to-date usage of their services and to undertake a number of tasks (e.g. upgrade, select another plan) without having to involve a customer service representative.

Centralized subscriber profile repository - for higher performance and secure, personalized services: As operators go beyond simple entitlement to providing highly personalized user experiences, subscriber information stored in multiple systems need to be accessed. A centralized subscriber repository provides a high performance option, enabling the effective coordination of network subscriber data (e.g. for over-the-air activation) and IT subscriber data (e.g. for customer care inquiries, flexible payment methods), and the coordination of necessary billing functions if the operator/subscriber wish to bill the service to a post-paid account.

Automated notifications – to keep subscribers up to date and upsell: Central to providing control and a satisfying experience, is timely communication. To ensure subscribers are kept informed of the status of their account, text message alerts play an important role; e.g. purchase confirmation, usage alerts. Operators can also take this opportunity to upsell and build loyalty: e.g. invitation to renew the plan, to upgrade, promotions, loyalty awards etc.

IlluSTrATIONThis section describes an example of how a user may purchase, self activate, and use a flexible mobile data plan:

Step 1: Charlie turns on his WiFi- or 3G-enabled mobile device and the order entry portal appears, inviting him to create a subscriber provisioned account if he is a new customer or to log in if he is a returning one.

Step 2: He can now select the data plan of his choice and pay by credit card or any other payment options available. Some examples of plans:

¨ 300 MB for 1 day, 1 week, or one month

¨ 500 MB monthly with automatic renewal unless cancelled

¨ unlimited access to webmail only for 1 week

¨ Access to Facebook 5 times within a month

Fig 1: WiFi and 3G Devices


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Step 3: The subscriber profile is updated, allowing Charlie to use the data service

Step 4: He receives a message confirming the transaction and can access the web from his mobile device

Step 5: As he uses the service, usage records are generated and sent to FusionWorks Balance Manager to count down MBs or time depending on the plan.

Step 6: usage threshold warnings are issued (e.g. alerts at 30%) inviting Charlie to renew his plan, select another one, upgrade, etc

Step 7: When the selected plan expires, Balance Manager restricts data access in the network unless the service had been renewed or upgraded

OPENET’S SuBSCrIBEr INITIATED PrOVISIONING AND SErVICE PASS SOluTIONSAn end-to-end solution delivered for one of the largest operators in the world, in an unprecedented 90 days

One of the largest operators in the world successfully launched new data plans for the iPad and for netbooks using Openet’s solution, deployed within an outstanding delivery timeframe and with zero defects.

The solution enables them to securely and rapidly deliver over-the-air subscriber provisioned data services, allowing them to offer data access limited by duration (i.e. for a period of time), volume of data, number of events, or specific services. The solution is the foundation for their data plans for new mobile internet devices, helping them to achieve their fast time-to-market objectives.

Figure 2: Example of domestic data plan

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© Copyright © 2010 Openet. All rights reserved.


About OPENETIn an era of open networks, greater customer choice, increased bandwidth demands, and new content and services, operators need to Make the Most of Every Customer. Openet deploys Transactional Intelligence solutions that maximize the value from network investments and creates satisfied customers. Transactional Intelligence is the ability to create value from network activity and to dynamically control subscribers, networks and services.

At the core of our Transactional Intelligence solutions is the FusionWorks Framework, a convergent, modular, real-time event processing and transaction management platform. FusionWorks enables operators to transform their BSS/OSS environments to capitalize on new services, business models and network investments. A global company, Openet is used by the world’s largest and most innovative service providers including AT&T, BT, Orange, Telstra, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon Wireless. learn more at www.openet.com.

This document is intended to provide an illustration of how Openet solutions can be implemented. Actual implementations will vary based on the technical infrastructure and business requirements of individual providers. For more information on how Openet can be configured to meet your specific needs and requirements, please contact [email protected].

OPENET FuSIONWOrkS PrODuCT SuITEOpenet provides Transactional Intelligence for service providers around the world to extract maximum value from their network activities. Openet FusionWorks delivers the capability to gain visibility into network usage, dynamically control network resources, personalize end-user services, and monetize network activities. With these capabilities, operators can rapidly deliver innovative services and cost-effectively enhance subscriber experience to gain competitive advantage.

residing at the network-edge, FusionWorks is an event-processing, transaction-management software platform with the performance and scalability to process thousands of transactions per second. The FusionWorks platform is composed of five core products: Convergent Mediation, Convergent Charging, Network Edge rating, Balance Manager, Profile Manager and Policy Manager. Providers have the flexibility to deploy the products either as integrated or separate components.

Openet is actively advancing industry standards such as 3GPP, 3GPP2, Cablelabs, and WiMax Forum standards to support greater flexibility for your future networks and services. Openet solutions are deployed by a Professional Services team with proven global expertise in deploying new services, price plans, and promotions to high availability mission critical systems.

The world’s leading service providers are using Openet FusionWorks to maximize revenue opportunities with Transactional Intelligence such as AT&T, BT, Orange, Telstra, and Verizon Wireless.