You are on page 1of 6

How To Guide

Monetizing the iPad


and New Mobile Devices
The Role of Subscriber Initiated
Provisioning and Services Passes in
Over-The-Air Service Delivery

transactional intelligence

© Copyright OPENET Telecom, 2010


Monetizing the iPad and New Mobile Devices
2

Monetizing The unprecedented success of new mobile devices, including the iPad, netbooks, or
smartphones, combined with the explosively growing demand for mobile broadband,
the iPad and 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
New Mobile 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
Devices 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 You


Using 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.

© Copyright Openet Telecom, 2010


Monetizing the iPad and New Mobile Devices
3

The Subscriber’s Value Proposition


Operators 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 Devices
When 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.

© Copyright Openet Telecom, 2010


Monetizing the iPad and New Mobile Devices
4

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.

Illustration
This 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.

Fig 1: WiFi and 3G Devices

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

© Copyright Openet Telecom, 2010


Monetizing the iPad and New Mobile Devices
5

Figure 2: Example of domestic data plan

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 Solutions
An 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.  

© Copyright Openet Telecom, 2010


Monetizing the iPad and New Mobile Devices
6

Openet FusionWorks Product Suite


Openet 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.
About OPENET Residing at the network-edge, FusionWorks is an event-processing, transaction-management
In an era of open networks, software platform with the performance and scalability to process thousands of transactions
greater customer choice, per second. The FusionWorks platform is composed of five core products: Convergent
increased bandwidth Mediation, Convergent Charging, Network Edge Rating, Balance Manager, Profile Manager
demands, and new content
and Policy Manager. Providers have the flexibility to deploy the products either as integrated
and services, operators
need to Make the Most of
or separate components.
Every Customer. Openet Openet is actively advancing industry standards such as 3GPP, 3GPP2, CableLabs, and
deploys Transactional
WiMax Forum standards to support greater flexibility for your future networks and services.
Intelligence solutions that
Openet solutions are deployed by a Professional Services team with proven global expertise
maximize the value from
network investments and in deploying new services, price plans, and promotions to high availability mission critical
creates satisfied customers. systems.
Transactional Intelligence
The world’s leading service providers are using Openet FusionWorks to maximize revenue
is the ability to create value
from network activity and
opportunities with Transactional Intelligence such as AT&T, BT, Orange, Telstra, and Verizon
to dynamically control Wireless.
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 info@openet.com.

Dublin, IRELAND 6 Beckett Way / Park West Business Park / Dublin 12, Ireland
Tel: +353 1 620 4600 / Fax: +353 1 620 4990
www.openet.com Reston, Virginia, USA 11465 Sunset Hills Road / Suite 310 / Reston, VA 20190
info@openet.com Tel: +1 703 480 1820 / Fax: +1 703 435 0730
© Copyright © 2010 Openet. All rights reserved.

You might also like