Abstract
This IDC study investigates the evolution, adoption, and direction of billing
solutions in the telecommunications sector. It outlines the development of
billing from the earliest voice-only requirement through to today' s complex
value chain billing requirements for content being delivered over multiple
channels including fixed wire, wireless, and the Internet. It includes
assessments of the technology required to develop, deliver, and utilize
applications in the business support systems (BSS) sector. It covers the
drivers for billing solutions in wholesale, retail, and interconnect, as well
as the value chains in business to consumer (B2C) billing of services including
early adoption examples, trends, and future expectations.
This will be of value to telecommunications operators investigating the
introduction, replacement, or supplementing of billing applications into their
organizations; developers determining how and where to invest their resource;
system vendors targeting this potentially lucrative market sector with software
tailored to the new billing ecosystem; and enterprises wanting to market the
content to operators, aggregators, and consumers directly.
The billing industry sector has seen some major changes since its peak before
the dot-com bust around 2001 and has been consolidating through mergers and
acquisitions (M&A). There has also been considerable activity by newer niche
players providing solutions that act as adjunct billing and rating solutions
for the new types of content. Operators have to decide whether to invest in
additional new systems or in the amalgamation/replacement of legacy systems
moving forward.
"With the introduction of many new types of content and services, the
traditional telco billing systems, designed primarily for voice, have had to
evolve rapidly. The phenomenal growth of prepaid subscribers needing real-time
billing and the necessity for accurate revenue management in often complex
value chains is driving this market forward," says Tony Poulos, contributing
analyst, Telecommunications Research, IDC Asia/Pacific.
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