What has been the impact of CSG's GSS acquisition by Comverse?
We have done some big announcements in the past couple of months. We
acquired the GSS of CSG (known as the Kenan billing system in the market), which
closed in December 2005. That
integration is going on quite well. The acquisition has enabled Comverse provide
a broader range of value added services: one of the drivers was to combine the
Comverse Real time billing system and the Kenan FX system. We are going to ship
that converged product in the Eastern European market. From the Kenan
perspective this was driven by trends that Comverse saw in the marketplace. We
had good acceptability in the prepaid billing system. We realized that the
distinction between prepaid and postpaid was beginning to blur and, in fact,
this distinction is somewhat artificial and needs to come down. One has to look
at where customers want to go.Â
How do you see the Indian market adapting to converged billing solutions?
We have a certain customer base at Kenan and also at Comverse, and have the
ability to support very large volumes and cross services product bundling. These
are new areas of opportunity for us and there is a huge demand in the market
right now.
I think multi-service convergence is with multiple network types. We have
customers in India and the world who are using our systems and handling that
type of convergence. What we are doing is bringing the prepaid and postpaid into
one system. Before we release a product, there is strong documentation followed
by strong support services infrastructure in India. Considering the changes that
are happening in technology, service providers normally undertake an upgrade of
their billing system to take advantage of different things that have been added
into the product so that they can evolve with the times. The challenge before
the service providers is to offer benefits to customers across services.Â
Are service providers ready to invest in billing systems?
Indian service providers are willing to spend and they are very serious
about providing excellent quality of services.
Do you find any difference in the attitude of incumbents and private
operators?
Unlike the popular perceptions, the incumbents do a thorough analysis of
every aspect, going through every minute detail.
What is the status of real time billing in India?
Most of the real time billing is prepaid and that is happening to a large
extent. There are several operators in India who are doing it. Our real time
billing solutions are helping operators drive their revenues; they are also
doing real time promotion. If someone is downloading a music video, you can
suggest to him other transactions that he might also do. Operators can monitor
their subscribers in real time.
Sudesh Prasad
sudeshp@cybermedia.co.in