Sei sulla pagina 1di 7

Roaming Hubs - Enabling Operator Agility in an

Evolving Mobile Landscape


Mobile users are getting smarter by the day. It is generally accepted that a better quality
service can be found elsewhere if their current provider falls short of the mark.
Inadequate or overly expensive roaming services are notable examples of service
shortfalls. The user retains the right to move elsewhere if theyre unhappy with the level
of service theyre receiving, so it is in the operators interest to address this issue.
Operators will continue to risk losing customers if they cannot provide seamless, hasslefree connectivity, both at home and abroad.
This white paper from BICS discusses the benefits of the mobile hub as an operational
model giving the mobile operator real agility in dealing with a truly agile user.

Continuous service the prerequisite of the mobile age


For mobile operators, the process of extending a global roaming footprint is complex and time
consuming. To offer continuous service to an increasingly data-hungry subscriber base, an
operator must regularly conclude bilateral roaming agreements with other global operators.
However, even after the completion of these negotiations, when agreements have been signed
off and technical tests completed, some coverage gaps continue to exist.
Operators therefore find themselves playing catch-up to remediate the shortfalls in their service
offerings constantly seeking to enhance roaming footprints by extending their portfolios of
bilateral agreements. The continuous development of new mobile services and technologies
also necessitates the upgrading of existing roaming connections, as mobile operators face
pressure to decrease cost structures.

Smart users need smart service providers


Mobile usage is ubiquitous; users are also more than likely to be well-equipped with anything
from smartphones and tablets to PDAs and notebooks. The GSMA recently estimated that the
number of mobile subscribers globally reached 3.2bn at the end of 2012 and should reach 4bn
within the next five years. In light of this, mobile roaming is also likely to experience significant
growth. For mobile operators intending to maximise the revenue opportunities associated with a
growth in roaming traffic over the same period, a new approach is required.

-1-

We are fast reaching a milestone of true global mobile roaming coverage


The growth in roaming traffic increases the importance of three key aspects of an operators
mobile network and service offering:

Global coverage

Excellent quality

Multiple Service Availability (Voice, CAMEL, GPRS, 3G & LTE)

Technology is changing the shape of the market landscape and the dynamics of
competition farther than any reasonable business plan can accommodate.

There is now a far simpler route for operators to arrive at these goals Utilising Roaming Hubs!
Given the rapid and constantly transformative pace of technological development mentioned
above, the operator that stands still could be the one that falls behind. Technology is changing
both the shape of the market landscape and the dynamics of competition spread across every
corner of this landscape as far as, and probably farther, than any reasonable business plan can
accommodate. The number of services available to users is increasing and each roaming
service requires dedicated configuration and testing. According to the GSMA there are currently
around 800 mobile operators active in the world today and that number is steadily increasing.
As the global network of operators continues to expand exponentially, so will the number of
mobile roaming partners and roaming requirements will become a higher priority to the carriers.
Mobile users require availability of voice, messaging and data services in any 2G, 3G or 4G
environment. Subscribers that do not have continuous access to basic telephony or data
services have a propensity to churn. The expansion of Wi-Fi hotspots is educating users to find
viable connectivity alternatives when their core service weakens, or when they have
experienced a bill shock due to roaming charges. The growth of MVNOs with roaming
capabilities can also serve to create greater promiscuity or churn in an already fragile market.
Each of these market influences is addressed below.
The continued development of new mobile services and technologies presents an additional
challenge to operators, as roaming connections and agreements need to be updated more
regularly. The associated complexities are especially challenging against a backdrop of
heightened competition, tighter margins and the previously mentioned level of service
development.

The roaming hub for a roaming market one call does it all
As the roaming environment becomes more complicated operators would be advised to
investigate the potential business benefits of the roaming hub. This approach offers a best-ofbreed platform on which to establish a roaming footprint. It also offers considerable opportunity
-2-

for cost savings and would likely mean that the roaming hub would perform testing on behalf of
the operator.
A roaming hub provides operators with an instant, efficient and streamlined environment for
boosting their roaming footprint. Bilateral agreements, which can be costly and time consuming,
are replaced in the hub environment with one multilateral agreement. The roaming hub provides
one technical and one commercial relationship, based on industry best practice. This removes
the need for multiple roaming agreements and a series of separate tests that are required to
expanding roaming networks.
The GSMAs Open Connectivity initiative, in which BICS was one of the first participants, was
a welcome development in an industry-wide effort for mobile operators to truly realise the
achievement of critical mass, and ubiquity of service globally.

Deriving value through roaming managed and hosted services


International roaming is a valuable source of revenue, the largest slice of which derives from
inbound roaming. It is critical, therefore, that operators are able to control the number of
inbound roamers that register on their network. Operators are increasingly looking to hosted
roaming solutions to allow them to achieve this end. Hosted solutions remove the need to invest
in new platforms, work on the core network, engage with costly third party vendors or endure
the roaming agreement negotiation process.
For a straightforward, fixed monthly fee, an operator can rapidly deploy a carrier-grade hosted
roaming solution/VAS for all of its roaming relationships. Such a solution enables the operator to
control the amount of network signalling messages sent to home networks and allows better
control of revenue-generating, inbound roamers on the network. An operator has access to a
set of tools which enable the inbound roamer to register into the network, regardless of the rules
that have been imposed by their home network.
As well as the management and optimisation of inbound roaming signalling traffic; the hosted
solution provides operators with tools to better judge wholesale telecoms decisions and
generate cost savings as they deploy LTE networks.

Global Roaming Quality


With the dual challenges of European Roaming Regulation decreasing prices and eroding profit,
in tandem with global competition growing more than ever, a decisive advantage for customers
to choose one network over another is quality. This is one of the reasons why the Global
Roaming Quality (GRQ) Framework was established by the GSMA. Hosted GRQ solutions
today have matured and are gaining ground in the mobile landscape, where Quality has
become a critical guarantee and strategic differentiator. Based on global GSM-probe networks,

-3-

they allow full end-to-end monitoring of roaming quality and customer experience. Mobile
operators realise that subscribers pay for a service that they expect to be delivered with a high
level of quality, and failing to provide a quality-focused service may become an inhibitor that
may impact an operators reputation from the short to long-term.

The move to 4G/LTE


LTE is now emerging and ramping up the efficient and cost effective delivery of mobile data to
subscribers. With a complete new all-IP technical architecture, new Signalling protocols based
on Diameter and over 30 different spectrum bands for LTE set to be available, global roaming
for LTE will be inherently more complex than its predecessor.
With roaming revenues under pressure, international operators are working hard to ensure that
roaming is efficient and, more to the point, profitable. The main challenge arises from the
creation of a completely new international roaming environment for LTE. Establishing seamless
2G and 3G roaming across the world took over 20 years, but this whole ecosystem will need to
be upgraded as LTE comes into the picture. New agreements and connections between mobile
operators supporting enhanced IP capabilities will be required for LTE Roaming while the use of
roaming hubs could help to accelerate its roll-out.

IPX
Up until now traditional time division multiplex (TDM) has been adequate for supporting critical
services voice and messaging but operators are now expected to deliver a wide range of
data services of the highest levels of quality. With the roll-out of 4G/LTE networks, two of the
key mandatory service needs are IP interconnection and roaming. Operators that do not realign
their capabilities to provide these, will not be able to take advantage of the opportunities they
both offer.
The GSM Associations IP eXchange (IPX) was introduced to replace legacy TDM and to
support the new wave of IP-based voice, video and real-time multimedia applications. IPX can
fulfil a critical need, both now and into the future, for both fixed and mobile operators. IPX can
be viewed as a private IP cloud, offering a much more secure ecosystem; one that is closed
instead of open, which offers more secure and reliable connections than the best effort that the
internet can offer. IPX also enables mobile operators to work more closely with OTT players
encouraging them to use IPX to interconnect with them.
IPX provides a private and secure IP foundation that allows operators to expand their global
voice and data services. BICS has pioneered the use of this technology with global carriers and
its IPX solutions have already been adopted by its customers. By partnering with the right
service provider, operators are able to seamlessly deliver critical traffic at the highest possible

-4-

levels of quality, while also meeting the increasing bandwidth and demand for new data
services in a cost effective way.

Roaming choices Wi-Fi


Mobile operators are increasingly adopting Wi-Fi and integrating the technology with existing,
and future radio standards in their networks. Rising mobile broadband usage is seeing
operators evolve from voice and messaging providers to suppliers of wireless broadband
connectivity. However, as Wi-Fi becomes part of the domestic mobile experience, mobile
operators are seeking a consistent end-user experience for their roamers.
International operators are keen to retain their roaming customers, even if they are on low cost
Wi-Fi connections, rather than face losing their custom to a local Wi-Fi hotspot provider.
Operators will, of course, look to platforms which provide their roaming customers access to
premium hotspots (hotels, airports etc.) as they seek to access the internet. However, the key to
this will be that the handover from GSM to Wi-Fi access is straightforward and that the access
provided is affordable.
This operator requirement will see the rise of roaming hubs that offer one single 2G, 3G, 4G and
Wi-Fi platform, establishing peerings with other roaming hubs and Wi-Fi aggregators ultimately
providing economies of scale and more affordable access to international 2G/3G/LTE/Wi-Fi
roaming coverage. Operators can make bilateral roaming agreements between each other, but
a more cost effective strategy would be to use a third party managed service that would
guarantee roaming and interconnect with operators worldwide. Roaming hubs can enable
interconnect agreements between individual operators, their respective groups and the global
community of wireless carriers. Network traffic is routed from one service provider to many
destinations or internetworking partners via a single agreement. The hubs effectively steer
mobile traffic with little, or no, impact on subscribers and allows operators to negotiate impactful
Inter Operator Tariffs (IOTs) for roaming, protecting their revenues, while offering continuous
quality of service to international travellers.

MVNOs
The MVNO market is developing rapidly. According to a Wireless Intelligence report from June
2012, there are now 812 MVNOs globally, and this is increasing daily. European Union
legislation, designed to cut wholesale and retail data roaming rates, has enabled MVNOs to
better compete in the roaming space. Key growth markets are currently the UK, the
Netherlands, France and Israel. In the UK alone there are some 40+ MVNOs, including
supermarket brands like Tesco Mobile and service providers such as Lycatel and Lebara
Mobile, catering to resident ethnic communities. These MVNOs are providing affordable mobile
services to niche markets not specifically served by incumbent mobile operators.

-5-

National MVNOs will be joined by roaming-only MVNOs. There are many forms of MVNO,
notably Mobile Virtual Network Enablers (MVNEs). Lacking a mobile infrastructure or mobile
license, an MVNE typically handles customer service, billing and mobile handset management.
MVNOs can acquire national voice and SMS services at a discount of around 50 per cent on
retail prices. However, new legislation allows roaming services to be bought at a discount of 5070 per cent on the retail price cap.
Roaming-only MVNOs will be able to enter the market in July 2014, through providing voice,
SMS and data roaming to subscribers who want to stay with their existing operator for their
domestic services. Single and dual IMSI technology, which separates the provision of domestic
and European roaming services while retaining the same number for both, will play a crucial
role in assisting MVNOs in the roaming market.
A roaming hub that can flexibly offer single and dual IMSI roaming will enable MVNOs, and
operators alike, to gain access to hundreds of international roaming agreements and market
best IOTs in a platform that is completely managed by the roaming hub; enabling
straightforward and comprehensive international roaming for subscribers.

The regulatory challenges of European roaming


The final point to address is the European Unions recent legislation on international roaming,
and the resulting Euro tariff. This legislation has had a dramatic effect on the mobile industry
and its international roaming revenues. European Union laws, passed by the European
Parliament in July 2012, stipulate that international mobile calls will be charged to the end user
at 29 cents a minute for making a call and 8 cents a minute for receiving a call - while Internet
access was charged at 70 cents per MB. By 2014 these figures are set to be cut to respectively
19 cents and 5 cents per minute for calls and 20 cents per MB for internet access. Reduced
retail prices for roaming have made it harder for operators to negotiate beneficial wholesale
prices with each other. The legislation also empowered users to select a mobile operator of their
choice for roaming. This will place pressure on market incumbents to enhance their roaming
infrastructure, and expand their reach internationally, to prevent their own subscribers from
selecting another operator for the roaming needs.
These factors create a challenging and competitive environment for mobile operators in respect
of international roaming. However, this will not impact the market negatively. It will simply
ensure that operators seek more value from roaming hub providers.

-6-

Conclusion
There is no doubt that data roaming is rapidly increasing. The number of device types deployed
is proliferating and the demands and expectations of users are becoming increasingly
sophisticated. The level of tolerance of anything less than excellent and seamless service is
diminishing; those days are gone. Subscriber loyalty is now only won and kept on the basis of
cutting edge service delivery. As operators prepare their networks for new devices with new
capabilities, increasing numbers of users and increasingly tough competition, the roaming hub
offers an almost failsafe solution to the provision of a seamless service, combined with a
reduction in cost and complexity if hosted services are brought in as part of the operational mix.
BICS holds a key position in the roaming hubbing landscape, not only does it have long-term
experience in the hubbing environment due to its pioneering hub development in SMS hubbing,
as far back as 2003, but also in recent years it has developed both Dual IMSI, and later Single
IMSI roaming hubbing products. Such a multi-faceted roaming hubbing portfolio enables BICS
to have an open, wide-ranging discussion and engagement with potential, and existing clients
alike, to ensure that the products it provides, address and cater for their needs today, and
tomorrow.

***
About BICS
BICS delivers best-in-class international wholesale solutions to any communication service
provider worldwide. Through its Mosaic portfolio, a comprehensive, flexible and innovative suite
of solutions designed to be used individually, or collectively, BICS meets the existing and future
requirements of the global telecoms industry.
Our passionate and creative teams located in Brussels, Bern, Dubai, Singapore and New York,
continuously strive to provide our customers with the highest levels of quality, reliability and
interoperability enabling them to maximise their end-user value.
With our successful consolidation strategy, and a continuing focus on technological
advancement and innovation, we have achieved a world-leading position in the international
Voice and Mobile Data markets.
For more information, please visit: www.bics.com.

-7-

Potrebbero piacerti anche