Download Dealing with the Technicalities of Providing One Bill for Multiple

Pre-/Postpaid & Fixed/Mobile
Convergence: Why and How?
Dr. David Watrin,
Swisscom Innovations,
Billing Area Manager
[email protected]
Agenda
 The 6 degrees influencing the Billing Organization and
Infrastructure
 Summary
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
 FMC in Swisscom Context
2
CEO
Group Communications
Group Human Resources
Group Operations & Related Business
Billag AG
Swisscom
Broadcast
AG
Swisscom
Mobile AG
Swisscom
Fixnet AG
Bluewin
AG
Swisscom
Immobilien
AG
Cablex
AG
Directorie
s AG
SICAP
AG
Group Client Management
Group Finance & Controlling
Strategy & Group Steering
Swisscom
Innovations
Swisscom
IT Services AG
Swisscom
Eurospot AG
Swisscom
Solutions AG
Group Headquarters
Group Companies
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Swisscom is the Swiss incumbent
having Fixed and Mobile Units
3
 Within Swisscom Fixnet the
different business areas
generally act independently:
– Retail Business (sale of
network services and
products)
– Swisscom Fixnet Wholesale
(sale of network
achievement)
– Customer Care
– Operator Services
(information services)
– Payphone Services (public
call boxes)
– Cards (Taxcards, Prepaid
Cards)
– Bluewin (sale of Internet
services and products)
Swisscom Fixnet in figures
Net turnover 2004 CHF 5.715 billion
(consolidated)
Private customers 2.9 million
Business
customers
300'000
ADSL subscribers 802'000
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Swisscom Fixnet
4
Fix and Mobile usage in different
countries (in %)
“Mobile-only” users in Switzerland : 5,5 %
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
In addition to the decline of prices,
fierce competition from Cable
Operators, Fixnet is observing a new
Atrend
shift in customers’ bevaviour can be perceived
5
Source: Lars Finger, Swisscom Mobile, based on a Nokia customers survey Oct 2004
 Switzerland's leading provider
in the Swiss mobile
communications market with a
66% market share
 3.8 Mio NATEL® customers
 25% of Swisscom Mobile's
shares are held by the Britishbased Vodafone Group Plc
and the other 75% by
Swisscom Ltd.
Swisscom Mobile Customers
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Swisscom Mobile
6
Prepaid / post-paid customers (in Mio)
2/3 of the mobile communications
could be conveyed through other
communication mean (Fix line,
VoIP…)
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
However Mobile Operators are also
threatened by new technologies
7
 Swisscom launched the unique Unlimited
Service in September 2004
 Swisscom offers 21 TV channels over UMTS
via Vodafone Live! since September 2005
 Swisscom will launch Bluewin TV in 2006
– Acquisition of strategic shareholding in leading
Swiss content provider
– Re-integration of the ISP, Bluewin, within Fixnet
 Swisscom is a founding member of the FMCA
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Swisscom is then investigating how a
better future could be made out of
convergence
FMCA 8
 Convergence is the digitized takeover of
communications and information in a network and
device agnostic manner producing new services
Network Convergence
Voice and Data
Circuit-Packet
Service Convergence
Fixed-Mobile, One Bill Unified
Channel,
Bundled Services
Device Convergence
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Our definition of Fixed Mobile
Convergence
9
Service
Device
Still to come!!
Network
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
In today’s implementations the degrees
of convergence are not respected in the
same way
10
 IMS offers the technology allowing the transformation
of a vertically structured company to a horizontally one
Vertical, Integrated
Horizontal, Disaggregated
Community Applications
IPTV
Internet
Wireless
Long distance
Local
Content/Applications
Communication Services
Devices
IP Network
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
IMS could help Swisscom to face its
challenges
11
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
A simplified overview of IMS –
IMS is not just about IP…
12
New AAA mechanisms
* Diameter
New concept of a session
* ICID/GCID
* Bearer
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
IMS challenges the Billing Architecture
and Processes on many levels
New charging paradigm
* Real-time everywhere?
Technology View
IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)
Business View
Content
FMC
Multiparty business models
13
 Diameter Base Protocol can be enhanced for specific
purpose (e.g. Diameter SIP, Diameter Credit Control)
 The protocol supports Real-Time requirement (Ro
interface)
 Diameter’s command (AVP) can be made vendor
specific. More than 500 of them already exists… (e.g.
Offline: Accounting Request/Answer; Online: Credit
Control Request/Answer)
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Diameter is a robust and flexible AAA
protocol
14
However can your organization or your
infrastructure handle such a flexibility?
 Diameters requires a high expertise
 Diameter based services are not yet widely developed
in Telco’s environments
 Questions are then:
– Does your mediation platform provide the
necessary plugins? Does it allow you to process
different CDR formats in a timely efficient manner?
– Does your charging platform manage the Ro
interface?
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
 Diameter is a young standard (specified in 2001)
15
IMS revolutions the concept of a call
session
 The correlation of charging information for an IMS session is
based on the use of IMS Charging Identifiers (ICID)
 The first IMS network entity within the SIP signalling path is
responsible for assigning an ICID
 ICID then be passed along the whole SIP signalling path in an
end-to-end manner
 For the charging correlation between the PS domain and the
IMS, one or more GPRS Charging IDs (GCID), which identify the
PDP contexts of the session, are passed from the PS domain to
the IMS (be transferred from the GGSN to the P-CSCF)
 The GCIDs are passed by the P-CSCF to the S-CSCF and the
AS using SIP signalling. Along with the ICID, the S-CSCF passes
the GCIDs to online and offline charging functions
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
 A key aspect of IMS is that it allows service interaction in a single
customer session.
16
 However on certain details the specifications are not
always precise. Therefore it is not sure that the
ICID/GCID features are well implemented.
 Should this be a task for the mediation platform?
 Furthermore even if QoS is well addressed by IMS.
What happens when the customer roams between
different bearers? Can the QoS be guaranteed when a
customer is moving from a WLAN network to EDGE
while watching a video stream? Is this our customer’s
issue or ours? If ours, can we offer SLA-based billing?
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
IMS revolutions the concept of a call
session
17
IMS also defines charging
mechanisms: Offline & Online
Charging
Offline
Online
Billing System
HSS
ISC
Ro
P-CSCF
S-CSCF
I-CSCF
Event
Session
Charging Charging
SIP Application
Servers
Bi
HSS
Rf
Rating
Correlation
Function
Bearer
Charging Account
CCF
P-CSCF
S-CSCF
I-CSCF
CGF
GGSN
MRF
BGFC
Charging
Gateway
Online
Charging
Gateway
Ga
SGSN
CAP
MRF
GGSN
Online: Charging information can affect
in real-time the service rendered
SGSN
BGFC
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Billing System
SIP Application
Servers
18
 The traditional boundary between prepaid and postaid
should vanish!
Prepaid
Postpaid
Customized charging
Online Balance Management
Itemized bills
Specification of thresholds per
account and/or per service
Same service availability
Differentiated alert management
Enhance sponsoring capabilities
Overall discounts
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Our Marketing department favors the online approach
19
However the commitment for a budget is
hard to have and the technical
departments are still fighting for which
approach to choose
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
IT Department
IT approach
IN approach
Network Department
20
 IMS is designed to easily provide all sorts of content:
Video streams; Gaming; Instant messaging; white
board etc.
 These topics are sold by the vendors since many
years.
 But how many Business Cases allowed to
replace/update telco’s legacy environments?
 Do your mediation platform, your rating engine allow a
quick release of new content?
– Configuration/programming of new billable formats
(e.g. lists)
– Flexible rating schemes
– New layout
– Flexible testing environment?
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Can your infrastructure easily handle
new contents?
21
IMS is an open platform allowing Third
Party Content to be integrated
 Big players are already here
 voice, video
 IM and basic voice
 Email
 Calender, address book
 Address book
 Email
 Web hosting
 Web hosting
 Photo album
 Photo album,Blogging
 Blogging
 E-commerse, Job hunting
 E-commerse
 Games, news, stocks
 Games
 Video streaming
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
 Once IMS will be more widely implemented,
partnership will provide key market differentiator.
22
However how the operators prepared to
handle these partnerships?
 Can a Business Case be based on today’s revenue share
agreements?
 How well do you treat your partner?
– Are you transparent with him? Do you provide a real time
assessment of your partners’ revenues?
– How well do you implement your revenue share? Is it based
on statistics or on real usage?
– Are you willing to share the risks?
 Are you considering Digital Right Management? Are Open Mobile
Alliance DRM 1.0/2.0 the right solutions?
 The SIMPAY initiative has been dismissed. Will we keep on
imposing walled garden? Will M.I.A. create apostles?
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
 Operators are still enjoying a dominant position
23
 FMC doesn’t always mean one Bill. However the
examples are getting more and more numerous
 We have to differentiate between two cases: an offline
model and an online one
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Fixed Mobile Convergence is probably
the main driver behind IMS
24
?
1. Consolidation of print files
Billing
2. Adjunct Rater
Rating
Mediation
IP Multimedia
Subsystem (IMS)
Fixed
Mobile
Internet
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
In the offline model the point of
convergence is key
Some circuit Switched
NEs might still be there…
25
These cases proved to be quickly doable
and relatively cheap
– To find a common customer id
– To make sure that the Account Receivable files are
right
– To give a consolidated view to customer care
 However Telia Sonera proved that this was feasible in
less than 6 months
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
 The main issues with these scenarios are:
26
An online FMC architecture might
prove more difficult to build
Prepaid Postpaid
Customer
Prepaid Postpaid
Front Office
Systems & Processes
Fixed
Back Office
Systems & Processes
Internal Convergence
Front Office
Systems & Processes
Mobile
Back Office
Systems & Processes
Customer
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Customer
Prepaid Postpaid
Front Office
Systems & Processes
Data /
Data /
Content
Content
internet
Back Office
Systems & Processes
Mutual Integration +2-3Y
27
Reload
Payment
Collection
Bills &
Invoices
IN Node
Rating
Balance
Management
Cust./
Prod
DB
Cust./
Prod
DB
Rating
IP Mediation
Service
Logic/Control
Mediation
(Service Logic)
Real-Time
Data control
SS7 INAP,
CAMEL, MAP
Real-Time
Event control
Real-Time
WLAN control
CDR
XDR
HLR
MSC
GGSN
PWLAN
VF live!
VAS
i-Server
3rd Pty.
Server
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
A typical environment nowadays
28
Reload
Balance
Management
Cust./
Prod
DB
Invoicing
Rating
Payment
Collection
Middleware (EAI; SOA; PARLAY …)
Overall Session Management/Control
Mediation
(Service Logic)
IN Node
Real-Time
Data control
Service
Logic/Control
Real-Time
Event control
Real-Time
WLAN control
XDR
SS7 INAP,
CAMEL, MAP
HLR
MSC
GGSN
PWLAN
VF live!
VAS
i-Server
3rd Pty.
Server
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Afterwards an overall Session Control
Layer should provide the true
convergence
29
Reload
Balance
Management
Cust./
Prod
DB
Rating
Invoicing
Payment
Collection
Middleware (EAI; SOA; PARLAY …)
IP Mediation
Mediation
(Service Logic)
IN Node
Real-Time
Data control
Service
Logic/Control
Real-Time
Event control
Real-Time
WLAN control
XDR
SS7 INAP,
CAMEL, MAP
HLR
MSC
GGSN
PWLAN
VF live!
VAS
i-Server
3rd Pty.
Server
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
We specialise the environments by factorising
common functionalities
30
Reload
Balance
Management
Invoicing
Rating
Payment
Collection
HSS
Cust./
Prod
DB
Middleware (EAI; SOA; PARLAY …)
Overall Session Management/Control
IN Node
Service
Logic/Control
Real-Time
Real-Time
session charging/Bearer
charging
Data control
Event control
HSS
SS7 INAP,
CAMEL, MAP
Mediation
(Service Logic)
CSCF/ event charging/
Real-Time
WLAN control
XDR
HLR
MSC
GGSN
PWLAN
VF live!
VAS
i-Server
3rd Pty.
Server
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
At the end of the process a natural IMS
implementation should have taken place
31
Convergent Billing
Convergent Rating & Discounting
Rating & Discounting
AAA
SCM
BM
Rating & Discounting
AAA
SCM
Fixed
Rating & Discounting
BM
AAA
SCM
OSA Parlay,
Jainslee,
Web Services,
XML, …
OSA Parlay,
Jainslee,
Web Services,
XML, …
Mobile
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Pre- & postpaid convergence
would be then an enabler of a
“mutual integration” approach
Internet
BM
32
 IMS offers tremendous opportunities to Telecom
Operators
 However it might challenge your Billing Organization &
Infrastructure
– Know-how should be assessed
– Real-time requirement should be assessed. In this
latter case a thorough Business Case should be
conducted:
– Which approach should be chosen?
– OPEX should particularly be proven
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
Conclusions
33
Thanks for your attention...
Any Question?
– about Swisscom: visit
www.swisscom.com
– e-mail to:
[email protected]
– Swisscom Innovations,
INO-SSM,
Ostermundigenstrasse 93,
3050 Bern,
Switzerland
Phone: +41 79 278 97 73
28th of November 2005, David Watrin, IQPC, Intelligent Next Generation Billing, Frankfurt
 For additional information
34