This white paper describes the current drivers and demand for telecoms equipment systems integration, and outlines the options for selecting a suitable systems integrator partner.

It finds that many operators are faced with the need for a “right-sized”, independent partner that can act in an end-to-end manner as a systems integrator. It proposes that, if done correctly, systems integration can move from being a “tax” on invested capital to an operator benefit, saving time and money and resulting in more efficient ongoing operations.

To join the Kapsch Webinar “Solving the puzzle of system integration” click here

Our intention was to discover what the industry as a whole thinks about a series of topics and we were naturally keen to see how operators in particular would respond to questions about the future of networks, cloud services, B/OSS, roaming, customer experience and revenue assurance.

Some of the numbers are truly surprising: who would have predicted that 35.7 per cent of respondents would believe that single network markets, in which operators compete at the service layer only, are commercially viable? Never mind that operators themselves buy into this model with greater enthusiasm (albeit only just—36.1 per cent) than the wider industry.

By  filling out the form below and downloading a free copy of the Telecoms.com Intelligence Global Industry Survey, you will possess a wealth of data on a range of core issues affecting fixed and mobile service providers and the vendors that cater to both.

About Telecoms.com Intelligence

Telecoms.com Intelligence is the industry research offering from the leading news and analysis portal for the global telecoms industry.

With over 80,000 unique monthly visitors and more than 70,000 registrations to our webinar platform, Telecoms.com has access to executive opinion of unrivalled breadth and depth. That opinion needs context and our editorial team excels at transforming raw data into insight and analysis. And with a variety of print and digital channels, including Mobile Communications International magazine, we can drive unbeatable awareness of our findings.

Telecoms.com Intelligence: Getting the industry thinking

More than 31 per cent of operator respondents said that they were less prepared than they should be

More than 60 per cent of operator respondents to the Telecoms.com Intelligence Industry Survey 2013 said that their firm was prepared or very well prepared to manage the challenges and risks inherent in the transition to LTE. However, more than 31 per cent said that they were less prepared than they should be.

The question was part of a section of the survey that looked at risk, revenue assurance and fraud management (RAFM).

M-commerce/mobile payment services and OTT content were considered a risk by the largest number of respondents, 54 per cent and 50.9 per cent, respectively. Cloud offers were in third place, deemed a risk by 42.3 per cent of respondents. The results reveal that the industry has concerns about services that the operator does not control end to end.

Integration between different systems is a key issue in revenue assurance and fraud management. Almost 60 per cent of operator respondents said that a lack of data consistency across different systems was one reason that their organisations do not make the most of their revenue assurance and fraud management functions.

Just less than 50 per cent said that the absence of automated tools to support processes was a problem, 45.3 per cent cited inconsistent procedures and policies across organisations and 41 per cent the lack of accurate and timely information from other areas of the business.

“It is incredible that, in 2013, the lack of data consistency across different systems across systems is still the biggest obstacle to effective RAFM,” said Sergio Silvestre, chief marketing officer at Business Assurance specialist WeDo Technologies. “Clearly there is a significant opportunity for specialist companies to help operators to improve their performance in this area. This challenge will only increase in the all-IP, real time and Over-the-Top Services world the Telecom industry is evolving into.”

To register to receive your free copy of the full report from the Telecoms.com Intelligence 2013 Industry Survey when it is released on February 18th, click here.

Price remains by far the biggest influencer on operators' selection of network vendors

Price remains by far the biggest influencer on operators’ selection of network vendors, more important even than technical performance of the equipment purchased, according to data from the Telecoms.com Intelligence Industry Survey 2013.

While technical performance was a close second to price, vendor attributes such as market share and legacy relationship were rated by respondents from across the telecoms industry as significantly less important to operators.

Price was ranked as very important by 43 per cent of respondents and as important by a further 41.8 per cent. Technical performance was a long way behind in terms of the number of respondents who felt it very important (24.6 per cent) although it was ranked as important by a larger number (47.7 per cent).

The strengths particular to incumbent vendors, however, were seen as less persausive. Market share was given the highest rating by just 8.4 per cent of respondents, and felt to be important by 30.1 per cent, making it the least effective influencer. Legacy relationship was second-bottom, with 12.6 per cent of respondents believing it to be very important and 35.6 per cent important.

The data portrays a forward-looking industry. Product roadmap was felt to be very important by one fifth of respondents and important by a further 46.1 per cent.

The findings are positive for Chinese vendors that have historically proven themselves very competitive on cost. The data may reflect operators’ financial constraints in a difficult economic climate or a greater confidence in the capabilities of relative newcomers; or both.

Whichever, the vendor marketplace is clearly going to remain intensely competitive. The survey revealed that 67.5 per cent of respondents believe that the move to the all-IP environment of LTE will change the relative standings of infrastructure players, with well over half believing that relative newcomers have good chances of success.

To register to receive your free copy of the full report from the Telecoms.com Intelligence 2013 Industry Survey when it is released on February 18^th, click here.

The demand for high bandwidth applications at both the consumer and enterprise level is going through a period of explosive growth; a period that is not expected to end any time soon. Consider a handful of statistics from Cisco’s VNI forecast: Global IP traffic increased eightfold in the last five years and will multiply by a factor of three over the next five. In 2016 global IP networks will deliver 12.5 petabytes of data every five minutes. By the same year there will be three connected devices per capita. As with the deployment of any new technology there are a number of elements that operators need to balance; chief among them cost and performance.

In October 2012, Telecoms.com Intelligence surveyed more than 290 industry players worldwide—including more than 120 network operators, as well as regulators, content providers and software developers—in order to capture the industry’s views on this vital technological development.

This report reveals the results of this survey including an overview of the market in 2012, 100G motivators and price Vs performance.

Over 200 mobile operators surveyed: Almost 90% believe the availability of real-time data in their post paid billing systems is essential to future data charging models but only 22% have the capability today.

Telecoms.com Intelligence carried out research to examine how mobile data billing needs to change in the next 24 months. With responses from over 200 mobile operators, this research paper gives a detailed insight into:

• How new data pricing, packaging and business models will require traditional post-paid billing systems to support real-time data
• The services that operators are going to roll-out that need real-time billing data
• The charging models that real-time data and new network controls will enable operators to bring to market.

Please complete the short form below to download this free report produced by Telecoms.com Intelligence in association with Openet.