Dmitry Boginskiy: “TeleEvo 2007: exploring new standards and business support solutions paves the way to effective operations of contemporary telecom provider”

Knowledge Base -> Publications

16.10.2007

1. Why was Russia chosen as a place to hold TeleEvo 2007 - TM Forum Eastern Europe Regional Summit? What do you think?

     I'd like to start by saying that Russia wasn't a randomly chosen place to hold this event. TeleEvo 2007 in Moscow proved that Russian telecom market is developing fast and matching the contemporary telecom global trends.
     Evolution of the telecom business models, features of their transformation and impact of the global trends on the regional operators' development came into focus at the event.
     To put it bluntly, development of the Russian telecom market is a bit behind of the Western market. At the same time, we can now see how the convergence is penetrating the business processes of Russian telecom operators. For example, our company has developed and implemented a solution to render FMC services in Samara and Nizhny Novgorod divisions of MTS. Ubiquitous convergence, transformation of the telecom operators' infrastructure, enlargement of their business (fixed line operators are developing IPTV service, ISPs start to render telephony and video services etc.) - all these processes are taking place on the Eastern Europe telecom market. On the whole, our market provides operators with the options and opportunities to expand and develop their business. And the main thing now is to realize that the impact of global transformation trends on the current strategies of regional telecom operators is inevitable. And the event like TeleEvo 2007 is to help our telecom companies to choose the way to go: network operator or service provider, to look for a new business model on their own or adopting a partner's expertise.

2. As we know, the aim of TeleEvo 2007 was to provide regional telecom operators with the up-to-date information and news about the telecom industry, as well as to help them to get ready for adoption of new standards and business support solutions. So, as an expert in billing systems, please tell us what was really interesting and useful for you at the event and what did you learn from it?

     In general, TeleEvo 2007 is extremely valuable event for all telecom market players and it was dedicated to the following topics: Convergence of the offerings, enhancement of the profitability and competitive strategy, and revenue assurance.
     The executive summit and the conference were held at the TeleEvo 2007. The main topics of the Conference revolve around transformation, evolving telecom business models, the role of the TM Forum in developing telecom management standards. As for me, I attended Training and Workshop Sessions, including NGOSS Implementation Overview, Telecom Billing Overview/Next Generation Billing Overview and Interconnect Billing Overview.

3. What is the place of a billing system in the 21st century telecom provider business model?

     Unambiguously, a billing system is now moving to the center stage in the contemporary telecom operator's business model. IPTV, Triple Play, and other convergent technologies bring new complexity to the billing function with new revenue models and new service partners, as well as increased demands from the customers. To learn more about billing stage in the contemporary telecom provider business model, you can see the Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) by visiting the TM Forum website http://www.tmforum.org/browse.aspx?catID=1647  

4. So, we've already started to talk about TM Forum activities, which aimed at developing unified methodologies, guidelines, and standards for telecom industry. Well, as a developer of billing solutions why are you interested in the methodologies and standards of the TM Forum? And how these will contribute to your activities?

     Let's look back for several years. I am talking about the late 80th and early 90th when the GSM standard appeared. There were different standards in European countries till the GSM standard was approved, and these European standards weren't compatible. So, when a subscriber moved abroad he/she ought to notify the operator in advance, and the operator contacted with an operator of the local provider. European telecom market was in a strong need for new solutions to develop mobile communications. And a result was the foundation of the Group Special Mobile to develop unified European standard which was able to support a huge amount of the subscribers. And something like this is happening right now, I mean the above-mentioned purpose and the TM Forum activity.
     As I've said already, currently telecom industry evolution makes telecom operators to migrate to new business processes and corporate management technologies where customer preferences and demands take the centric stage. So, it is essential to create a unified structure of systems and processes which enables telecom operators to plan migration to new business model providing the high level of integration and automation. That's why New Generation Operations Systems and Software (NGOSS) program was developed by the Tele Management Forum.
     NGOSS is a comprehensive, integrated framework for developing, procuring and deploying operational and business support systems and software. It's available as a toolkit of industry-agreed specification and guidelines that cover key business and technical areas including four interconnected methodologies: Business Process Automation delivered in the enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM); Systems Analysis & Design delivered in the Shared Information/Data Model (SID); Solution Design & Integration delivered in the Contract Interface and Technology Neutral Architecture (TNA); Telecom Application Map (TAM). NGOSS enables telecom companies to drive efficiency in and cost out of the operation of telecom networks. This technology also makes possible to change the way they think about their business and operations. Being a developer and supplier of the billing solutions we are really interested in our B&CC system "Bill-Master" to be developed in accordance with the above-mentioned standards.

Dmitry Boginskiy, Director, Software Solutions Division, Inline Telecom Solutions