m:tel

Mobile, IP-Based Offerings for Multiple Subscriber Types

m:tel CG is Montenegro’s newest mobile operator. Jointly owned by the Dutch firm Ogalar and Telekom Serbia, the region’s telecom leader with over 8 million mobile and fixed subscribers, m:tel received licenses for both GSM and UMTS networks in May 2007.

By July, the greenfield operator began commercial operations with the prepaid/postpaid convergent billing and order management solution from Comverse in place. This quick implementation of the Comverse Converged Billing Suite enabled m:tel to offer prepaid voice, SMS, MMS, video call and roaming services over GPRS, UMTS and HSDPA networks.

By August, m:tel augmented their customer base by adding postpaid subscribers. Then by offering an alternative fixed-line service over their WiMAX network in October 2007, m:tel expanded their target market even further.

The Need: Cut Deep into an Already Saturated Market

Upon its establishment, m:tel became Montenegro’s third mobile operator, joining an already competitive field. As a greenfield, m:tel needed to act quickly to grab its piece of market share. With summer approaching, it was critical to deploy in time to capture the lucrative roaming tourist traffic.

However, achieving this goal required a billing and active customer management solution that provided end-to-end functionality without major customization, combined with a Professional Services team that could integrate and launch the system according to a demanding and aggressive schedule.

The Challenge: Accelerate Time to Revenue with Innovative Services

In addition to a core business need for a rapid launch, m:tel needed a solution that could effectively rate and charge a high volume of inbound roaming traffic specifically during the summer season, while also supporting local traffic from both prepaid and postpaid subscribers.

Coupled with its focused approach to meet go-live dates, m:tel also knew that taking a long-term perspective was important to plan and support rapid and voluminous subscriber growth in the future. In addition, m:tel required a highly flexible system built to support a wide range of traditional and innovative services.

The Solution: Comverse Converged Billing and Value-Added Services

With just three months to launch its business and ensure that all supporting infrastructure would be in place to handle residents and visiting subscribers, m:tel selected Comverse’s Converged Billing, together with a range of Comverse value-added services (SMS, MMS, Call Completion and Voicemail) to enhance its voice and messaging offering.

m:tel chose the Comverse Converged Billing because the modular pre-integrated platform met all the operational requirements needed to support its business model.

Comverse Converged Billing supports all types of network technologies – from wireline to wireless, at any level of business maturity – from greenfield to Tier-1 operators, and any type of payment – from prepaid to postpaid to hybrid. Enabling real-time customer management, the solution allows service providers like m:tel to increase market agility and improve operational efficiency.

Why Selected: Feature-Rich Suite With Short Time to Market

Comverse’s product-based solutions accelerate time to revenue whether it is through exceptionally fast deployments, quickly ramping up customer activation or enabling rapid launch of new services. m:tel chose Comverse’s Converged Billing Suite for its ability to address their broad range of needs, knowing with confidence that with Comverse as a partner, they could succeed in going live with the system in the required tight timeframes.

Capable of handling voice, data and other services for prepaid and postpaid subscribers
over any network, the product-based solution did not require major customization to fit m:tel’s requirements. This reduced deployment risk and time. In addition, given m:tel’s selection of Comverse’s value-added services, only a few, simple integrations were required, enabling a quick and efficient implementation.

Supported by Comverse’s highly skilled Professional Services team, m:tel’s system was up and running within an aggressive three month period. There were specific factors that enabled this fast deployment, including:

• A focused approach to defining project requirements with tight collaboration between
  m:tel and Comverse
• A phased deployment approach to meet m:tel’s business objectives
• The expertise and experience of Comverse’s Professional Services team

The Results: Significant Market Share Within Six Months

By deploying Comverse’s solutions, m:tel met a three-month milestone deadline for getting its billing system up and running in time for Montenegro’s summer tourist season. Soon after launch, m:tel recorded extraordinary results that exceeded all expectations and offered high quality services to all subscribers from the very start - prepaid, postpaid or roaming. These results include:

• 12,000 prepaid package sales during first day of service
• 27% market share within one year of operation
• Highest level of SMS traffic in the country
• Offering recharge vouchers for both prepaid and Capable of handling voice, data and other postpaid subscribers for the following: GPRS,MMS, SMS and minutes
• Time-to-market service rollout is on average a few days, and always under a week
• Achieved cost savings (OPEX & CAPEX) through a unified platform (one system - not several)
• The first fully convergent operator in the region both in terms of services and payment methods
• Benefits from the real-time capabilities for promotions, bonuses & awards
• Many market firsts: Offering free calls for prepaid subscribers, prepaid recharges come with double value, prepaid recharge is done electronically, and calling circles