3G Billing Causing Data Management Headache

Surging data processing demands caused by the complexities and volume of billing for 3G and GPRS mobile services will increase three-fold as they become mainstream across. That is the warning from ORSYP, an IT operations management company that works with several leading telcos.

New charging models, including service-based billing, and exponential growth in data alongside voice services will create a substantial increase in the volume of billing data for operators offering 3G and GPRS services, says ORSYP. Moreover, the difficulty of batch data processing will be further increased by the need to consolidate billing data from increasingly heterogeneous IT environments, geographically dispersed sources and multiple business partners, while communicating charging information to customers in real-time in response to event-driven needs such as pay-per-view.

The ability to capture rate and bill for multiple services such as voice, data, subscription based gaming, streamed audio and video content and Web based services will be critical to operators' survival if they are to profit from the trillions already invested on 3G networks and licences globally. The European subscriber base for GPRS and 3G services will grow from 3.7 million in 2002 to 35.8 million in 2004, according to industry analyst eMarketer.

"Accurate and timely billing is crucial for next-generation mobile services, but it will place an enormous data processing strain on operators' IT systems," said Jean-Jacques Parinet, ORSYP CEO. "From our experience in deploying advanced job scheduling solutions for major clients, we believe that the 3G billing data processing problem will increase three-fold as these new services gain market penetration. Operators need to address this problem now or face a torrid time with their billing."

Posted to the site on 25th April 2003