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For a long time, “interconnects” have been a dominant consideration for those in the telecom business. Interconnects allow telecom and mobile network operators worldwide to bring together and share networks so their customers could continue their communication without worrying about the network boundaries. Interconnects are relevant for fixed, mobile, and internet services.

While sharing networks in this manner, telecom operators follow different ways of billing. Some of the common ones included:

• Revenue sharing
• Price sharing
• Fixed and variable charges

Many more approaches exist, driven by specific needs and prevalent conditions!

A typical interconnect billing process involves raising an interconnect invoice where the incoming interconnect call detail records (CDRs) are sent to the interconnect partner. The billing is settled between the network operators involved in carrying calls and is finally reconciled by exchanging the CDRs with each other. This is big business too as telecom operators were able to generate 50% of revenue from such arrangement.

This arrangement has largely been working well for a while now. However, the landscape has now started changing with new players entering the space due to low barriers and low-profit margins. Additionally, the industry is undergoing a major transformation with many carriers moving to next-generation IP networks for reduced technology costs and the ability to introduce new products frequently.

The technology transformation and increasing competition have brought in several complexities that interconnect billing solutions must solve.

Challenges That Interconnect Billing Solutions Must Solve

Let’s look at some of the common challenges that telecom operators and partners face and what they can do to fix them.

1. Competitive pricing

Typically, operators sign an interconnection agreement that discusses the settlement fees, schemes, and schedules of payment based on call source, destination, duration, etc. The operators would abide by the agreement and be able to earn fairly predictable revenues. However, new entrants have threatened this system by offering cheaper routes and re-negotiating offers and rates frequently.

Solution: The operators and their partners can use a good interconnect billing solution to re-rate their revenues accurately and achieve settlement on time.

2. Billing inaccuracy

Revenue leakage is one of the primary concerns of telecom operators. Inaccurate rating calculations and errors in classifying traffic are major reasons due to which operators face a tough time during the settlement process. It leads to unnecessary disputes, issues and delays in revenue realization, and cash flow problems.

Solution: By using a good interconnect billing solution, the operators and their partners can prevent revenue leakage and ensure that billing is accurate. The solution should be able to ensure there are no disputes in settling. This encourages the partners to pay on time.

3. Mismanaged costs

Another problem that operators face is to do with overcharged invoices. Very frequently the partner bills carry overcharged pricing. Sometimes their invoices have low-level errors that go unnoticed. However, when there are many invoices and when these invoices carry hundreds of lines, it’s almost impossible to check each of them for accuracy. This leads to the operators unduly paying large sums to the partner.

Solution: Operators and their partners must use an end-to-end fully automated interconnect billing solution to spot errors in invoices immediately and fix them to manage costs efficiently. They can also create customizable invoices for every provider based on the agreement.

4. Operational inefficiency

Interconnects are multi-functional as they cover aspects of product management, commercial negotiations, streamlining processes, and billing and finance. The operations can be inefficient if all these functions operate in silos.

Solution: The only way to solve this problem is by automating the entire interconnect billing system. This will encourage the different functions to collaborate and provide them the platform to do so. This will help update rates, reconcile efficiently, and improve operational efficiency. It will also enable the operators to create customized reports to analyze revenue and monitor traffic.

Additionally, while considering the “must-have” features an interconnect billing solution must offer, operators should look at:

• Flexibility to include new products and offerings into the system for future billing
• Access to rich information that can be leveraged to make data-driven decisions about all aspects of interconnects and improve profitability
• Ability to monitor agreements in real-time and alert the operator immediately in case of violation. This will ensure that the relationship between the operator and the partner is not threatened in any way
• Ability to quickly verify invoices and reconcile them. It should also have a system to fix any discrepancies in the invoice to prevent any future discrepancies
• Ability to track margins and provide accurate information about the true value of an agreement by calculating the revenue or cost of traffic with and without considering the agreement rates

Conclusion

The complex nature of billing, shrinking margins, and cutthroat competition have made it necessary for operators to spend more time updating their billing systems and less time on innovation. To reduce unnecessary complexity, streamline their processes, and free up their bandwidth operators may want to consider outsourcing the interconnect billing process to a credible managing services provider.

So, while the managed services provider manages the billing process, the operators can focus on addressing challenges such as building stronger relationships with their interconnect partners and earning better revenue and margins by fixing the best rates and best routes.

At Globe Teleservices, we offer managed services to help telecom companies operate all aspects of their telecom business smoothly. From billing to accounting to fraud control, we manage all of it with an SLA commitment of 99.999%. Our deep experience in the telecom industry helps us understand our clients’ needs and implement different solutions across geographies and cultures. That’s essential to understand the interconnect solution.

What a way to begin a new year by grabbing one of the most coveted recognitions in the industry!

Globe Teleservices Pte. Ltd was chosen as the Best Telecom Service Provider 2020- Eurasia by APAC Insider. We believe that this is a huge achievement for us. We have been growing fast but industry awards like this help instill confidence in our partners and customers in our vision and our ability to action our growth ambitions as well as serve them as they look to scale their businesses.

No doubt, 2020 was a year of challenges for businesses worldwide. For the telecommunication sector, the year was indeed action-packed as the world utilized the internet and telecommunication like never before to transition into a new normal of working, shopping, entertainment, and enhanced communication. The sector became the backbone of the digital economy. The pandemic really tested the strength of the industry in more ways than one and the sector stood tall. Our customers were able to successfully navigate the rough waters of 2020 and ignited the digital ambitions of millions of consumers and businesses by offering them round-the-clock availability of enhanced telecommunication services.

In a world gone uber-digital, it was apparent that the telecom service providers and enterprises that make up our customers had more need than ever for our solutions. Globe Teleservices had the solutions, and the good fortune, to occupy the center of our customer’s strategic digital roadmap. Our innovative solutions offered them seamless support to help them reduce revenue leakage and improve customer loyalty and ultimately drive more profits from their investments.

The Asia Pacific market for telecom is among the most challenging in the world when it comes to consumer dynamics. Home to the most populous and second most populous nations in the world and having a very large digital-savvy population of millennials and generation Z individuals, the Asia Pacific market creates quite a competitive scenario for telecom players. Revenue from mobile services in the Asia Pacific region is estimated to reach a staggering USD 390.9 Billion by 2025. This region has usually been the early adopter for technology disruptions like 3G, 4G, mobile internet, and so on.

Such a rapid pace of growth puts a demand on the key players in the industry to focus on managing their digital infrastructure meticulously and keeping an eye out for removing inefficiencies and bottlenecks in their operations. At the same time, they need to be cautious about managing Capex and Opex costs and strike a balance between investments in innovation and investments in their core operational infrastructure. Data security, customer protection, preventing fraud, and revenue leakages are all key concerns in the present day.

Successful companies in this space leverage the services of specialist technology partners to identify and implement digital roadmaps that are most suitable for their projected business growth strategies. From re-inventing customer experience to launching new plans and products in the fastest “time to market”, technology has changed how telecom players can differentiate their brand image in this highly competitive market.

This is where we believe Global Teleservices made the most impact by building tailor-made solutions that solve the unique business challenges of our customers. This helped them drive more business volume without the risk of network disruptions and security threats thereby ensuring a seamless customer experience for their end-users.

We view the recognition from APAC Insider as a testament to the commitment and excellence of our team of over 350 dedicated professionals working across 6 regions globally. Their experience and technical prowess combined with our many strong partnerships have helped Globe Teleservices spread its influence to some of the world’s leading telecom players in APAC, Europe, Africa, and the rest of the world too.

Some of our products and offerings ranging from AntiFraud Firewalls to CPaaS and and our highly advanced real-time billing and reconciliation systems help over 100 top mobile operators create a direct impact on improving their revenue streams and minimizing fraudulent activities in their networks.

Our CEO, Ashutosh had recently said, “The key focus of Mobile Network operators today is on reducing revenue leakages and acquiring the trust of consumers. With our cutting-edge technology solutions, we are confident in enabling MNO to achieve both the outcomes.”

This recognition will prove to be a milestone in the growth story of Globe Teleservices. As the world is slowly moving out of the pandemic, it emerges as a more digital ecosystem. Telecommunication providers need to focus on delivering the right services to such consumers to ensure that they are able to live, work, learn, and grow. We at Globe Teleservices once again commit that we will be at the forefront of the movement to equip telecom players with the right technology to deliver a superior customer experience every time.

Despite challenges, the growth curve of the telecom industry has always trended upwards; it is expected that the sector will grow at a CAGR of 5% from 2020 to 2027. The promise of advancements in 5G technology and the opportunities that smart devices, factories, and cities create for Telcos seems set to drive the next big jump.

The need for high speed, reduced latency, and enormous bandwidths has telecom operators working around the clock to prepare their infrastructure and innovate to revolutionize how communication happens in the digital world. But in the race to enable better speed, bandwidth, and customer experience, security could take a backseat, causing potential new threats to emerge or be overlooked.

The need to proactively deal with security threats

Security challenges are not new to the telecommunication sector. The network infrastructure that provides the necessary backbone for the exchange of information across voice, video, data, and the Internet has always been the target of various forms of attacks.

In a post-COVID era, where economic headwinds are putting revenues under pressure and customer expectations are constantly rising, the impact of these attacks can be extremely far-reaching: from denial of service to poor integrity, loss of customer trust, and more.

rotecting these networks from attacks is an important aspect that cannot be ignored – especially at a time when even the smallest mistake can cause operator revenues to plummet. This is not an overstatement when you consider just how much rides on the stability of telecom networks today.

• As telecom becomes an ever more integral aspect of the day-to-day life of all consumers, a single attack has the capability to disrupt critical service for thousands of customers, cripple businesses, and shut down government operations.>
• IP theft, data loss, or misuse would require operators to spend critical time and resources trying to recover the data while experiencing inevitable reputational damage, system disruptions, and disgruntled customers.
• Data breaches, phishing attacks, and fraud schemes can lead to rising insurance premiums, hefty fines, and lawsuits – along with loss of market share and plummeting customer trust.
• System or service disruption due to power outage, malicious action, or human error can lead to financial damage as well as the loss of loyal customers. Government regulators are also closely monitoring service levels and any deviations from laid out standards can prove extremely expensive and tedious to justify.
• For highly regulated sectors that depend on telecom networks for daily operations, security incidents can lead to extensive non-compliance repercussions and, even, blacklisting from future opportunities.

Role of security solutions

For telecom operators looking to overcome important security challenges to their current telecommunication networks, security solutions have a huge role to play in mitigating infrastructural insecurity as well as the risk from cyberattacks.

SMS firewalls: Mobile Operators that face immense traffic often experience revenue loss and unwelcomed congestion due to spamming, spoofing, phishing, and flooding. Such traffic negatively impacts the quality of service while blocking crucial network bandwidth. SMS firewalls can help telecom and mobile operators protect their networks while blocking illegal SMS traffic. Mobile Operators can upsurge their revenues on SMPP Bulk Messaging while reducing operational costs and enhancing customer experience.

Identity and access management: As telecom penetrates more and more into daily lives, it also gets more vulnerable to illegal access. Identity and access management solutions help to authenticate and authorize individuals and devices accessing Telecom services every day. These solutions pave the way for trustworthy user authentication, authorization, and consent management, avoiding unauthorized control of devices and illegal use of data – thus protecting operator revenues.

Voice firewalls: With telecom users largely depending on voice calls for personal and business reasons, voice infrastructure is prone to massive attacks across a broad spectrum of threats. Voice firewalls aim to monitor voice networks in real-time, control inbound and outbound network activity, and generate alerts when undesired events occur. It carries out constant behavioral analysis to record metrics such as call duration, the time gap between two calls, failed call attempts, and more – helping operators circumvent call frauds and protecting revenue, maintaining customer experience, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Network security: As security threats and attacks on end-to-end networks constantly evolve, network security solutions can safeguard against illegal location tracking, spoofing, man-in-the-middle, and DoS or DDoS attacks. Through features like intrusion detection and prevention, content filtering, and perimeter protection, they can ensure key network assets, services, and data in transit are protected 24×7.

As the scope, variety, and complexity of threats increase exponentially and the volume of data transmissions swell, telecom frauds have become commonplace. As a mobile or telecom operator, if you want to protect your revenues and prevent your reputation from being tarnished, you need to take security threats seriously. This means partneringwith an experienced telecom solution provider and embracing modern security solutions such as SMS and voice firewalls, network security solutions, and identity and access management solutions to easily detect threats and make your communication networks extremely resilient. This will become crucial to protecting revenues as the digital world marches onward on the back of telecom networks.

We have come a long way from using dialup internet and 1G internet speed to WiFi and 5G speed.

We have come a long way from receiving P2P (Person to Person) SMS to receiving A2P (Application to Person) messages, i.e. SMS from applications.

Studies show that over 3.5 trillion A2P messages will be delivered by 2023, some forecasts predict 1.9 billion 5G subscriptions worldwide by 2024.

As more companies realize the importance of digital transformation after last year’s pandemic, high-speed network connectivity will become a priority for everyone in 2021.

It is a perfect time for network operators to ramp up their services and customize their customers’ options. They have the power to change the way companies and individuals work and live.

However, as the famous dialogue from the movie Spiderman goes – with great power comes great responsibility.
According to Europol, operators could lose €29 billion in telecom fraud. Frauds like SMS grey route, network spoofing, SIM jacking, and SMS phishing have increased. So, while innovation is a priority, network security becomes an equally important area of focus.

The onus lies on telecom and networking operators to prepare the network to combat frauds and threats that could occur with these innovations.

Let’s look at what network operators can do to address these issues.

How To Prepare For Network Frauds And Threats?

• SMS firewall solutions

SMS firewall enables operators to protect mobile networks against frauds and vulnerabilities. All the messages are routed through a firewall where they are analyzed to detect potential frauds. Any suspicious and fraudulent messages are automatically blocked. This helps companies reduce the overhead costs incurred due to fraudulent and spam messages. It ensures that there is no revenue leak while sending A2P messages. SMS firewalls also improve A2P traffic. But most importantly, this safeguards the reputation of the company that sends the messages

• Filtering content

Network operators can control message routing by blocking content and protecting companies and individuals from fraud. In some instances, messages with Latin text were replaced with different scripts that the message receiver may not understand and that could mislead them. Network operators could identify such instances and filter out or blacklist such content that could be dangerous or inappropriate to the customer base.

• Proactive route testing, home routing, and Re-routing

While blocking A2P or P2P messages is an easy way to prevent fraud, network operators can also try other methods such as proactive route testing, home routing, and re-routing. In proactive route testing, network operators can analyze the information sent and received from two parties for discrepancies. If there is a discrepancy, there could be evidence of suspect routes that would need immediate attention. In home routing, operators can mask the user’s information to curtail faking and spoofing of SMS. This allows operators to control the traffic generated abroad. In re-routing, the A2P messages are re-routed over-tested routes to senders who don’t allow A2P content termination. This enables them to save revenue losses.

• Building network resilience

As innovative solutions such as IoT and 5G take precedence, network operators have to ensure that their network demonstrates a high resiliency level and is highly secure. They have to ensure there is minimal scope for attacks on the network. Network operators need to view the network infrastructure better to assess and fix the vulnerabilities, so there is less impact on their revenues and reputation. Many leading operators have already come together to form theMutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) to improve their routing infrastructure’s security and resiliency.

• Building a culture of taking proactive measures

Innovations will continue in the space of telecom. 2021 will drive those innovations forward. However, one cannot ignore the new threats that could possibly impact the industry. As technology advances, the level and method of fraudulent acts also become equally sophisticated. Hence, operators must take a proactive stand in safeguarding the network. They must build a security-focused culture where their team is one step ahead of hackers and fraudsters. They should constantly be testing new methods to combat frauds and threats before staying prepared.

Conclusion

Considering that it is not a one-operator issue, but an issue that concerns the entire industry, a concerted effort of all the players in the industry will be necessary now. All telecom players must collaborate to fight frauds and prevent revenue loss to the industry. i3forum, for example, has already created a platform where telecom giants such as AT&T, Orange, BICS, and Deutsche Telekom among others have come together to find ways to fight frauds and address market challenges.

At Globe Teleservices, we are also helping network operators safeguard their network with our firewall solution, Armour. Armour protects the network from frauds such as SMS spamming, flooding, spoofing, phishing, and viruses, enabling operators to improve their revenue and reputation. This is the need of the hour. Now is the time to prepare the network to combat frauds and threats.