Interoperability, a Must-have

Proprietary lock-ins are best avoided as these could turn out to be not just costly but also crippling in the long run

OSS/BSS systems have come a long way since the days when they behaved as IT silos that would sit at a distance from the network. They are now increasingly integrated with the network systems and subsystems and vice versa. Not surprisingly, the network infrastructure vendors like Ericsson and Nokia Networks are having an increasing play in the realm of OSS/BSS. There is also an emphasis on delivering customized integrated solutions to address specific needs of service providers in a heterogeneous network environment.

The telecom software market in general and the OSS/BSS segment in particular has been intensely competitive in the recent years, driven by the dynamic changes that the telecom markets have been going through.

Major Players

Ericsson reportedly counted India among its largest markets for OSS/BSS systems during the year, as it clinched a number of deals in India for the deployment of solutions that improve customer experience and increase operational efficiencies. These solutions have gained traction in the recent past, given that service providers are working towards raising data average revenue per user (ARPU) levels while keeping the tariff levels still low. Ericsson has deployed its software solutions with incumbent telcos like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea and has also won a three-year OSS deal with Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Globally, it has strengthened capabilities both organically and inorganically. Notable among the acquisition made by Ericsson over the past years include Telcordia, TeleOSS and Telcocell, among others.

Nokia too won contracts in areas such as customer experience management and HLR installation, among other areas with both existing and new customers during the year.

Globally, Amdocs has been adjudged the market share leader in overall billing market, by at least two market research firms, Analysys Mason and Frost & Sullivan. In the revenue management systems market segment, Ericsson was named by Analysys Mason as the worldwide product revenue leader, as noted by an Ericsson announcement earlier. The report also ranked Ericsson first in worldwide market share by revenue for prepaid billing as well as for mediation systems.

Usage & Adoption Trends

To cut licensing costs and reduce dependencies on proprietary systems, service providers are turning to open source options. Recently, at least two service providers, Reliance Communications and MTS reportedly deployed open source solutions for a part of their OSS/BSS requirements, even touching upon areas such as billing and CRM.

A number of open source options are available. Some of the better-known solutions include AgileBill, Amberdms Billing System, Freeside, CitrusDB, JBilling, OpenBRM and BillRun, among others.

Globally, some large service providers