BASE, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Netherlands’ Koninklijke KPN, is the fastest growing mobile operator in Belgium with more than 2.5 million subscribers. Like most mobile operators, BASE faces challenges growing its revenue streams while dealing with increasing competitive, pricing and regulatory pressures. International roaming provides a high potential for profitability
Challenge
- Meet existing IOT roaming agreements
- Expand margins through lower IOT rates.
BASE had a large number of commercial IOT discount agreements that weren’t paying off because of the limited call steering capabilities of an existing Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card solution. Target minutes specified in agreements weren’t being reached, resulting in lower margins. BASE believed it could realize higher margins and improved profitability if it could negotiate lower IOTs with carriers. But without the ability to effectively steer calls to specific carriers, BASE had no negotiating power. Finding a solution became a top priority for BASE.
Solution
BASE researched the market extensively for a call steering solution. They considered a number of products, and decided on Roamware’s Traffic Redirection™ solution. “We are a small company without a lot of resources,” says Marcel Stevens, Roaming Manager for BASE. “The primary reason we chose Roamware was their flexibility and willingness to work with us. I wasn’t interested in just another vendor at my door. I was looking for a partner.”Stevens also liked the Roamware solution because it provided a platform that could support additional applications. “I didn’t just want another box that could only perform one task,” says Stevens.
Roamware’s Traffic Redirection™ enables mobile operators to proactively influence their outbound roamers’ choice of mobile networks when roaming. Operators can direct roamers to their preferred partners, resulting in maximized roaming revenues. Among key features offered by Roamware’s Traffic Redirection™ are flexible implementation, rules-based call steering, subscriber identification, roaming distribution control, and roaming partner independence, built on a scalable platform architecture.
BASE deployed the Roamware solution in June 2006. Roamware was very supportive during and after the implementation. “They worked with us every step along the way,” says Stevens. “In addition, the product has been very easy to use.”
Benefits
- Satisfied IOT agreements
- Increased margins
- Improved customer satisfaction.
Roamware’s Traffic Redirection™ has enabled BASE to more effectively send roamers to preferred partner operators, allowing the mobile provider to meet agreements and retain a greater share of premium roaming revenues.
It has also given BASE added power to renegotiate IOT agreements with many of its partners, resulting in substantial cost savings to support even lower retail rates.
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Roamware's Traffic Redirection™ made a significant impact from the beginning. “First, it helped us satisfy our existing IOT agreements,” says Stevens. “Second, it was so effective that it allowed us to renegotiate much better IOT agreements.” The Roamware solution easily paid for itself within the first year. “By the second year it was essentially free,” remarks Stevens. “The results were better than we expected.”
Roamware’s Traffic Redirection™ has also proven its abilitsy to be flexible. For example, Stevens can segment traffic, forwarding retail voice subscribers to one operator while directing data roamers from certain Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) on their request to another operator in that country that has better UMTS coverage. “It’s a way to improve customer satisfaction,” notes Stevens.
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