Nokia Siemens Networks has won a contract with Conad of Italy to manage its system and provide hosting services as the supermarket chain enters the mobile virtual network operator market at the beginning of 2008.
The contract will see Nokia Siemens Networks supply Conad with convergent charging solutions and hosting services from one of its hosting centers. Using an intelligent network server, the solution will be capable of communicating flawlessly with the host network of Vodafone Italy.
Conad and Vodafone signed an agreement last August enabling the supermarket chain to enter the MVNO market within the first months of coming year. Conad will have its own brand, be the sole manager of its relationship with customers, have its own prefix number, and manage all commercial offers and customer care activities directly.
Nokia Siemens Networks will create and manage a complete Customer Relationship Management (CRM) service for tariff application and traffic management, and set up the necessary infrastructure to meet Conad’s requirements for innovative voice and data offerings.
Conad is among the top distribution cooperatives both by sales points (a total of 3,037 in Italy under the Conad, Margherita and Leclerc Conad brands) and by market share (12%). The chain has attracted around 4 million loyalty card holders, who make a potential target group for Conad’s MVNO services in Italy, where MVNO activity is now picking up.
“We are confident that the hosted online charging by Nokia Siemens Networks will enable us to offer high-quality services to our mobile customers once we start our service early next year,” says Mauro Bosio, President of Conad Insim, the company group managing the MVNO activity. “We are convinced that our footprint will allow us to create a strong customer base. Our customers will have the possibility to activate and top-up their accounts at our 3,000 sales points all over Italy.”
“The mobile virtual network operator sector is becoming increasingly interesting in Italy. The business is appealing to all involved parties: from network and service providers to MVNOs and host operators to consumers,” says Roberto Loiola, the head of South East Europe Sub region at Nokia Siemens Networks. ”By selecting our hosting service, Conad will be able to offer the new services quickly and cost-efficiently, while our charging solution will allow targeted tariff and calling plans that contribute to quality customer experience and thus increase average revenue per user.”