MACH, a provider of solutions to simplify and accelerate the creation and operation of the mobility supply chain, has announced its EU Compliance Power Pack, a range of solutions which are said to offset the impact on operator roaming revenues of the recent EU pricing regulations.
The solutions will immediately counter the forecast reduction in revenues by implementing smart rating and price optimisation. This allows the mobile operators to reprice certain services such as voice and SMS in order to create new revenue streams offsetting the anticipated effects of the EU regulation. Moreover, MACH also includes in the pack its powerful solution to the ‘bill shock' problem, by triggering timely customer notification whenever a usage threshold is reached. The solution gives mobile operators the ability to provide customers with timely data usage information while roaming. It is also said to provide operators with a complete set of compliance solutions that eliminate any administrative and compliance burden.
The measures introduced by European regulators impose wide-ranging pricing restrictions and administrative obligations on mobile operators. Voice, SMS and data service prices will be capped with effect from 1st July 2009, with further reductions in caps becoming effective in 2011. Operators will also be required to bill on a per second basis under the new regulations. Further, operators will be required to notify subscribers of high usage to avoid so-called "bill shocks", requiring real-time usage reporting and notification processes. European officials also said that they will monitor changes to other operator charging structures to ensure that these are not increased to compensate for the impact of the new legislation.
"The regulations approved by the European Parliament, combined with increasing competition both from within the mobile industry and from alternative communications technologies, mean that operators have to continuously monitor and reassess retail and wholesale pricing strategies," says Lodewijk Cornelis, CMO, MACH. "MACH solutions turn, what seems at first sight to be, a huge obstacle to growth into an opportunity for operators to differentiate their offerings and reduce their operational costs."
The solutions announced today allow operators to use sophisticated simulation techniques to quickly and dynamically optimise retail and wholesale pricing of non-EU roaming traffic, increasing revenues while at the same time maximising customer value. MACH's solutions also handle the complex task of rating usage data in real time by reference to regulatory capping, and its applications process all of the administrative changes to inter-operator tariff structures to ensure accurate and timely settlement before and after the regulations come into effect.