The deal is further indication that telcos are going to adopt hybrid models for cloud services
Beyon Group-owned Bahraini operator Batelco has decided to overhaul its core IT platforms, opting for Oracle Communications technologies and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
The telco will upgrade its existing Oracle products to cloud native versions before moving these mission-critical telco workloads to OCI and its Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes. This will provide Batelco a fully managed and automated environment for its cloud native telco applications including OSS/BSS workloads.
The telco wants to use the cloud-native platform to build new services and respond more quickly to customers’ needs. Ahead of implementation, the telco recently launched its new Batelco app enables customers to activate a Batelco Postpaid, Prepaid or Mobile Broadband service by getting an eSIM within one minute.
Speaking on the Oracle deal, Beyon CTO Saurabh Gupta said: “With Oracle Communications’ cloud native BSS and OSS, we can launch new products and services in days, not months, offer best-in-class customer experiences, and roll out product enhancements faster. These technologies will be a cornerstone of delivering on our mission of providing world-class connectivity solutions.”
“The partnership between Batelco and Oracle embodies a shared vision to accelerate digital transformation within the telecommunications sector,” said Batelco GM technology Rashid Mohamed (pictured, above). “This collaboration will optimise our infrastructure, fortify our service offerings, and lay the foundation for future ‘techno’ breakthroughs.”
Customer journeys are a focus
With Oracle Communications Consulting leading the implementation, Batelco is upgrading its Oracle Siebel CRM with the goal of enhancing customers’ digital journeys. Utilising data and AI, the TM Forum-compliant offering will have a centralised product catalogue that helps manage the complete lifecycle of its products – plus a 360-degree view of each customer to help agents.
In addition, Batelco is adopting Oracle’s Cloud Scale Charging and Billing spanning mediation, 3G to 5G converged offline charging, billing, and end-to-end revenue management. The telco plans to implement Oracle’s Unified Orchestration and Unified Inventory and Topology which will streamline product deliveries while supporting a multi-vendor network environment
In a mover to hybrid that telcos are increasingly adopting, Batelco will run development, non-production, and disaster recovery workloads in OCI’s public cloud, with production workloads running on-premises, utilising OCI’s carrier-grade distributed cloud capabilities.
“The Oracle Communications applications, with reliable test, development, and disaster recovery on OCI, will not only support current mobile and fixed services but also can help drive additional revenue-generating services, from enterprise offerings to future technologies enabled by 5G and IoT,” said Oracle SVP and GM Jason Rutherford, adding that the two companies have been long-time collaborators.
Digital interaction demand growing
Batelco said it was responding to rising demand for convenient digital interactions when it launched the new onboarding for its app. It claims the digital authentication is the first time in the country mobile customers can obtain a new service entirely remotely, including the ability to complete the fingerprint process digitally.
Batelco GM consumer Aseel Mattar said customers can get their eSIM easily and can activate up to three new mobile numbers under one CPR per month. “We are thrilled to introduce our instant activation feature, which represents a significant leap forward in elevating the customer experience. We are pleased that our customers can now conveniently activate a new mobile line as well as get their eSIM in the quickest way possible,” she said.
“Batelco’s new feature utilises the power of advanced technology and artificial intelligence to provide a secure, reliable and convenient user experience, and we are proud to be the first telecom in the market to offer it,” she added.