Comverse, Ericsson neck and neck in fast-growing convergent charging market
Campbell, CALIFORNIA, December 8, 2010-Market research firm Infonetics Research released its updated Convergent Charging Software and Services market share and forecast report.
The report, considered the industry’s most comprehensive report on the emerging convergent charging market, takes an in-depth look at convergent charging services (consulting, integration, hosted/managed services) and convergent charging software that can handle multiple payment methods, such as prepaid, postpaid and hybrid prepay/postpaid models, across service types (voice, video, data), network types (wireline, wireless), and regions
ANALYST NOTE
“The convergent charging market is a particularly dynamic one, with early implementations occurring primarily in emerging markets, such as Southeast Asia, India and Eastern Europe, where operators are facing high churn rates and low ARPU. In the longer term, the additional market drivers will include accounting and charging for machine-to-machine (M2M) tractions and ‘mobile wallet’ services,” notes Shira Levine, directing analyst for next gen OSS and policy at Infonetics Research.
CONVERGENT CHARGING MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
Infonetics Research forecasts the worldwide convergent charging market, including software and services, to grow nearly 5-fold between 2009 and 2014, from $533 million to $2.6 billion
The primary driver for convergent charging market growth is the push by telecom operators to prevent customer churn and increase average revenue per user (ARPU) via loyalty programs and flexible payment methods (e.g., plans that include prepaid data and postpaid voice and variable pricing based on time of day or subscriber’s location)
Comverse and Ericsson are neck and neck in the race for first place in worldwide convergent charging revenue market share, with Comverse holding a slight edge
A sizable portion of the market is made up of smaller software vendors, including Comptel, Openet, Volubill, and Orga Systems, many of whom have a strong foothold in emerging and greenfield markets
Operators’ cloud offerings will necessitate changes to their operational environments overall, and particularly to their existing charging capabilities
Machine-to-machine (M2M) transactions, such as between smart meters and utilities, and between telematics devices and fleet management systems, will eventually far exceed human transactions on the mobile network, driving the need for charging solutions that can account for and reconcile that level of transaction volume
For example, Best Buy is using billing and charging solutions from Intec to support its MVNO strategy, which will include not only consumer voice and data services, but also connected devices such as household appliances
REPORT SYNOPSES
Infonetics’ biannual Convergent Charging report provides worldwide market share and worldwide and regional market size, analysis, and forecasts for convergent charging software and services.