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The ATS Network & Billing Update is published by Advanced Technologies & Services, Inc. (www.atso.com), a revenue and service assurance solutions provider. This free newsletter is a guide to telecommunications OSS, billing, and revenue assurance news and other telecom industry analysis. To unsubscribe, contribute an article, or for offbeat news, please scroll to the end. Feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and co-workers!

In this issue:

	Carrier Sit-Down: Carmen Mejia of Claro - Dominican Republic
	ATS and Cell Phones for Soldiers Kick Off Cell Phone Collection Drive
	Top 10 Most Controversial (and Brilliant!) Wireless Decisions of the Past Decade
	Why USF Reform Matters
	OffBeat News: 13% of Cellphone Users Fake Calls to Avoid People

Each quarter ATS will be sitting down with a revenue assurance, billing, or network expert from carriers around the world.  We'll ask the questions and bring you the answers.  Would you like to submit a question for the next interview, or would you like to be the person we interview?  Email us at info@atso.com.

This quarter, we took a trip down to the Dominican Republic to talk with Carmen Mejia, Revenue Assurance Manager at Claro.  Carmen has been in the telecom industry for nearly 30 years across various departments at Claro and has vast experience in fraud and revenue assurance. 

Guthrie: How many years have you worked at Claro and what path led you to your current role in revenue assurance?

Mejia: I have been working for Codetel/Claro for 28 years. America Movil has now unified both branches. I have worked as Manager in the Fraud Department for approximately 7 years and as a Revenue Assurance Manager for approximately 3 years.

Guthrie: As a carrier in the Caribbean, what is unique to your revenue assurance practices?

Mejia: Basically every company has its own outlook and priorities with respect to revenue assurance. For example, Revenue Assurance chains in the Telecommunication industry in general, are the same. The procedures and technological platform used by the company to provide service to the client is what changes. America Movil designs a set of metrics and procedures that allow the RA team to monitor all aspects of the operation. In our case we complement that with a set of tools that give us ability to extract and process data from transactional systems that support the operation, analyze and detect revenue leakage.

Guthrie: How important is revenue assurance to the senior management at Claro?

Mejia: Revenue assurance in Claro drives many of the important decisions made by managers. That is not to say that the recommendations of revenue assurance managers are always implemented but RA managers have a strong voice in decision making. One of the RA functions that provides value to the company is our statistical analysis. For example, our RA tools can show us if we are recording too many or too few minutes, if we see an unexpected line increases or decreases, or if the revenue forecasts don't match the actual revenue It is the job of the RA team to set the understand the business process, set the control points, monitor the statistical tools and close the gaps in order to detect, prevent, or stop revenue leakage.

Guthrie: What will your company be doing to improve the customer experience?

Mejia: Customer service is the main goal in our company. The company consistently makes investments in our infrastructure with the objective of providing high quality products for a reasonable price. In a market such as the Dominican Republic, price is very important. We try to give our clients a balance between price and quality.

Guthrie: How has the shift towards wireless service impacted the way your team approaches revenue assurance?

Mejia: Wireless is a dynamic world. Our challenge is to monitor results accurately in order to determine the causes of unexpected results. Our RA team is always trying to determine what it is happening (e.g. revenue leakage or fraud?). We sacrifice size of the samples to analyze in order to make faster decisions. As soon as you know what is causing the issue, get it fixed, time is money. This means that you will probably not have a deep and complete analysis, but the most important thing is detect the gap, stop it, and prevent it as soon as possible.

Guthrie: What role does data analytics play for you and your team?

Mejia: Data analytics is the heart of our operation. Without it you cannot make any recommendation, design controls, close gaps or prevent leakage. The main capabilities that a RA member needs to have are: search for information, analysis capabilities, conceptual thought, and a goal in mind.

Guthrie: What is your opinion on the need for executive dashboards in revenue assurance?

Mejia: Designing a revenue assurance dashboard should be a goal of RA team, because it allows you to be focused on the vital aspects by generating alarms in a timely fashion in case of unexpected results. The RA umbrella is so big that we have had to prioritize what we measure. One of the things we discovered is that the dashboard needs to be designed with input from senior managers as well as operational managers. Again our goal is to ensure that we maximize our revenue. All of our metrics ensure that this happens.

Guthrie: Where will your revenue assurance organization be in 3 years? What areas look promising for adding value?

Mejia: In three years we need to be capable of preventing leakage instead of just detecting it. Our main focus is to shorten the time of detection and to ensure we monitor the correct control points. We will be focusing on making sure that our dashboard will be user friendly and accessible to all managers that need current data. Our long term goal will be to prevent revenue leakage. In addition, our RA goals will be to evolve to the point where we can accurately predict behavior in key result areas (minutes, revenue, ARPU) depending on different scenarios or possible future decisions. RA can provide important information and analysis that support business strategies and help the executives of the company to make the right decisions.

Guthrie:  Thank you very much for your time Carmen.

Mejia: Thank you.
 

More than 150,000 troops are serving overseas and are away from their families. Cell Phones for Soldiers and Advanced Technologies and Services, Inc (ATS) are calling on all Americans to support these brave men and women by donating your unused cell phones. Cell Phones for Soldiers hopes to collect over 50,000 cell phones this year to help keep troops connected with their families.

"Over the past few years, we have been amazed by the generosity of others. But we have also seen the need for the support of our troops to continue." says Brittany Bergquist, Cell Phones for Soldiers co-founder. "It is easy for Americans to make a small sacrifice of support by donating their unused cell phones, and providing families with a much-needed connection to their loved ones overseas."

Residents can support the collection drive by donating their phones at ATS' headquarters, located at:

1501 Hamburg Turnpike
ATS - 4th Floor
Wayne, NJ 07470

"We're proud to show our support for U.S. soldiers and to contribute to a worthy cause like Cell Phones for Soldiers," says Ryan Guthrie, Director of Sales & Marketing for ATS.

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered 501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $1 million in donations and distributed more than 500,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.

Through increased fundraising efforts, the Bergquist family hopes to raise more than $9 million in the next five years to fund new programs, such as providing video phones and prepaid service to allow soldiers abroad to see their families on a regular basis.

About Cell Phones for Soldiers: Cell Phones for Soldiers was created by Brittany & Robbie Bergquist of Norwell MA. After reading a story about a soldier who ran up a huge phone bill calling home from Iraq, these two teenagers decided to help out. They started by opening an account with $21.00 of their own money. They are collecting cash donations and old cell phones. The cell phones are recycled for cash and the proceeds are used to buy prepaid calling cards for our soldiers serving in the Middle East. Cell Phones For Soldiers is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Their efforts have motivated people and businesses around the country to donate to this worthy cause. Their goal is to provide every US soldier with a way to call home for free. For more information, please visit www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com.
 

The wireless industry today bears little resemblance to that which first emerged more than 25 years ago. But one thing that has remained constant is the need for wireless companies to make bold and provocative decisions--often in the guise of enlarging their market share, eliminating their competition or simply future-proofing their services or products. These unexpected moves often surprise even the most astute industry watchers and spark debate among the entire industry. These decisions have ripple effects on other industries as well.

It's too soon to say whether AT&T's (NYSE:T) proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA or Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) planned $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) will turn out to be brilliant or bone-headed moves. Whatever you think of those deals, they have already shaken up the industry and sparked discussions over the future of other companies.

Click Here for the full story.
 

Why you should care: First, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 's decision as to how USF will be changed essentially determines who has the best shot at providing broadband in unserved and underserved areas of the U.S. going forward. And by default, that means what the FCC decides will also likely determine whether those areas get broadband service and what the service looks like -- how fast it will be, how symmetrical, and whether it is wireless or wireline.

Second, the impact of the FCC's choices could reverberate into other aspects of telecom, specifically wireless backhaul. Efforts to build ubiquitous 4G coverage could be impacted if the new rules send rural telecom providers into a tailspin, because someone has to build and maintain connections to wireless towers in rural areas.

Click Here for the full story.

Wireless and VoIP Carriers - Want to reduce your contribution to USF and increase customer satisfaction?  Find out how much you can save with our USF calculator - WIRELESS - VOIP - or by contacting us at info@atso.com.
 

You're not alone. About 13 percent of mobile phone users are guilty of conducting fake conversations to get out of real conversations, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.

In a nationally representative telephone survey of nearly 2,300 American adults - with a margin of error of 2 percent - people confessed that they used their mobile devices as a way to show they don't want to be bothered.

Click Here for the full story.
 

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Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Please do e-mail us at info@atso.com.

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