PDF of this tutorialMobile data technologies such as short message service (SMS), wireless application protocol (WAP), and general packet-switched radio service (GPRS) have facilitated the move into the 2.5G world of content, with applications such as mobile e-mail and access to other Web-based services via mobile handsets.
SMS originated as a platform for e-mail and value-added services such as news, weather, and stock reports. WAP, which allows Internet content to be retrieved via mobile phones or other wireless devices, became available to the mass market in 2000.
Concurrent with the introduction of WAP, GPRS facilitates GSM–based wireless broadband access to the Internet via a personal computer (PC). GPRS also enhances WAP service levels. GPRS enables mobile service providers to offer complex services that are transferred as packet-switched, non-voice, value-added services. This is in contrast to traditional circuit-switched services that are available across mobile networks.
GPRS adds value because it enables instant wireless connections ("always on" service), which in turn allow information to be sent or received immediately as the need arises, subject to radio coverage. No dial-up modem connection is necessary.
Despite the accelerated pace of development in wireless technology and the digital data world, business drivers have focused on acquiring customers and increasing revenue to the exclusion of developing and implementing adequate billing and business solutions. Consequently, many entrants into the 2.5G marketplace had to rely on less-than-adequate billing solutions, using shortcuts to accommodate the drivers. Two of the most common shortcuts include the following:
- Bundling data charges into access charges
- Adding "all-you-can-eat" service for a flat rate
In assessing the complexity of billing for wireless data, the first challenge has been event collection and mediation. Carriers needed to deploy Internet protocol (IP) billing models capable of capturing information from multiple servers, routers, gateways, and content providers.
Suddenly, as service providers watched their margins disappear, flat-rate billing began to lose its appeal. The new catch phrase used to describe more recent usage-sensitive billing is billing for content. This new billing model is currently being addressed by billing standards organizations such as the Global Billing Association (GBA) to represent industry interests.
The objective of billing for content is two-fold—to help all service providers, and mobile service providers in particular, to determine the following:
- The type of data being transmitted over their networks
- How to capture revenue from the data being transmitted
As the rollout of more sophisticated and complex 3G services becomes a reality, these questions present an even greater challenge.
