PDF of this tutorialIn the future, as 3G services are adopted, GPRS will provide a massive boost to mobile data usage and usefulness. The promise of next-generation technology is likely to be realized because of its flexible feature set, and inherent latency, efficiency, and speed.
In Europe, next-generation or 3G cellular mobile radio is known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). UMTS is expected to offer broadband multimedia services in addition to basic services such as voice.
Both GPRS and UMTS will support many new types of services. These include the following:
- Streaming video services
- Videoconferencing
- Interactive on-line shopping
- Location-sensitive directories
- On-line banking, stock trading, and sports reporting
It is unlikely that these services initially will justify the significant capital investment required to fund the network development that enables them. Instead, industrial and commercial applications will most likely lead the way as major consumers of pure bandwidth.
The types of commercial applications being proposed include expanded versions of existing sales and service applications—extending on-line computer facilities to staff in the field and using mobile security applications to monitor buildings and moving vehicles.
If the mobile Internet is to succeed and enjoy widespread acceptance, service providers must offer a variety of services. However, service providers alone cannot supply all of the services that consumers will require. In fact, growth would be severely hampered if service offerings were limited to only those that service providers can develop and offer. As a result, in addition to their own, service providers will have to offer services supplied by outside sources.
Service-Provider Challenges
While the possibilities that result from the launch of next-generation services and content-based services are exciting, they present service providers with numerous challenges, such as the following:
- Where to assess the value of the content moving across networks
- How to deliver content developed and provided by third parties
- How to capture revenue generated by content provided by outside sources
Service-Provider Advantages
As service providers scramble to establish effective models for billing for these new services, several factors work in their favor:
- Service providers already interface with subscribers on a monthly basis in the form of invoices
- Service providers can bill content providers, uniquely positioning them as aggregators of content
Redefining Billing Requirements to Keep Pace With Change
As described previously, GPRS and UMTS are packet-switched networks that will change the elements of billing for a number of reasons:
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Users will be able to access content via a visual subscriber interface—as opposed to voice, mobile subscribers will be able to send and receive text, pictures, and video.
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New users will always be on-line. The concept of "making a call" will disappear.
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Networks will be able to locate users within a few miles or meters. This capability yields new forms of advertising and sponsored services, which means that third parties may be prepared to pay operators for access to their subscribers.
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To support GPRS and UMTS services, a new generation of mobile "phone" is being developed. The lines between traditional phones and laptops will blur as technologies converge. Different types of consumers will use different types of devices, depending on whether they want games, music, video, or voice.
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New partnership opportunities will abound as communications service providers partner with outside sources to produce the content that they cannot produce in-house. As a result, the volume of settlement activities required to manage the exchange of content between networks is expected to grow. Depending on the length of the value-chain, the speed with which the settlements are made will become critical.
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New, next-generation networks will generate different forms of data using different types of records in larger quantities. Forecasts range from twice as much data to 50 or even 100 times as much. Scalability in a billing system will be imperative.
Diagram of 3G Billing System
