Table of Contents:

Definition and Overview

1. 2G Billing Challenges

2. Transitioning from 2G to 2.5G Network Services

3. The Emergence of 2.5G Services and Resulting Billing Challenges

4. Next-Generation 3G Services: Bringing Challenge and Opportunity

5. New Business Models for Billing 3G Services

6. Conclusion

Self-Test

Glossary

PDF of this tutorial

Criteria like these are important factors to consider when evaluating and making decisions about potential billing solutions in the 3G environment. In the best of all worlds, an ideal solution will address all of these requirements. However, as the nature of services is redefined, certain compromises will be necessary. For example, the sheer complexity of service offerings will make fully itemized bills impractical. At the same time, self-care will enable users to examine their bills in the detail of their choice. In all cases, the bill must be clear and easy to decipher.

In weighing the pros and cons of the respective billing approaches, one fact is clear. The common denominator is the need for a technically practical way to bill for services—one that makes sense to the subscriber.

Service providers must approach GPRS and UMTS services in a consistent and straightforward manner and should bill subscribers in the same ways that they would be billed for the traditional version of the service.

As the GPRS and UMTS communications "revolution" unfolds, promising extraordinary changes in the ways in which we communicate, exchange information, and make purchases, no one knows exactly what the future will bring.

What we do know is that the future will not be exactly what we expect it to be. And we know that it is reasonable to expect that the business models that will succeed are those that can evolve over time.

In conclusion, billing systems must be as flexible as possible. And because service providers cannot be tied down to particular ways of doing business, they will have to forge alliances with business partners that are just as flexible and adaptable.

Compared to the considerable capital investment that service providers are making in GPRS and UMTS services, the customer care and billing investment is a relatively small one. It is, however, a central and vital concern in a marketplace where differentiation is the key to success.

A leading determinant in market differentiation will be the customer-care and billing system—and in some cases, it may be the pivotal investment that will mean the difference between success and failure.