Meeting the OTT challenge BICS Product/Service: BIC’s OTT offering ENTRY SYNOPSIS: OTT services have been increasing in number and popularity in recent years, presenting a new opportunity for mobile operators to collaborate with these players to launch innovative new services into the marketplace. BICS has been central to helping operators around the world launch new services and enable exciting new business models that take advantage of the strengths of both OTT players and traditional operators to deliver innovative services to the end user. Taking advantage of its extensive network footprint and existing relationships with major OTT brands, BICS has developed a platform which allows companies, such as social network providers, to seamlessly enable content using featurephones rather than smartphones. MAIN ENTRY: OTT services have been increasing in number and popularity in recent years, presenting a new opportunity for mobile operators to collaborate with these players to launch innovative new services into the marketplace. BICS has been central to helping operators around the world launch new services and enable exciting new business models that take advantage of the strengths of both OTT players and traditional operators to deliver innovative services to the end user. Taking advantage of its extensive network footprint and existing relationships with major OTT brands, BICS has developed a platform which allows companies, such as social network providers, to seamlessly enable content using featurephones rather than smartphones. Initially utilised in developing markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the initiative has been established in a close collaboration with one of the leading social networks, and local MNOs and MVNOs. Due to the prevalence of featurephones in these markets, social content is provided using SMS over BICS’ SS7 network, rather than IP-based transit which is used when accessing the content on smartphones. This collaboration means an increased usage of social networks in these markets, while also an increasing demand for data usage, driving SMS usage and eventually creating demand Please return your completed form to [email protected] by Friday 25th September. Meeting the OTT challenge for more advanced services. Using SMS has proven to successfully engage users of social networks in developing markets. In addition, the SS7 network remains the most reliable and stable way to reach mobile subscribers in these regions. Since the launch of the initiative, BICS and its social network partners have increased user experience by: • Providing reliable and robust SMS authentication and engagement services • Providing data analytics to optimise the user experience for both the social network users and the MNO/MVNO • Helping operators and social network provider to increase the number of users and to boost revenues • This SMS initiative via SS7 is zero rated, so there is no charge for the end user The business case is compelling. The MNO/MVNOs experience is an uplift in both SMS usage and data consumption and thereby creates revenue growth. End users benefit from timely, relevant notifications and the social network can engage users and also add new consumers. BICS provides the connectivity, monitoring, reporting and security for all parties involved. More than 30 MNO/MVNOs and one of the world’s largest social networks are currently participating in the project with a further 70 in discussions. This initiative has added a significant number of new mobile users to the partner social network and increased engagement of the service providers’ customers. The increased usage in SMS and data generated, means an increase in revenue for the mobile operator and a better end-user experience. In local markets this has also helped to drive down the retail pricing and create packages for SMS and data usage by generating higher usage by the Social Network end-users. Overall, the end-user, the MNO/MVNO, the OTT and the Service Provider (BICS) have all benefited from the initiative. BICS has been central in developing partnerships between the service provider community and OTT players to drive usage and develop new business models for the entire industry. Driving the demand for data In collaboration with a key Silicon Valley partner, BICS is also introducing the concept of sponsored data to MNOs and MVNOs. Data sponsoring was created from a simple concept: Users will consume more data if it is less expensive. Please return your completed form to [email protected] by Friday 25th September. Meeting the OTT challenge Data Sponsoring allows content providers and app developers to subsidise the cost of subscribers’ mobile data usage. Instead of the end-user paying for mobile data usage, the MNO/MVNO can introduce the option that a third party contributes to the cost of the usage. In this model, BICS, as the platform and the service provider, as the partner, offers a unique value proposition into the marketplace where OTTs and other app developers and service providers can work with MNO/MVNOs to sponsor data for specific apps. An initial proof of concept has been launched in Belgium with Proximus starting in July 2015, the first beta test with a large scale operator in Europe. Offering more affordable data at the national level was a priority for Proximus, and considered a good way to generate new revenue to cover the deployment cost of its next-generation LTE network. By the end of the year, the aim is to develop the service to incorporate international roamers. This is currently a segment of users who are concerned about bill-shock associated with mobile data usage while traveling abroad. Often, this leads to users limiting their normal data usage. During 2016, BICS, in collaboration with its partner, aims to expand the sponsored data into developing markets to allow subsidised internet access, through mobile networks, to a largely untapped and currently unconnected market segment. Sponsored data has the potential to benefit: network operators, OTT service providers, app developers and gaming developers in addition to the end users themselves. MNO/MVNOs benefit from being able to charge users a lower price for data usage, OTTs and developers will attract an increase in usage as demand increases and the end customer will gain reduce cost access to applications and services, generating new future revenues for all parties. These are just two of the examples of how innovative carrier services provider BICS is helping encourage seamless interoperability between all telecoms players. Collaboration is the key to industry growth, and for OTTs, this has delivered an increased demand for data from end-users. Please return your completed form to [email protected] by Friday 25th September. Meeting the OTT challenge du Telecom Product/Service: du View ENTRY SYNOPSIS: "du View" is a true multi-platform OTT application providing best in class experience and content. MAIN ENTRY: "du View" users can enjoy a selection of "free to air" and "premium" TV channels, as well as a wide selection and expanding library of TV series, movies and kids content on the go through their mobile devices (iOS/Android), Gaming devices (Xbox One, Playstation, etc.) and Smart TVs (Samsung, Google, etc.) "du View" can be accessed, whether you have control over the TV remote or not, wherever you are. "du View" allows the users to simply navigate and browse our VOD catalog and Live TV programs schedules before logging in, and enjoying the content. Simply download du View for your preferred platform or device and enjoy. NOTE! The content in du View is geographically restricted as per compliance with content provider licensing term and conditions. Supporting documents: http://awards.telecoms.com/files/gravity_forms/73- f52155fa0e99d2674b01ef147b37fd42/2015/07/20150727_du-View_-Award_publicversion.pdf Please return your completed form to [email protected] by Friday 25th September. Meeting the OTT challenge GENBAND Product/Service: fring Alliance ENTRY SYNOPSIS: Launched in February 2015, the fring Alliance is a global community designed to help Communication Service Providers (CSPs) beat the independent Over the Top (OTT) challengers at their own game. In addition to delivering the services today’s users crave like video chat and texting, CSPs who join the Alliance leverage their inherent strengths, build community through a federated user directory, and gain ownership in the platform. MAIN ENTRY: Describe the product: For more than a decade, service providers have faced increased competition from OTT challengers like WhatsApp, Skype, Viber, and others who have siphoned customers away while building their business on the CSPs’ networks. In fact it’s estimated that in 2014 alone, CSPs lost approximately $14 billion in revenue to social media, IM and VoIP (source: Juniper Research). Faced with this dire situation, CSPs have had to devise new strategies. Many of them have opted for closed, “walled garden”-type strategies which have limited their reach and the effectiveness of their solutions. Enter the fring Alliance, which gives CSPs an opportunity to re-engage with their customer base and beat the OTTs at their own game. By leveraging fring, GENBAND’s white label OTT solution, the fring Alliance enables CSPs to compete with independent OTTs by offering comparable, more reliable services and simultaneously leverage their core assets. Through intimate network integration, "Carrier OTT" services can deliver a user experience that is vastly superior