Considerations for Video Service

Even though following post at LR talks about power of SPIT, following line caught by attention-

“service providers should make sure GGSN, load optimization, video management, DPI and policy tools all work together. They need to look at their set-up from a traffic management perspective”

http://www.lightreading.com/blog.asp?blog_sectionid=752&doc_id=209306&

Good point. I guess for most of the operators, integrating/migrating their existing GGSN to support DPI and to support DIAMETER for rating is a big challenge. On top of that non standard interfaces between PCEF and PCRF is creating operators to adopt patch-up approach and bring-in more gateways that would hinder utilizing full capabilities of the components in the video delivery ecosystem and hence impacting on the QOE.

LTE Application Strategy

http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=206479

Interesting facts highlighted in the above article that talks about how Metaswitch is building its offering to address data centric applications in HSPA+ & LTE environment.

Key points noted:

• 3 product themes aimed at handling OTT player threat to a CSP
   o Offering voice as service
   o Orchestrating diverse session & services
   o Rich applications on top of basic voice & test services and primarily targets voice-over-LTE markets
• Necessary capabilities required to challenge OTT dominance
   o Speed in which applications are developed by utilizing operator’s strong assests i.e., trust of their customers, access to subscriber data and the ability to offer services such as multiple phone numbers that are linked to a single device and can be managed by the user with personal settings that are linked to location, time, availability, etc
   o New applications can work across operator’s networks and bring above mentioned assets with multi-application integration enhancements
• Interesting point – to reduce the TTM for introducing multi-network/capability integration, start offering as OTT offering and later housed on in-network application servers that enable additional enhancements and security 
• Advanced address-book capabilities introduced as part of RCS seem to be the key for integrating different individual user centric data applications

3G VAS Considerations

NOTE: Business model considerations are mostly applicable for Indian market. Solution considerations are common across the market.

Business model: It can be a tri-party model wherein a VAS service provider uses the hardware/software platform from a platform vendor and procures the content from a content producer. The revenue earned gets split with these players. Now the service provider can either host the complete solution in his own data center (which is the preferred model) or the complete solution is put in a telecom operator’s data center. In either of these cases, service provider takes responsibility of integrating the solution with billing as well as SDP storefront. However the challenges in these integration are – identifying right content for a diverse country like India, content discovery, service assurance through CSR and the fair settlement with operator.

From solution perspective, considerations are:

- support for both CS (H324M) & PS (IP) services and related protocols. However till ubiquitous 3G coverage is available, better to offer CS based video service access

- for video services, whether the video gateway to be placed centrally or co-located with the MGW. Video content optimizer, video transcoder 

- bandwidth committed to the end-user and the bandwidth planned for each MHz of spectrum. Accordingly the content files with appropriate bit rates to be stored in the content management system. Based on variation in bandwidth available for the end-user dynamically select appropriate bit rate content file

- handset client to unify the content services – could be with proprietary codec that optimizes the bandwidth utilization

- campaign manager to track user usage and offer advice on similar content. Related support in the real-time rating engine

- on-boarding 3rd party apps and content service providers. A well-defined network abstraction and service/subscriber management capabilities is a must to expand the ecosystem

mCommerce Solution

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Telecom/
Mobile_commerce_sets_cash_register_ringing_for_companies/
articleshow/3146754.cms

mCommerce market trends:
- The Internet and Mobile Association of India estimated that the m-commerce market in India was worth Rs 9,500 crore in 2007. India currently has some 270 million-mobile subscribers.

- players provide solutions across sectors or vertical-specific mobile commerce services

- Ngpay, the mobile commerce solutions brand of Bangalore-based JiGrahak, on Wednesday announced that it had crossed one-lakh registered users in under three months, a clear indication that the nascent Indian mobile commerce market is taking surefooted steps to maturity. Ngpay is akin to a virtual mall on the user’s handset that helps book tickets, top up phones and pay bills, apart from standard bank account services. Ngpay focus has been to provide a convenient, secure and easy-to-use experience. Ngpay, which inked a deal with HDFC Bank last month for mobile banking, is already the leading mobile sales channel for IRCTC and Fame Cinema. It already accounts for 4% of sales in major markets for Fame. The solution has certified financial-grade security and works on entry-level mobile handsets, allaying two of the main fears among consumers: lack of security and complexity of use.

- Paymate has alliances with Tata Indicom and Kingfisher Airlines for mobile-linked payments. And its latest initiatives include utility bills and LIC insurance premium payments through one’s handset.

- Airtel had announced the launch of a range of mobile commerce solutions, including mobile money transfer (MMT), post-paid bill payment and pre-paid recharge on the handset. Airtel is partnering with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Corporation Bank and VISA to enable these payments using a solution that has been developed Bangalore-based firm mChek.

- makemytrip.com announced that it has launched a mobile travel product — again developed by mChek — that helps searching, booking and paying for flight tickets without needing a GPRS subscription.

- Obopay Payment Services, the India arm of California-based Obopay, is planning to offer global remittances as another service, apart from the vanilla fund transfer. Unlike what Western Union, the most popular service provider for such transactions, typically does, Obopay is planning to remit money from overseas directly to the bank account linked to the phone.

- Tanla Solutions’ acquisition of Openbit gives it a clear edge in terms of enhancing its offering in the on-device mobile payment segment. It could also help Tanla expand operations in newer geographies and create a sustainable revenue stream. Openbit has strong tie-ups with players such a Nokia and has its software products installed in 20 million Nokia phones. This deal can help Openbit extend its relationship with Nokia in countries such as China and India, where mobile subscribers are being added on a monthly run-rate of 8 million.

Business models:
- how does the payment brokers gets the money
  – whether subscriber pays?
  – payment receiving companies pays as it avoids usage of their expensive human resources/handling
  – advertisement
  – can some of the mcommerce players start leasing out their capability to interconnect with the payment gateways? That means the folks who are interacting with the customer will have to offer unique proposition like payment mechanism, cash back/loyalty program reach, reliability, customer care

Technical solution:
- On device either as an application or as SIMTK option, bearer either GPRS or SMS/USSD
  pros and cons?
- Server side – can handle as a WAP URL request or as SMS/USSD application
  – WAP URL – WAP server handling the request and connecting to the external payment gateways
  – SMS/USSD – gateway to connect to different operator SMS network and from then on connecting to the external vendors payment gateways
  – connecting to payment gateways is a challenge as it will involve complying to the other party’s security and connection setup the debit/roll back procedures
  – payment either from the credit card or from the operator’s prepaid or calling cards, also virtual money cards like ITZ cash card can be looked at
  – loyalty platforms for end users to “stick” to their service
  – customer care
- small bluetooth based printer to print the receipt