Move Over Data Plans, Make Way for Data Experiences

Taking a looking back over the past year in wireless, I noticed that there have been a lot of hot topics. We've seen unlimited data plans start to go the way of the dinosaur. There has been a slew of media coverage around customers being "bill shocked" by their service providers. Consumer and business users alike are snapping up more connected devices – and they want to share one data plan across all of them.  Even consumers who don’t know that LTE stands for Long Term Evolution do know that it means a faster, cooler, state-of-the-art mobile data experience … and they want it.

At the moment, it’s not exactly easy for service providers to keep up with the ever evolving needs of today's mobile consumer or business user. Each of us is simply too unique, and I may require a much different plan than the person sitting next to me right now on their tablet. Service providers need a solution that can quickly be tailored to meet the needs of all their customers without having to reinvent the wheel.

A recent Amdocs-sponsored survey found that key functions such as product catalog, policy management, online charging, real-time mediation and subscriber data management need to work together seamlessly in order to provide a great customer data experience. Service providers can’t get away with keeping these capabilities siloed in their respective IT or network domains, or they risk missing out on key opportunities.

From a consumer perspective, we’re seeing one thing shining above all others – customers aren’t buying data plans anymore. They are buying a data experience. They want a plan that will feed their sports addiction, or enable them to handle all of their work email without worrying about going over on data. They don’t want to spend $30 a month on data plans for every connected device they have – they want these plans to be smarter.

Service providers can now take advantage of sophisticated systems that can bridge policy management and real-time charging to dramatically enhance the user’s data experience. How? Well, think of policy as the bridge between the core network and IT systems such as billing.  Policy can enable dynamic in-service promotions such as:

• IF Maria is an entertainment service plan customer
• AND  Maria is accessing a video on YouTube
• AND the 3G network is congested
• THEN prompt Maria with 1 Time Turbo Boost for $3 to improve her data experience immediately

Maria comes out ahead because she gets the high-quality mobile video she wants. The service provider comes out ahead because it gets a revenue shot it wouldn’t otherwise have. Smart. Very smart.

Moving into 2012, there are sure to be many more challenges as competition in the mobile industry heats up, and consumer demands continue to evolve. A comprehensive approach focused on the personalized data experience as opposed to standard prepaid and postpaid data plans will be a key differentiator as finicky consumers pick what service provider they want on their side.  And if you’re that nimble, responsive service provider who can meet those needs, 2012 should shape up as a very good year indeed.

Rebecca Prudhomme is vice president of Product & Solutions Marketing at Amdocs. She currently leads Amdocs’ entire global team of product marketing professionals focused on bringing to market Amdocs’ products, services and solutions.