MACH, a leading provider of hub-based mobile communications exchange solutions, has launched a package of solutions, called EU Pack, designed to help mobile network operators offset the negative impact of forthcoming EU regulations on roaming revenues. EU Pack comprises Data Fuse, the company’s ‘Anti-Bill Shock’ prevention solution, and Retail Roaming Marketing which is designed to stimulate usage through customised retail offers using its Re-pricing solution.
Set to come into force on 1st July this year, the latest EU regulations for intra-EU traffic lower pricing caps on Voice, SMS and Data services and require mandatory anti-bill shock solutions to be in place. The EU has also requested further increased transparency in mobile data roaming usage. Mobile operators continue to face the challenge of how to offset the anticipated negative impact these regulations will have on roaming revenues. As a result, they are seeking solutions with a quick time-to-market, like MACH’s EU Pack, that will enable them to comply with the new regulations that call for more transparency, while at the same time help them to optimise profitability and reduce churn.
“Last year roaming traffic in the EU grew by 36% and roaming data usage was the single biggest growth event. It is vital that mobile operators offer full transparency to their roaming subscribers, both in terms of monetary value and data volume, if they are to continue to build subscriber confidence and increase roaming data usage,” said Lodewijk Cornelis, Chief Marketing Officer, MACH. “MACH’s EU Pack provides full transparency for roaming subscribers and stimulates usage by enabling attractive and profitable data roaming retail offers designed to unlock data usage revenues for operators.”
EU Pack consists of two of MACH’s proven outsourced roaming solutions – Data Fuse and Re-pricing – that are both quick and easy to use and, as managed services, avoid any costly CAPEX investments. Data Fuse offers full transparency for roaming subscribers in monetary value, subscriber notification in real time and full operator reporting. Re-pricing enables operators to implement any customised retail offer depending on customer segmentation, usage and geography.
Data Fuse provides an effective anti-bill shock solution by triggering timely customer notifications in real time whenever a roaming subscriber reaches their usage limit, offering complete transparency for the subscriber. Using data usage information provided by analysis tools, the solution determines the best thresholds from a marketing standpoint, which helps in segmenting end-users and creating separate rate plans. From incoming data, the solution measures data usage, matches it to threshold segments in real time and sends personalised SMS mesages to subscribers on behalf of operators when the threshold is reached. Data Fuse also delivers daily notification overview reports, monthly summaries and “SMS sent” reports, providing full reporting to operators.