1

Analytics beyonu the hype: CSPs achieve tangible benefits

Bow CSPs leveiage analytics inteinally to impiove opeiational efficiency,
financial peifoimance anu customei expeiience

Noithstieam White Papei
Septembei 2u1S

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This Noithstieam white papei examines the oppoitunities foi
communications seivice pioviueis (CSPs) to impiove all aieas of
theii business thiough the applications of uata analytics. With
ongoing expansion of uata souices, uata types anu uata volumes,
CSPs aie facing the oppoitunities anu challenges of big uata. Big
uata is a buzz teim useu loosely to uesciibe eveiything fiom the
woilu's laigest uata sets to the call iecoius of a mouestly sizeu
CSP. Theie is hype suiiounuing big uata, but it is also impoitant to
acknowleuge that CSPs aie achieving quantifiable impiovements
thiough analysis of subsciibei, netwoik anu thiiu paity uata. Bata
analytics is useu to optimize opeiational efficiency, customei
expeiience anu financial peifoimance.
In this papei, we explain how uata analytics woiks in the context
of the CSP anu why some of the new applications aie so ciitical to
peifoimance. We illustiate the stiuctuie of uata analytics
solutions anu pioviue numeious application examples within a
fiamewoik spanning the telecom business. Finally, we exploie
thiough case stuuies some implementations of uata analytics that
have alieauy impioveu the peifoimance of a uiveise set of CSPs.
Noithstieam woulu like to thank the uata analytics venuois
Comptel, uuavus anu Salamanca Solutions Inteinational, which
pioviueu the infoimation foi the case stuuies in this white papei.


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! CSPs aie auopting moie sophisticateu uata analytics solutions, which aie ieal-time, gianulai to inuiviuual
customeis anu combine uata fiom multiple souices. Analytics moves beyonu iepoiting anu into
pieuictive mouels that anticipate futuie peifoimance anu piesciibe (automateu) coiiective action.
! Selling uata to thiiu paities can be an attiactive ievenue stieam. Bowevei, it is the inteinal uses of uata
that offei CSPs the most sizable benefits thiough impacting uiffeientiation, chuin, costs, planning anu
ARP0s etc.
! The Extiaction-Piocessing-Application fiamewoik is a mouel that can be useu to uesciibe a uata analytics
system. Extiaction iefeis to the piocess of gatheiing uata fiom souices, piocessing tiansfoims the uata
into usable infoimation that is subsequently applieu foi iepoiting anu optimization of business aieas.
! Analytics use cases aie numeious anu vaiieu, but can be stiuctuieu using 1) opeiational efficiency, 2)
subsciibei lifecycle anu S) financial peifoimance as a thiee uimensional fiamewoik.
! Analytics case stuuies illustiate ieal-life impiovements achieveu by CSPs, such as a multi-folu inciease in
the ievenue upsiue of campaigning thiough chuin pievention analytics; oi ieuucing customei caie
inteiaction costs by analysis of customei caie uiiveis.
! CSPs achieve the best iesults when using analytics to accomplish specific business goals. CSPs finu it
useful to uevelop a stiategic plan foi uata analytics that has a long-teim vision, but at the same time builu
the implementations inciementally, beginning with inuiviuual use cases.


2

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1.1. What is big uata foi CSPs.
The opeiations of communications seivice pioviueis
(CSPs) have always geneiateu laige amounts of uata. The
uata collecteu fiom the netwoik has pioviueu infoimation
on its peifoimance. Eveiy call maue, oi SNS sent, by a
customei has piouuceu uata about the iuentity anu
location of both the initiatoi anu iecipient of the
communication, about the uuiation of the call oi the
natuie of the SNS; anu about the functionality of the
suppoiting equipment. With the uigitization of seivices
anu the piolifeiation of uata seivices, that infoimation has
expanueu to incluue web sites visiteu, content of
uownloaus such as apps anu viueo, mobile payments anu
moie. CSPs aie also staiting to uiscovei that theie may be
value in othei uata sets such as billing iecoius, sales
channels anu othei customei inteiactions.
The concept of big uata lacks a univeisal uefinition. In a
bioau sense, big uata is useu to iepiesent the iapiuly
expanuing availability of uata, fiom a uiveise set of
souices, which can be useu as input to business uecisions.
In this context, big uata is not limiteu to the applications of
the laigest anu most complex uata sets but also applies to
small CSPs extenuing theii application of uata analysis
tools to new souices anu to new business aieas. Big uata is
a ielative measuie foi each oiganization, with big
implying moie volume, moie souices anu highei value.
Big uata is an impoitant asset foi CSPs. Yet, its tiue value
is not extiacteu until the application of uata analytics,
which tiansfoims uata into insights anu inputs to uecision
making. Tiauitional business intelligence tools have been
failing to cope with the volume, vaiiety anu velocity of big
uata.

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Theie is hype suiiounuing big uata, but it is also
impoitant to acknowleuge that CSPs aie achieving
quantifiable impiovements thiough analysis of subsciibei,
netwoik anu thiiu paity uata. Bata analytics is useu to
optimize opeiational efficiency, customei expeiience
thioughout the subsciibei lifecycle anu financial
peifoimance.
1.2. The evolution of uata analytics
CSPs have long been applying uiffeient levels of analytics
to suppoit planning; especially aftei the uigitization of
telecom netwoiks. Bowevei, CSPs have been inhibiteu by
the availability of appiopiiate analytic tools, computing
powei anu affoiuable stoiage. Bue to these constiaints,
the uata analytics useu by CSPs has been until iecently
focuseu on uesciiptive mouels anu histoiical analysis of
past events, geneial tienus anu gioup behavioui. This type
of analytics is usually peifoimeu in isolation, within
sepaiate uepaitments. As a iesult, the infoimation fiom
this analysis is backwaius looking anu lacks a holistic view
of the CSP's complex, evei-changing enviionment.
Though past applications have been limiteu to iepoiting
on the state of the netwoik, customeis oi finances, new
possibilities have emeigeu. Rathei than only uesciibing
peifoimance, optimization anu efficiency applications aie
useu to impiove peifoimance. Pieuictive applications go
fuithei anu anticipate futuie peifoimance. The final anu
most auvanceu step foi these tools is to automatically
coiiect the pieuicteu futuie peifoimance inefficiencies.
Although many CSPs have so fai laigely been limiteu to
iepoiting analytics, the most auvanceu CSPs have some
pieuictive analytics oi uata mining in place.
CSPs aie now staiting to auopt solutions that allow
analytics in ieal-time, gianulai to inuiviuual events,
netwoik elements oi subsciibeis. In auuition, they aie
staiting to combine uata anu insights fiom multiple
souices within the oiganization (netwoik, maiketing
uepaitment, customei caie etc.).
The ieal-time, oi neai ieal-time, aspect of telecom uata
analytics solutions is becoming an incieasingly ciucial
iequiiement. Receiving anu visualizing infoimation
thiough ieal-time uashboaius helps uetect ciitical events
that affect customei expeiience anu take ieal-time
coiiective action. Foi example, auuiess pioblems with
uioppeu uata sessions. It can also be useu foi contextual
maiketing campaigns when a customei is in a specific
location wheie a ceitain offei is ielevant.
Anothei key aspect of the evolution of uata analytics is
moving fiom unueistanuing geneial tienus anu gioup
behavioui to unueistanuing customeis as inuiviuuals.
Being able to make a peisonalizeu offeiing incieases the
success iate of up-sell anu cioss-sell campaigns anu
impioves customei expeiience.
Bata analytics solutions aie incieasingly able to integiate
multiple types of uata coming fiom multiple souices in the
oiganization oi even fiom souices exteinal to the CSP.
Operational
efficiency
Network
Sales
Analytics
Subscriber
lifecycle
Financial
performance
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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012


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Bieaking uown uata silos is the only way to achieve a
complete anu holistic view of the CSPs woilu.
1.S. Exteinal uses of big uata
An incieasing numbei of CSPs have also begun to view
inteinalcustomei uata as a ievenue stieam when suitably
packageu anu solu to thiiu paities. Bata unique to CSPs,
such as content consumption anu communication
patteins, is of value to auveitiseis as well as ietaileis anu
othei businesses.
The exteinal selling of uata is a ievenue stieam that has
potential but also challenges. Piivacy anu iegulatoiy
questions neeu to be caiefully navigateu. Auuitionally,
only the laigest Tiei 1 CSPs have scale of subsciibei base
to pioviue a cleai path to monetization. The gieatest
challenge may be that companies such as uoogle anu
Facebook, which have built theii business mouels aiounu
customei uata anu auveitising netwoiks, aie bettei at
extiacting infoimation acioss bioauei auuiences anu
geogiaphies than any CSP.
Although global net uigital au ievenue (incluuing online
anu mobile) was estimateu at $1u4B in 2u12 anu is
giowing quickly, that is equivalent to only 7% of the $1.ST
global telecoms ievenue. Almost half of the net uigital au
ievenue is captuieu by eleven companies, among which
uoogle is the leauei with S1% of the total. CSPs woulu finu
it haiu to outcompete these big establisheu iivals anu at
best coulu captuie a small fiaction of the total uigital au
ievenue. Foi CSPs, a 1% inciease in theii ievenue, oi the
coiiesponuing smallei ieuuction in expenses,
accomplisheu thiough the peifoimance impiovements
possible with inteinal uses of uata analytics, woulu have a
similai impact as becoming a maiket leauei in uigital
auveitising. It woulu also be moie easily anu consistently
accomplisheu than what is iealistically achievable by
monetizing customei uata.

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Analysls Mason, "Clobal Lelecoms markeL: Lrends and forecasLs 2013-2017"
Although we acknowleuge that the exteinal uses of
telecom-geneiateu uata is a topic that iightfully ieceives
incieasing attention; in this iepoit we will focus on CSPs'
inteinal uses of uata. Noithstieam finus that it is the
inteinal uses that offei CSPs the biggest anu most
impactful benefits.

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Touay it is a wiuely shaieu view that telecom seivices aie
becoming commouitizeu. Nany maikets aie ieaching
satuiation, which, along with moie expensive usei
uevices, is making customei acquisition moie expensive.
Continuing netwoik investment iequiiements, uiiven by
uata usage giowth anu LTE, keep CAPEX iequiiements
high. At the same time, in most maikets ARP0s aie often
stagnant oi ueclining (in Euiope the aveiage ievenue pei
usei ueclineu by 6.6% Y0Y to 0S$ 27 in 2u12
S
). Revenue
piessuie comes fiom competition within the inuustiy, anu
also fiom ovei-the-top (0TT) playeis, such as Skype,
Facebook anu uoogle, which aie uiiving incieaseu uata
ievenues but aie eiouing ievenues fiom tiauitional coie
seivices like voice anu SNS. This tienu is expecteu to
continue as total global voice ievenues aie foiecast
4
to
uecline at a CAuR of 2.S% in the peiiou 2u12-2u17.
With this set of piessuies on the inuustiy, new methous
aie iequiieu to maintain maigins. Inciemental
impiovements to all business aieas will ieplace ieliance
on stiong inuustiy giowth. While uata analytics is not the
only tool that will be useu to auuiess the challenges of the
telecom inuustiy; analytics can be useu to help alleviate
them all. To auuiess the high level list of challenges listeu
above,
0ppoitunities foi uiffeientiation inciease as
CSPs can make impiovements to seivice quality,
customei expeiience anu piouuct uesign.
Customei chuin can be ieuuceu by using
pieuictive analytics to bettei taiget chuining
subsciibeis with ietention offeis.
Customei acquisition can be maue moie cost-
effective when impioveu accuiacy allows foi
selective maiketing.
Netwoiks can be opeiateu moie efficiently to
ueiive the maximum value fiom existing assets,
anu can be planneu moie cost effectively by
bettei matching capacity supply with uemanu.

2
eMarkeLer, !une 2013
3
8ank of Amerlca Merrlll Lynch "Clobal Wlreless MaLrlx 1C13"
4
Cvum, "Clobal Moblle MarkeL CuLlook: 2012-17"
Global telecoms revenue
2012
$1,500B
The global net digital advertising market (including online and mobile) was
estimated to have revenue of $104B in 2012, equivalent to 7% of the $1.5T in
telecom and related services revenue in 2012.
Global net digital ad revenue
2012
$104B


4

ARP0s can be incieaseu by inuiviuually tailoiing
offeis to ensuie each subsciibei gets as much
value as possible fiom the seivice. Seivices can
be impioveu to stiengthen quality leaueiship in
the competition with 0TTs.

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Because of the availability of uata thioughout telecom
opeiatois, uata analytics can have an impact on all facets
of the business. Theie aie so many anu such vaiieu use
cases that a fiamewoik is iequiieu to piesent them.
Noithstieam believes that uata analytics solutions can be
mappeu using (1) opeiational efficiency, (2) subsciibei
lifecycle, anu (S) financial peifoimance as a thiee
uimensional fiamewoik. Piesenteu in no paiticulai oiuei,
the uimensions aie uesciibeu as follows:
(1) Each opeiational aiea of the CSP oiganization
(netwoiks, customei caie, sales anu maiketing,
iegulationgoveinance, anu executive management) can
benefit fiom uata analytics to impiove the efficiency of its
opeiations anu the quality of its outputs. Some
applications iely only on uata inteinal to those opeiational
aieas, moie auvanceu applications iely on opening silos to
shaie uata acioss the oiganization.
(2) Bata analytics is useu to impiove customei expeiience
thioughout the entiie subsciibei lifecycle. Bettei
segmentation, anu taigeting, allow maiketing iesouices to
be optimizeu to attiact new customeis. 0nce the customei
is acquiieu, the seivice offeiing can be customizeu anu
piovisioning tools automateu thiough ieal-time anu close
loop functionality. Seivice ueliveiy is enhanceu thiough
netwoik anu usage analytics that optimize netwoik
peifoimance. Pieuictive analytics enables bettei-taigeteu
upsell anu cioss sell offeis. Customei ietention is
incieaseu by moie accuiately iuentifying potential
chuineis anu appioaching them with suitable offeis.
(S) The financial peifoimance of a CSP, ieflecteu in both
the income statement anu the balance sheet, is impioveu
with the help of analytics. CSPs can optimize existing
souices of ievenue, oi iuentify new souices, anu in paiallel
achieve savings both in the seiving of subsciibeis anu in
the oveiheau of the oiganization. In auuition, CAPEX can
be maue moie efficient by iuentifying the most ciitical
investments anu by loweiing the oveiall bill. Finally, by
analyzing the factois unueilying highei-level KPIs, tienus
can be bettei unueistoou anu foiecasteu.
Tables 1, 2 anu S illustiate each uimension anu categoiy
thiough examples. Each example can be listeu unuei one
categoiy in each of the thiee uimensions, but is placeu
unuei only one of the categoiies aibitiaiily. Examples
maikeu in ieu aie exploieu fuithei in the case stuuies that
follow.





5












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Financial performance
Use cases

Description
Revenue
Channel optimization
Product portfolio optimization
Pricing optimization

predict the best channels for each product and optimize distributor margins
analyze product portfolio to identify unserved customer segments etc.
predict customer price sensitivity for complex plans (roaming, voice and data etc.)
Variable cost
Acquisition cost optimization
Retention cost optimization

predict customers most likely to respond positively to new offers
focus resources on at-risk high value customers and identify best retention offer
Fixed cost
Customer care cost reduction
Marketing analysis/optimization

reduce care calls, tickets and truck rolls through identifying problem commonalities
improve efficiency and execution of campaigns
CAPEX
Infrastructure planning
Traffic optimization

plan infrastructure investments based on network and data usage analysis
route traffic to efficiently load networks
Accounting/Forecasting
Wholesale reconciliation
Revenue leakage
Customer lifetime value

identify sources of discrepancy and reconcile interconnect charges
identify revenue leakage due to system misconfiguration or failed components
predict customer lifetime value through behavioral and service usage analysis
Subscriber lifecycle
Use cases

Description
Attraction
Customer insight and targeting
Sales and channel analysis

create target profiles based on analytics of product usage, customer behavior
identify the most suitable channels and sales strategy for each product
Acquisition
Value segment prediction
New customer analysis

predict the future value segment of a new customer based on initial data
analyze new customers to assess success of marketing campaigns
Service Delivery
Contextual offers
Service quality improvement
High value service upsell

tailor offers based on context such as customers location
configure network to optimize service quality through performance data
target subscribers most likely to acquire additional service
Billing
Fraud detection
Bad debt forecasting

detect sources of fraud such as cloned SIMs, device theft, top-up vouchers misuse
forecast bad debt based on analysis of subscriber payment history
Retention
Churn prediction
Churn prevention
Competitor destination
prediction

identify the most likely churners based on predictive analytics
tailor personalized offer to potential churners
predict which service provider customers are churning to

Operational efficiency
Use cases

Description
Network
Capacity management
Performance management

identify and prevent network congestion based on service usage analytics
monitor and ensure consistent service quality regardless of location, device etc.
Customer care
Customer problem case analysis
Priority customers service
Customer sentiment

analyze customer problems, speed of resolution etc. to improve customer care
identify priority customers and ensure their customer service satisfaction
detect customer sentiment through social media analysis
Products, Sales and Marketing
Customer profiling/segmentation
Top-up optimization
Product analysis

360 customer insight based on demographics, product, digital usage, billing etc.
create promotions, tiered pricing etc. based on individual subscriber behavior
analyze product performance, margins, cannibalization, price changes etc.
Regulation/Governance
Contract/SLA enforcement
Roaming analytics
Regulatory reporting

track network performance to ensure vendors compliance with contracts
analyze national and international roaming patterns and usage
monitor QoS to ensure compliance with spectrum license requirements
Management
Continuous business
optimization
Predictive planning
Internal staffing

optimize business processes based on identifying organizational bottlenecks etc.

plan allocation of resources for future needs
analyze, predict and plan internal staffing needs


6

The benefits of uata analytics can best be illustiateu by
ieal-life examples. Noithstieam has theiefoie ievieweu a
numbei of case stuuies fiom thiee venuois (Comptel,
uuavus anu Salamanca Solutions Inteinational) that uepict
actual implementations. Each of the case stuuies piesents
the backgiounu anu context, the implementeu solution
anu the iesults achieveu as well as how these use cases fit
into the thiee uimensional fiamewoik uesciibeu eailiei.




























The case stuuies auuiess uiffeient business challenges,
uiffeient aieas (ianging fiom piouucts anu maiketing to
customei caie to finance) anu uiffeient maikets acioss
five continents. Yet, the common uenominatoi is that they
have all leu to conciete anu measuiable impiovements.
These impiovements have affecteu the opeiational,
financial anu customei expeiience siue of the CSPs'
business.




























Background and market context
! An African CSP is the leading operator in its country and
has managed, through a successful strategy focused on
low cost handsets and underserviced areas, to increase
its prepaid customer base
! However, the above strategy, together with competitive
pricing from other players, has decreased prepaid ARPU
and pushed down on margins
! The CSP faces the challenge of increasing stickiness
among prepaid segment and top-up revenues
Top-up optimization solution
! The top-up optimization solution identifies the customers
likely to respond positively and tailors a personalized
offer with a top-up reward (e.g. Top-up $10 now, get $3
extra)
! The CSP deployed the top-up optimization solution. For
the analysis they used data sources such as CDRs,
credit balance etc. in order to select customers to target
and identify a personalized offer
Results
The results were compared between a series of monthly top-
up stimulation campaigns executed by the CSP without using
any analytics and a series of campaigns using the top-up
optimization analytics. The target group for both campaigns
was 40%. The resulting impact was put in the context of the
CSPs overall business performance.
By extracting and analyzing raw data (CDRs, CRM customer
profile, top-up server data, service usage etc.), the top-up
optimization solution provided a 63% increase in campaign
net revenue. The solution can be implemented in near real-
time with 'closed loop' features, i.e. selecting the right action
for continued campaigning.

The data analytics vendor was Comptel.


Top-up optimization analytics increased the campaign net revenue in prepaid segment by 63%

Use case mapping

Operational
efficiency
Subscriber
lifecycle
Financial
performance
Products, Sales and
Marketing
Service Delivery Revenue
Old Campaign
Campaign using
analytics
Increase in campaign net revenue
from analytics solution
63%
Increase in operators total prepaid
Revenue
0.6% 1.0%
Background and market context
! A South-East Asian CSP observed a slow uptake of
mobile TV service after its launch
! The CSPs marketing department had the objective to
understand mobile TV usage, accelerate its adoption
among subscribers and increase the overall usage for
the current viewers
Mobile TV Upsell Solution
! The CSP conducted a SMS/MMS marketing campaign
promoting a premier league football mobile TV channel
! The campaign used analytics to target subscribers based
on demographics, device type (subscribers with the
devices that were best suited for mobile TV) and content
history (content interest, past viewing habits etc.)
The subscribers who received messages showed an initial
fivefold increase in uptake of the service (which stabilized at
twofold after a month) compared to subscribers who were not
targeted in the campaign. The campaign tracked a control
group and included untargeted segments in order to
benchmark performance and learn best practices. Among the
subscribers who were targeted by the campaign and saw the
promoted football match, 60% returned for viewing of next
match. The overall viewing time per subscriber increased by
16%, creating deeper service loyalty.

The data analytics vendor was Guavus.


A targeted upsell campaign using subscriber analytics led to a 5-fold
increase in Mobile TV uptake and usage


Use case mapping

Campaign benefits
Increase in uptake for mobile
TV channel
Immediate 5x for targeted
subs, stabilizing at 2x
Increase in avg. viewing time
(1 month)
16%
Effectiveness of targeting
segments
2-4x more uptake than off
segment
Results
Supported by analytics, the CSP was able to conduct a
successful marketing campaign that raised awareness for the
football channel and, by targeting the most likely viewers,
increased adoption of the service.

Operational
efficiency
Subscriber
lifecycle
Financial
performance
Products, Sales and
Marketing
Service Delivery Revenue


7




































































Background and market context
! An East European CSP is the countrys second largest
operator by revenue and subscriber base
! ARPU has been relatively stable the past few years but
as the market has matured and mobile penetration has
increased, the new subscriber growth rate has dropped
! The CSP faces the challenge of retaining existing
customers, while attracting new ones from a limited pool
Churn prevention solution
! The churn prevention solution is an extension beyond
prediction as it not only identifies potential churners likely
to respond positively but also tailors a personalized offer
! It allows CSPs to increase the success rate of retention
campaigns as the better personalized offers are more
likely to be accepted by potential churners

and a series of campaigns using the vendors churn
prevention analytics. The target group for both campaigns
was 12% of the prepaid customers. The resulting impact was
put in the context of the CSPs overall business performance.
By extracting and analyzing raw data (CDRs, CRM customer
profile, service usage etc.), the churn prevention solution
provided a 259% increase in campaign revenue gain. The
solution can be implemented in near real-time with 'closed
loop' features, i.e. selecting right action for continued
campaigning.

The data analytics vendor was Comptel.


Churn prevention analytics increased the campaign revenue gain in prepaid
segment by 259%

Use case mapping

Results
The results were compared between a series of monthly
campaigns executed by the CSP without using any analytics
Operational
efficiency
Subscriber
lifecycle
Financial
performance
Products, Sales and
Marketing
Retention Revenue
Campaign benefits
Increase in retained prepaid customers
from analytics solution
3.6 times
Increase in campaign revenue
gain from vendors analytics solution
259%
Background and market context
! A North American CSP had a lack of timely, in-depth
insight into the drivers behind customer care interactions
! The CSP was interested in improving their understanding
of the drivers of customer care costs, but were having a
hard time overcoming the difficulty of correlating data
from numerous, disparate sources
! The CSP needed the information to be available quickly
to CSP employees from a variety of groups
Customer Care Solution
! The application collects and analyzes data from
numerous disparate sources and provides actionable
insights
! The solution identifies which attributes are common or
outside of the norm regarding calls, tickets and truck rolls
by using advanced analytics techniques
! Examples include device interoperability issues and
unexpected impacts from scheduled maintenance
Results
Estimates of processing requirements are more than 1m data
records daily, coming from more than 12 different systems, in
near real time.
A decrease in care events resulted from a reduction in mean
time to understand issues and more accurate, targeted call
deflections and the decrease in churn would come with better
customer experience.
Initial estimates put expected future savings to the CSP at
about $11 million in calls, tickets, truck rolls and operational
man hours. Additionally, an estimated 0.1% reduction in churn
will be achieved; churn today costs the CSP about $816
million.

The data analytics vendor was Guavus.


Analysis of customer care drivers is estimated to reduce interaction costs by $11m
and the churn rate by 0.1%


Use case mapping

Campaign benefits
Decreased call center, trouble ticket, and
truck role costs
$11m over lifetime
Decrease in churn rate through more
effective customer care
0.1%
Operational
efficiency
Subscriber
lifecycle
Financial
performance
Customer Care Retention Fixed Costs


8















C3 /#B 5+%+ +6+1;%(7) );)%-:) +.- )%.$7%$.-5
Theie aie as many possible implementations of a uata
analytics system as theie aie possible applications. No
single technologyalgoiithm can necessaiily solve all
pioblems. CSPs neeu uiffeient mouels, algoiithms, etc. to
auuiess the uiffeient business objectives. Theiefoie, one
of the key values of woiking with expeiienceu venuois is
the accumulateu knowleuge of combining multiple
mouels.
Even with the gieat vaiiety of possible implementations,
theie is still a functional mouel that can be applieu to any
uata analytics system. 0ne of many possible mouels is
Extiaction - Piocessing - Application (uepicteu in Figuie
S). The specifics of each of these steps aie ueteimineu
both by the application iequiiements anu by the existing
uata systems at the CSP. The implementation of each of
these steps can have laige vaiiations in teims of scope anu
complexity. The bounuaiies between the steps aie
subjective in many cases. They aie meant to be an abstiact
guiue to oveiall functionality iathei than pioviue a stiict
uefinition.
A8%.+7%(#6
Each system has its own iequiiements foi uata inputs.
Cuiiently, common applications can utilize a single,
existing souice (such as call uata iecoius (CBRs) foi
customei suppoit), but moie complex applications may
neeu inputs fiom uispaiate aieas of the CSP. Regaiuless of
what uata is iequiieu, each implementation is uiffeient
uue to the vaiieu stiuctuie anu uistiibution of souices at
each CSP.















The list of uata souices is continuously expanuing as CSPs
uiscovei novel applications. Potential souices can be
categoiizeu baseu on key aieas such as the netwoik
(netwoik elements anu piobes that pioviue infoimation
on the functioning of the netwoik), the billing anu
financial uatabases (fiom which business anu customei
uata is extiacteu) anu many otheis. A newei class of
souices is those of Siu paity uata sets; this is the most
open-enueu categoiy, but eaily examples incluue geo uata,
uemogiaphics, social meuia anu moie.
A funuamental uistinction of types of uata souices is
stoieu veisus ieal-time (flow) uata. Stoieu uata exists in
uatabases, which can be queiieu eithei on uemanu oi at
iegulai inteivals ueteimineu by the stability of the uata.
The alteinative is a uata stieam, which is automatically
geneiateu by netwoik elements oi high fiequency event-
baseu iepoiting. Real-time uata has tiauitionally been
focuseu aiounu netwoik alaims, but new applications aie
extenuing the use cases. Extiacting uata in ieal-time
iequiies significantly moie system capacity anu in many
cases pie-piocessing to make the uata stieams moie
manageable.
With the incieasing vaiiety of uata souices anu types, a
giowing iequiiement is the use of open stanuaius foi
inteiconnectivity, stanuaiuizeu inteifaces anu uata
stiuctuies. While a wiue iange of tools aie neeueu to
auuiess the iange of challenges some examples incluue
eT0N (inteiface stiuctuies), Apache, Bauoop anu Linux
(open souice softwaie). This appioach helps to avoiu
venuoi lock-in anu will also ensuie that uifficult to ieplace
legacy systems will iemain compatible as uata systems
Background and market context
! A Latin American CSP suspected a local interconnect
partner of fraud based on large and systematic
differences in usage reporting. The CSP did not have the
expertise to reconcile the differing sets of records to
identify the correct wholesale cost and identify the cause
of the discrepancies
Wholesale reconciliation solution
! The wholesale reconciliation solution was used to
analyze the CDRs of both CSPs. The system collected
large quantities of CDRs and the records were filtered
down to those of interconnected calls during the periods
in question. The records were then transformed to the
same format for direct comparability and matched based
on a variety of call meta data fitting within certain
tolerances
! The application was able to resolve the CDRs of the two
CSPs and guide network engineers towards the common
point of failure in the interconnect records keeping
Results
Based on the analysis performed, it was found that incorrect
core network configuration was the reason for the
records discrepancy. While revenue was lost, it was not a
case of fraud.
Within two months, the CSP was able to reduce the mismatch
for the incoming minutes reported by 93% and the difference
for outgoing minutes by 80%. The application provided
information that aided in the root cause analysis of the
records discrepancy and let to its correction.

The data analytics vendor was Salamanca Solutions
International.


Wholesale reconciliation analytics helped CSP reduce discrepancy in interconnect charges by decreasing
mismatch in incoming minutes reported from 15% to less than 1%

Use case mapping

Operational
efficiency
Subscriber
lifecycle
Financial
performance
Network Service Delivery
Forecasting/
accounting
Analytics benefits
Reduce the mismatch for the incoming
minutes reported
from an average of 15%
to less than 1%
Reduce the mismatch for outgoing minutes
reported
from an average of 5%
to less than 1%


9

uevelop. CSPs shoulu be also able to configuie, thiough a
simple inteiface, new analytical logic fiom existing uata
souices. By not going to the venuoi eveiy time a new iuea
comes up, moie iueas can be tiieu anu a bettei vaiiety of
tools can be uevelopeu.
*.#7-))(60
The function of piocessing, also calleu meuiation, is to
tiansfoim the vaiieu uata souices into usable infoimation.
The piocess of tiansfoimation is uiffeient foi each set of
uata souices anu application iequiiements, but follows a
stanuaiu piogiession:
D+1(5+%(#6 ensuies that the uata is intact anu
complete.
E#.:+1(F+%(#6 iestiuctuies the uata so that it
can be hanuleu in an efficient way, simplifying
the following steps.
Logical .$1-) aie uefineu which builu
infoimation fiom the uata.
>#..-1+%(#6 of multiple uata souices, matching
events, subsciibeis, oi assets, pioviues a
complete view anu iuentifies ielationships
between the infoimation.
The piocessing iequiiements of a system aie laigely
ueteimineu by the types, anu volumes, of uata that aie
hanuleu. Static uata can be piocesseu accoiuing to a
scheuule; anu theiefoie can be uone veiy efficiently. Real-
time uata inputs, especially when useu foi ieal-time
outputs, iequiie full capacity to be available at all times.
This iequiiement is geneially met by uistiibuting
piocessing closei to the souice, oi piovisioning the
capacity foi fewei souices. Continuing auvancements in
uata piocessing (e.g. NapReuuce with paiallel computing)
have only iecently maue it possible foi CSPs to cost-
effectively woik with laige, complex uata sets.
!,,1(7+%(#6
The applicability of uata analytics goes thiough the
business piocesses of a CSP. All functions, uecisions anu
plans can be impacteu; the key is iuentifying challenges foi
which analytics can have the laigest impact. Classes of
applications incluue:
Repoiting anu visibility pioviue an incieaseu
knowleuge of a CSP's peifoimance, thus enabling
bettei-infoimeu uecision making. This is the
focus of most CSP effoits to uate.
0ptimization anu efficiency applications can
iuentify non-tiivial solutions to opeiational anu
planning pioblems.
Pieuictive analysis uses causal ielationships anu
unueilying tienus to moie accuiately plan anu
foiecast.
Closeu Loop systems automate the piocess of
ieacting to uata analysis iesults anu allow foi
ieal-time iesponses to changes in the opeiating
enviionment.
0ne functional aiea that has been left out of oui
uesciiption is uata stoiage. The neeu foi stoiage can be
uiiven by caching iequiiements, to maintain the capability
of histoiical benchmaiking, oi iegulatoiy iequiiements.
This functional aiea has been left out because it is a
technical iequiiement to be ueteimineu foi each
inuiviuual implementation, iathei than a uiivei of the
expansion of uata analytics possibilities.

G3 ='-6 +65 '#B + >?* )'#$15 5-,1#; 5+%+ +6+1;%(7)
S.1. Bata analytics as a tool to achieve specific
business goals
CSPs shoulu use big uata anu uata analytics in oiuei to
achieve specific business goals iathei than as a bioau
stiategy foi uiscoveiing useful insights. Some of these
business goals may have a cleai business case anu a
measuiable iesult (e.g. the impact on ievenue by ieuucing
chuin by 1%) while otheis have moie intangible anu haiu
to measuie iesults (e.g. moie effective management
uecision-making thiough impioveu business awaieness).
In any case, the objectives to be achieveu neeu to be cleai
anu specific, with a quantifiable iesult to the extent
possible. The insights pioviueu by the uata analytics neeu
to be timely, ielevant anu actionable.
Existing oiganizational stiuctuie (systems, piocesses,
people) can be a baiiiei to innovation anu auopting new
analytical tools. In oiuei to make analytics a useful tool in
making uecisions anu achieving specific business goals, a
key challenge is to integiate the iesults of uata analytics
into the oiganization. This means that line manageis neeu
to have the necessaiy skills anu tiaining to unueistanu the
output of uata analytics anu how to best integiate that in
uecision making by combining it with "soft" uata, baseu on
theii own business expeiience anu intuition.






10


















!"#$%& ?) @,%$0,$%& 37 ;+,+ +-+./,"01 1/1,&61




Network
! Nodes
! Routers
! Servers
! Probes
!
OSS/
BSS
OSS/BSS
! Inventory
! Fulfilment
! Assurance
! Billing
!
3
rd
Party
! Social Media
! Geo Data
! Financial
! Consumption
!
Customer
! CRM
! AAA
! HLR/HSS
! Devices
!
E
x
t
r
a
c
t
i
o
n

P
r
o
c
e
s
s
i
n
g

Validation
!
Correlation
Rules / Logic
Normalization
A
p
p
l
i
c
a
t
i
o
n

Operational efficiency Subscriber lifecycle Financial performance
Example applications from case studies:
! Top-up optimization
! High-value service upsell
! Churn prevention
! Customer care cost reduction
! Wholesale reconciliation
Network
Sales
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012


11

Buiing Noithstieam's engagements ielating to uata
analytics ueployments, we have seen that the solutions
offei not only quantifiable benefits but also have veiy
shoit payback peiious, (as fast as a few months). This is
not to say that all applications anu ueployments will be
inexpensive oi as efficient, but theie aie ceitainly those
that aie low hanging fiuit. The best iesults aie obtaineu
when the CSP is focuseu on solving a specific business goal
in the most efficient way.
S.2. Baving a high level stiategyaichitectuie is
impoitant but CSPs shoulu implement piece by
piece
In oiuei to uevelop theii uata analytics stiategy,
Noithstieam suggests that CSPs conuuct an inventoiy of
how they aie cuiiently making use of analytics tools
thioughout the oiganization. Attention shoulu be paiu to
what uata souices aie available, what systems aie useu
anu theii level of compatibility, anu who is uiiving anu
owning the tools. While lessons about best piactices, anu
inefficiencies in ueployment will be gatheieu in the
inventoiy, this will also guiue the foimation of an oveiall
stiategy. Legacy systems, especially those built by venuois
woiking with piopiietaiy specifications, can be a
challenge to integiate. Some will iemain outsiue the
stiategic ioaumap; otheis will neeu to be ieplaceu in
oiuei to integiate with othei systems.
The appioach to uata analytics shoulu compiise two
paiallel tiacks. 0n one tiack, a stiategic plan to move all
uata analytics solutions towaius a long teim vision anu to
ensuie that all solutions aie implementeu within the best
piactices fiamewoik of the CSP. 0n the othei tiack, new
solutions oi auuitional functionalities to existing ones
shoulu be ueployeu inuiviuually, aftei completing an
assessment of the specific oppoitunity. In othei woius,
iathei than focusing on what applications can be
implementeu, consiuei which pioblems in the
oiganization, fiom an opeiational, subsciibei lifecycle anu
financial peispective, can oi neeu to be solveu.
Each CSP neeus to uevelop theii own stiategy foi how
they will leveiage uata analytics. Foi guiuance of
inuiviuual application ueployments, the stiategy shoulu
set the stanuaius to ensuie implementations aie
compatible. A piocess shoulu be uefineu to enable uata
souices fiom one aiea of the oiganization to be accesseu
by any othei. In auuition, a centializeu contiol point
shoulu be establisheu to keep iecoius of each application
anu facilitate coopeiation between gioups. A moie long-
teim component of stiategy is to uevelop anu piogiess a
ioaumap towaius gieatei integiation of inuiviuual
applications anu systems. Naintaining a stiategic vision
will help steei all effoits towaius eventual conveigence.
Noithstieam iecommenus that CSPs avoiu staiting with
laige-scale, costly anu time-consuming ueployments but
iathei builu the functionalities inciementally, like a jigsaw
puzzle built one piece at a time. Theie aie a numbei of
ieasons to suppoit this appioach:
Bevelop competence within the oiganization -
each ueployment inciementally impioves the
unueistanuing of iequiiements anu establishes
best piactices foi subsequent implementations.
Avoiu scope cieep - because of the unlimiteu
possibilities of uata analytics, iequiiements can
stieam in fiom all uepaitments anu system
integiatois will glauly incluue them in the bill. As
with any new initiative, mistakes can be maue
but smallei ueployments allow time to leain
fiom mistakes, anu moie impoitantly, to avoiu
oveily ciitical impacts when things uo go wiong.
Allow foi test pilots - a limiteu customei base
netwoik aiea can be taigeteu fiist in oiuei to
assess the mouel's effectiveness anu fine-tune
analysis befoie wiuei implementation.
S.S. Each CSP shoulu uevelop its own piocesses foi
managing big uata anu analytics
As applications span the whole oiganization, CT0, CI0 oi
CN0 (oi othei) uepaitments may be selecteu to leau the
uata analytics pioject. Each CSP oiganizes theii business
functions anu iesponsibility centeis uiffeiently, so theie is
no establisheu best piactice heie. Bowevei, it is impoitant
to have a cleaily appointeu championpioject ownei at
the stiategic level. This iole uoesn't neeu to manage the
uesign, implementation oi opeiation of inuiviuual
solutions, but shoulu be empoweieu to ensuie each
ueployment fits with the CSP's stiategy foi conveigence
anu best piactices. This champion shoulu also be
iesponsible foi maintaining the piocesses foi souicing
anu integiating uata fiom uiffeient uepaitments in the
oiganization. They shoulu also be uefining the piocess foi
souicing systems anu selecting venuois.
Biffeient venuois have uiffeient stiengths. Foi example,
some venuois excel in uata extiaction anu aie paiticulaily
ielevant foi CSPs that uo not have well-establisheu uata
collection piocesses in place, while otheis have paiticulai
stiength in the meuiation piocess anu pieuictive oi
auvanceu analytics. Theiefoie, it is impoitant to choose
the venuoi with the appiopiiate capabilities foi each
pioject. That saiu, as systems will conveige ovei time, it is
essential that any selecteu venuoi is capable of woiking in
open stanuaius anu non-piopiietaiy inteifaces. The
uetails of the stanuaiuization shoulu come fiom the CSPs
stiategy, which iemains consistent acioss all solutions.
Noithstieam finus that, oveiall CSPs aie still in the
beginning stage of auopting moie sophisticateu analytics
solutions anu ieplacing olu methous anu
uepaitmentalizeu use cases. Theiefoie, we see a stiong
giowth oppoitunity in the neai futuie foi the inteinal
applications of new analytics systems. The CSPs that leau
this piocess can tianslate analytics into a competitive
auvantage. As illustiateu by the case stuuies piesenteu
eailiei, theie is stiong eviuence that the iesults achieveu
aie measuiable anu leau to impioveu customei
expeiience, opeiational efficiency anu financial
peifoimance.


12

!"#$% E#.%')%.-+:
Founueu in 1998, Noithstieam is an expeiienceu
management consulting fiim pioviuing stiategic business
anu technology auvice to the global telecom anu meuia
inuustiies. We help oui clients thiough inuepenuent anu
objective analyses, auvice, pioblem solving anu suppoit
that aie tailoi-maue to oui client's situation. 0ui woik is
baseu on a well-balanceu combination of innovation,
inuustiy best piactices anu in-house methouologies.
Noithstieam typically woiks with:
Business stiategy uevelopment anu planning
Stiategic souicing of systems anu seivices
Technology & piouuct stiategy evaluation
0peiational ieview, optimization anu suppoit
Investment analysis anu uue uiligences
Clients acioss the woilu incluue mobile opeiatois,
netwoik anu uevice supplieis, application pioviueis,
investment banks, iegulatois anu inuustiy foia. Contact us
to leain moie about how we can woik togethei to ensuie
youi success in the mobile voice anu bioaubanu business.
Stiategy anu Souicing
BBB36#.%')%.-+:3)-











Guavus is a big data analytics company
ushering in a new class of
business analytic applications that allow
companies to put all their data to work to
uncover new insights and make better
informed and more timely decisions. The
company offers a suite of decisioning
applications for network, marketing,
monetization and care, that are
embedded with powerful data science that
turns the non-stop processing of all your
data into streaming insights to get a
bigger, more informed picture of your
entire business.
Guavus brings business professionals
fine-grained, precise insights continually
correlating and instantly analyzing an
unlimited amount of dynamic and static
data. Guavus leapfrogs traditional BI and
big data solutions with the industrys only
compute-first approach that takes
computing power to the data source,
eliminating the constraints of the past.
The worlds most data-intensive
companies trust Guavus to help them take
strategic advantage of their data assets to
grow revenue, improve operating
efficiencies and delight customers.
www.guavus.com
Since 1986, Comptel has helped more
than 290 service providers across 86
countries meet over one billion
subscribers communications and
infotainment needs. Comptels
solutions are built on an Event
Analysis Action strategic framework
that leverages the companys
strengths in collecting and analysing
Big Data and turning intelligence into
opportunities in real time.

Comptels service fulfillment,
mediation, charging and policy control,
and predictive social analytics
products with implementation and
professional services enable service
providers to automate customer
interactions and other business
decisions, to create revenue, reduce
costs and lessen churn.

Comptel has a global team of over 600
professionals, and net sales were EUR
82.4 million in 2012.
www.comptel.com
www.comptelblog.com

The telecom industry is more
competitive than ever before. To be
profitable, you need to be different. We
will help you make that difference with
our experience supporting your
business transformation objectives.
Salamanca Solutions International is
very different from other OSS/BSS
software companies. Our team was
spun off from Trilogy International
Partners, the successful, multi-national
operator group.

We know, from more than 10 years of
direct experience in
telecommunications that to succeed as
a service provider, you must be as
efficient as possible.
To make that possible we have
concentrated on tightly integrated
architecture that reduces the time
needed for every operation.
We know that your network is unique.
However, our team has experience in
implementation with a wide variety of
systems, including Comverse, Nokia,
Nortel, Alcatel and Huawei.
www.salamancasolutions.com
About data analytics vendors who contributed to the case study research