Meteor Mobile Communication
Company: ProtekCustomer: Meteor Mobile CommunicationSubmitted by: ProtekDate: October 2002Meteor Mobile Communication is the third GSM license holder in Ireland that launched its services in February 2001. Meteor has a strong commitment to Ireland, and to affordable, accessible mobile services for a new generation of Irish customers. Meteor has world-class capabilities in system design, implementation and operations and is on target to have 100,000 customers and 80% coverage of population by the end of the first twelve months.Before Meteor won the third license to operate a nation-wide GSM network, the Irish market had been dominated by two major players. Meteor’s management believed that the quoted penetration figures were overstated and were determined to bring fresh competition to the Irish market and give customers a better choice. Meteor came to market with a highly competitive and innovative marketing strategy based on extensive market research.
The company identified that Irish consumers were willing to switch from the current provider to a different network that would offer clear and fair pricing and world-class customer care. Being a new entrant to a relatively mature market meant that Meteor had to achieve true differentiation to attract and retain subscribers in a competitive and dynamic environment. Meteor committed to offer consumers fair and competitive pricing innovative product packages, including voice mail, SMS and WAP, and superior customer service.Meteor concentrated on putting in place the most technologically advanced systems that would allow the company to change Ireland’s mobile market and to bring a new and a much better deal to consumers. Meteor installed an IN platform to support its prepaid subscribers and to have the flexibility to offer innovative services.
Meteor also required a world-class billing solution to service postpaid customers as well as to provide customer care to the prepaid subscribers. Selecting an effective and efficient billing and customer care system. that can to be integrated with the third party IN platform with minimum time and cost expenses was crucial for the successful implementation of Meteor’s business strategy.Warren Harding, Billing Manager for Meteor, said, “Meteor is wholly committed to excellence in our customer offering; an advanced and flexible customer care and billing system is an essential part of this offering. We needed a billing system that would support our marketing strategy and allow us to introduce innovative service packages to market quickly and efficiently”.
In summer 2000 Meteor’s management took the decision to sign a contract with Protek for the installation of its convergent customer care and billing system.Protek is a global supplier of integrated business and operations support systems software to the communication industry. Protek’s Customer Care and Billing has a rich set of functionality including rating and billing, customer care, service activation, order management, inventory management and payment processing that are pre-integrated into a cost effective whole. The system is built on the advanced and open architecture with a number of well-documented APIs allowing fast and easy implementation.To beat competition, Meteor had to roll out services within a short time frame and price them competitively.
Thus, fast time to market and reduced operating costs were a business imperative for Meteor. They needed a system that would fulfil all their functional requirements and could be deployed in the short time scale without costly and time-consuming customization. Warren Harding said, “We were impressed with the functional scope and flexibility of Protek’s Customer Care and Billing system”.Protek offered Meteor a cost-effective system that was installed in just about 8 weeks. Protek’s open architecture and well-documented APIs enabled seamless and fast integration with the IN platform and other third party systems in a best-of-breed environment.
Protek’s inherent flexibility made it possible to integrate with external systems such as the outsourced bill printers and banks quickly, without costly programming. Protek’s unique business process mechanism allows all configuration to the system to be done on the GUI level, thus significantly reducing implementation time and cost. Protek’s Customer Care and Billing has provided Meteor with full set of required functionality without affecting the target launch.Fast and cost-effective implementation helped Meteor launch on time and within budget; however, Protek provided more than that. Its Customer Care and Billing system ensures that Meteor has the flexibility to respond to competitive threats and to adapt to rapidly changing market environment.
The crucial component of Meteor’s strategy is the provision of innovative service packages and the ability to introduce new products to the market ahead of competition. With Protek’s customer care and billing Meteor can introduce new products and service bundles quickly and reduce operating costs.Meteor’s other commitment to the Irish consumer is offering fair and competitive pricing and therefore the ability to provide services with flexible tariff plans becomes a business critical functionProtek’s customer care and billing tariff management capabilities help Meteor implement some innovative pricing strategies. The system provides volume discounting functionality that can be used by Meteor in the future to introduce attractive pricing plans and win more customers.Mobile communications is a dynamic and constantly evolving market. Protek’s open architecture and unique integration capabilities will ensure that Meteor will be able to respond to increasingly complex market needs and add new network services quickly and cost-effectively.
Protek’s flexibility means that Meteor will stay at the forefront of the competitive landscape and will introduce more innovative services to better serve the Irish consumer.
