CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Operators worldwide recognize that they need to take a more customer-centric approach for monetizing advanced data services, and most plan to move to converged BSS in the coming two years, according to a new research study sponsored by Comverse and conducted by Heavy Reading.

“Subscribers are demanding more choice and control. They want plans tailored to their needs and reliable information on their data usage in real-time and the ability to set their own spending limits and threshold alerts,” comments Heavy Reading Senior Analyst Ari Banerjee. “These are prerequisites to increased adoption of new data services.”

The Heavy Reading study is based on a survey of nearly 50 network operators worldwide, and was conducted on behalf of Comverse, a provider BSS, mobile Internet, and value-added services.

With the increase of data consumption unmatched by operator revenues and profits, three-quarters of integrated fixed/mobile CSPs and 100% of MVNO respondents agree that more advanced data plans are essential for better monetization, the results showed. Offerings targeted to specific user groups and mechanisms that give subscribers effective, real-time control of their spending are seen as key to the desired customer-centric approach.

Based on survey results, operators feel constrained by shortcomings in their existing Business Support Systems (BSS). The hurdles most widely identified are lack of a unified offer management capability, lack of real-time transaction management ability, and lack of a unified view of subscribers and their services.

As a result, operators see a unified approach to converged BSS – including policy – as critical to overcoming today’s challenges, and 64% of respondents say they plan “to adopt unified, converged BSS in the next 12 to 24 months,” the findings reveal.

Over two-thirds of wireless operators surveyed see their slowness to go to market with new offers, inability to upsell in real-time and to offer users self-controlled spending limits as critical challenges affecting their competitiveness. There was nearly universal agreement that a unified approach to converged BSS and policy delivers important benefits that address these three shortcomings, while simultaneously improving cost and customer experience metrics.

Click for more information about the Heavy Reading CSP survey.

Heavy Reading