Progress of RAFM in Middle East (Focus on GCC Countries)

10th WeDo Conference

GCC is the regional intergovernmental political and economic union consisting of the following six countries

Bahrain

Kuwait

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Oman

Strong economic conditions and increasing demand have attracted the substantial investments in Telecom Sector in last few decades

1.34 2.2

31

9.33.2

0

10

20

30

40

Bahrain Kuwait Qatar Saudi UAE Oman

Population (million)

29

71

146

53 65 44

-

50

100

150

200

Bahrain Kuwait Qatar Saudi UAE Oman

Per Capita ($thousands)

175%205%

181% 167% 181%148%

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

Bahrain Kuwait Qatar Saudi UAE Oman

Mobile Voice Penetration

129%154%

128% 123% 117% 116%

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

Bahrain Kuwait Qatar Saudi UAE Oman

Mobile BB Penetration

GCC market has shown significant development in Telecom Industry over the last two decades

Emerging Market Impact

Many Telecoms launched operations in last few years

Speedy launch of new Products and Services

Revenue Assurance considered as bottleneck for time to market

Rapid Technological Advancement

Among first to adopt latest technologies in the world

Early adoption of 4G, Advance LTE, Cloud Service, etc.

Governments to introduce Network Function Virtualization

Evolving Regulatory Controls

Introducing several regulations supporting controls in market

Aggressively offering licenses to operators and MVNOs

Reviewing feasibilities of National Broadband Network

Continued. Since last couple of decades GCC market has scored significant development in Telecom

Increasing competition in Market

Profit margins are under pressure

Stagnant legacy revenue and cannibalization in Voice, SMS etc.

Market ARPUs rapidly decreasing

High Expat Population Impact

Approx. 50% in Bahrain and 90% in UAE are expatriate work force

Substantial earnings via International & roaming traffic

Significant risk of customers acquisition and defaults

Progress of Centralized Credit Bureaus

Broadening scope to cover Telecom companies’ debts Credit Bureaus just getting introduced in some countries

Introduction of various electronic/online collection channels

Cross border blacklisting of defaulters

Key challenges RAFM is facing in GCC countries

Population MixDynamics

High bad debts and late payments issues

Require extensive subscription validation and reviews

High circulation of illegal call selling

Weak Empowerment

Unable to obtain significant sponsorship from C-Suite

Restricted to operational levels in organization

Confused organizational positioning

Difficulties in recovery of leakages & frauds

Processes and tools are not mature enough

Late resolution of issues

Strong sponsorship needed for execution

Key challenges RAFM is facing in GCC countries

Collaboration with Business Remains a Challenge

Limited cross functional integration

Teams restricted to fault finding approach

Business focused departments adopt defensive approach

Difficult Buy-in of recommendation by outsourced vendors

Investments required in Key Skills

Subject matter skills for latest technology are limited

Require multiple skills including, commercial, accounting etc.

Inadequate team size causing undue pressure on teams

Major issues Telecom companies are facing, causing enormous revenue leakages

Increasing Popularity of Handset Packages

The concept was launched approx. 5 years ago

Smart phones are high value devices, a significant part of the revenues

Substantial number of defaults and acquisition fraud cases

High Termination Rates Leading to SIM BOXING

Termination rates for international traffic are relatively high

Lower/free rates for local termination

Generally weak network components to prevent the attempts

Interconnect & Roaming leakages

High voice and data rates increase the quantum of damage

Limited Data Roaming packages with partners

Increasing threats of IRSF & PRS fraud

New transformationalprojects

Increase revenue exposures and delays in mitigations

Redefining and broadening the scope of work

Extensive trainings, UATs and stabilization needed

Upcoming IFRS affecting revenue recognition

Significant changes in recognition & procedures

Extensive changes in IT & Billing systems

Changes in commercial contracts & business rules

Retail Sales & Distribution Commissions

Trend of outsourcing retail and distribution services

Significant value of subscription frauds experienced

Irregularities in business and regulatory rules compliance

Major issues Telecom companies are facing, causing enormous revenue leakages - 2

Up Coming Challenges for RAFM in near future

Data & Content Services

Social media

Mobile applications

Mobile money

Video on demand

Cloud services

Shift from traditional methodology is inevitable

Risk profile and categories need to be redefined

More involvement in end-to-end product life cycle

Need of new skill sets and training for teams

Upcoming Next Generation Services Impact on RAFM functions

VIVA Bahrain selected WeDo to deploy RAFM Tool, so far Phase 1 has been successfully deployed and operational

Solution was meeting all the business and technical requirements

Phase 1 focusing Wholesale & Roaming has been successfully deployed

System training, UAT and post implementation issues were swiftly completed

Significant amount of leakages have been deducted to date

Thank You