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VOIP - Business model and regulations

VOIP is a disruptive technology, which uses Internet packets to transmit data as well as voice. VOIP is perceived as a threat to the PSTN based telephony. Even though number of active users who are using VOIP for making cross border calls are increasing at a much faster rate still strict regulations and hostile telecom operators poses challenges to commoditization of VOIP.

MVNO - Drivers,Inhibitors,Growth Opportunities

MVNO Service
•The MVNO model of telecom is a business model wherein a service provider (telecom operator) does not own the underlying infrastructure, but it leases it out with other licensed operators

Growth Opportunities
•Market share of MVNOs in Western Europe and USA is around 7-9 % of total wireless service i.e. around 70 million subscriber. MVNO market expected to grow to around 9 -10 % in developed market
•MVNOs current revenue is $20 billion in US and UK
•Market share of MVNO in emerging market is around 0.5 % which provides enormous growth opportunity
•MVNO penetration could grow to ~3-4 % in rest of the world

Global and Indian Telecom OSS/BSS Market

The Operations Support Systems (OSS) are computer systems used predominantly by telecommunication service providers. The term is normally used to describe specialized softwares which help the telecom network deal with various components within the system such as network operations, service management and provisioning services. The Business Support Systems (BSS) usually refers to software dealing with customer support processes such as Customer Care, Billing Services and Fraud Management.

The global OSS/BSS market is a competitive landscape with about 400 players. The consolidated revenue for the OSS/BSS market stood at USD 15-15.5 Billion in 2008, recording a CAGR of 6-7% for the past five years. In spite of the economic downturn, the market is projected to maintain the same growth rate and touch USD 21-22 Billion in revenues by 2013. The Indian OSS/BSS market generated USD 490-500 Million in 2008 and is expected to grow at 15-17% till 2013 to reach USD 1,050-1,100 Million approximately.

The OSS/BSS products have come a long way since they were introduced in the 1970s to replace manual administrative processes. Since then, the industry has undergone a lot of ‘focus shifts’ from manually operated switch management systems to creating automated interfaces. After witnessing a spurt in demand for systems with VAS compatibility the focus is now towards open, interoperable OSS/BSS solutions. This is due to carriers and service providers coming under greater pressure to increase revenues and decrease operating costs in order to survive leading to a greater demand for OSS integration.

Slowly Gaining Momentum – LPO

One industry that is not doing bad at all, even during these troubled times is the “Legal Process Outsourcing”. Industry has witnessed 50 percent growth (year-on-year) for the last 7+ years. The demand for legal activities has grown from across sectors and verticals. Advantages for clients include:

• Average saving of 30%-70% per transaction to the firm/legal dept.
• Sets the stage for re-engineering of internal processes
• Employee morale and performance improves

So what are the questions "new entrants" need to get answered, to make sure that they can start and grow successful businesses. To start with one important aspect that they can learn about are the presence of any entry barriers. As part of this research we talked to people in the LPO industry and asked them an important question for start-ups in LPO - What are the qualifying conditions in a typical RFP?