The problem is that traditional interconnect and wholesale solutions are not subscriber aware. They are not designed to track costs and revenue per subscriber, so they cannot provide the true settlement costs of one customer, or integrated with retail billing solutions, provide the total true cost & revenue. The risk is that CSPs are losing out on potential profit or worse making a loss. 

For instance, it is not unusual for bundles and packages to be priced assuming that subscribers will not use all the capacity, minutes etc. But, many of our customers report that more and more subscribers are using their maximum allowance. There are a variety of reasons for this, global and regional. For example, the economic situation has resulted in users downgrading packages to get maximum value, and in some places the mobile is replacing landline so usage is up, plus the ever increasing acceptance and usage of mobile internet and data applications. With the right settlement solution, there is still a potential to make profits, even if the number of customers using a package to its limit is increasing. To ensure profit across every subscriber and package, the cost analysis for the tariff pricing must include real interconnect charges. 

Consider an inclusive bundle that includes international calls, usually to a particular country, group of countries or region. Service providers need to know within their subscribers, how many separate calls to different international operators are being made and importantly assign the relevant interconnect charge to the subscriber and package. Without this, CSPs do not have a complete picture of the costs of one subscriber or a group of subscribers on a given tariff. With the insight that a subscriber aware interconnect provides, a CSP is able to price its international and business mobile packages to ensure profitability. The extra subscriber centric settlement data can also aid CSPs  in negotiation of settlement fees when the time comes. 

In a global market where it is widely acknowledged that margins are narrowing, real profit margins incorporating actual subscriber interconnect costs are key to long term business survival for CSPs. Partner and Interconnect settlement is already one of largest revenue earners for CSPs. And according to Analysys Mason one of the fastest growing, with global revenue forecast of 7.6 percent CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) to $676 million (US) in 2015 [1].The key is making sure that CSPs capitalise on that potential profit. A subscriber-aware converged interconnect and partner billing solution, integrated with the retail billing solution provides a complete 360 degree picture. Ultimately, this puts you, the CSP, in a better position for forward planning, profit and margin calculations and precise pricing for new packages and bundles. The end result is an increase in profit, real profit.

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