A Case Study: Vodacom Group
and Redknee
Driving Growth in the Roaming Market and Improving
the Customer Experience
Summary
> How Redknee enabled Vodacom to address the increasing market
competition and improve the customer experience, by supporting the
launch of the Vodafone Passport international roaming solution on the
Vodacom Group network in South Africa.
About Vodacom Group
> Vodacom is one of the largest pan-African mobile communications
company and the leading mobile network in South Africa with over 58 per
cent share of the market.
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Collectively owned by the South African telecommunications group
Telkom and the British mobile phone operator Vodafone, who is the
majority shareholder, Vodacom provides GSM, 3G, UMTS, HSDPA, WiMAX
and LTE coverage to more than 56 million customers across South Africa
and its international markets including Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique
and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Vodacom’s strategy is to operate more efficiently, achieve long-term
revenue growth and to do more to improve the customer experience.
Challenge
> South Africa is a highly competitive market in which to operate, with
strong price pressures, increasing customer churn and a number of mobile
operators rivaling for market share. To maintain its market leading
position and to deliver on its strategic goals, Vodacom needed to provide
innovative services and offerings with cost controls, simplified pricing
structures and price sensitivity for subscribers to easily adopt.
Vodacom needed to provide a differentiated service and announced that
it was going to launch the Vodafone Passport international roaming
solution on the Vodacom Group network.
To support its growth and profitability, Vodacom required a solution that
would enable it to monetize its international roaming offering through
flexible billing, charging and rating and would enable the service provider
to generate new revenue streams, increase profitability and improve the
customer experience.
The initial phase of the Vodafone Passport international roaming rollout
commenced with the regional flagship operator, Vodacom South Africa
and its neighbor Vodacom Lesotho.
Whilst Vodafone Passport is not a new service – it is effectively available
in more than 40 countries worldwide – the initiation in South Africa would
enable Vodacom South Africa and Vodacom Lesotho to respond to the
market challenges, launch new offers and promotions quickly and provide
an improved customer service.
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Solution
> To address the increasing market competition and to improve the
customer experience, Vodacom leveraged Redknee’s real-time convergent
online charging, rating and invoice system with policy controls.
Redknee’s solution is enabling Vodacom South Africa and Vodacom
Lesotho to provide their subscribers with the ability to utilize their local
call rate plans when they are roaming across 127 partnering networks in
64 countries.
Redknee Unified enables Tier 1 service providers to maximize the value of
their network with differentiated cost controls, selected tariff options and
flexible services to deliver an enhanced subscriber experience.
Redknee’s market-leading next-generation solution provides Vodacom
with a truly convergent real-time billing, charging and rating platform that
offers the flexibility and scalability to advance the subscribers experience
through innovative services, real-time notifications and customer self-care
options.
Redknee’s solution is enabling Tier 1 service providers to improve
operational efficiency, reduce costs and build competitive advantage.
Result
> As an acquired customer from Redknee’s recent acquisition of Nokia
Siemens Networks (NSN) Business Support System (BSS) division, the
migration to Redknee’s latest online unified charging system (OCS) proved
to be a complete success.
Vodacom selected the Redknee Unified platform primarily for its pre-paid
subscribers. The solution provides a single convergent online charging
solution, which will help Vodacom address the challenges associated with
international pricing and roaming tariffs. The Redknee Unified solution is
enabling Vodacom to increase its market share – Vodacom recently
reported 40.7 percent data revenue growth across the group.
With Redknee’s solution, Vodacom is able to simplify the management
and control of its international roaming offering and significantly reduced
the cost for subscribers to make and receive calls and to predict the cost
of each call. Redknee’s solution has provided Vodacom with the ability to
improve the customer experience and add value by introducing new tariff
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options and price plans, which has effectively increased adoption and
allowed Vodacom to reduce the pre-paid average price per minute for
voice calls by over 25 percent and decrease the price for data usage per
megabyte by 16.2 percent.
The solution’s modular design and limited need for customization will
allow Vodacom to extend its Vodafone Passport offering to its post-paid
subscribers and to provide new channels to reach the un-serviced
population, effectively creating new hybrid market segments. This will
enable Vodacom to continue to build on its market position and achieve
its growth goals.
Part of Redknee’s comprehensive portfolio of billing, charging, customer
care and policy solutions for communications service providers, Redknee
Unified expertly addresses the specific needs of today’s Tier 1 service
providers to deliver real-time, unified charging, rating and billing
capabilities quickly and cost-effectively, to generate new revenue
streams, increase profitability and improve the customer experience.
In the future, Vodacom plans to utilize Redknee’s solution to launch prepaid LTE services to its customers.
Quick Facts
Operator: Vodacom South Africa
Number of Subscribers: 56 million
Redknee customer: Strategic relationship since 1996
Redknee Solution: Redknee Unified online charging system (OCS)
Results:
Redknee’s Unified solution enabled:
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Vodacom to address the challenges associated with international
pricing and roaming tariffs with new tariffs and pricing plans
Simplified management and control of Vodacom’s international
roaming offering and to significantly reduced the cost for its
subscribers to make and receive calls
The ability to extend its Vodafone Passport offering to its post-paid
subscribers and to provide new channels to reach the un-serviced
population
Vodacom to build on its market position and achieve its growth
goals
For more information about Redknee’s real-time
monetization software, contact sales@redknee.com.
©Copyright Redknee Inc. 2015
Case Study >
©Copyright Redknee Inc. 2015
Case Study >