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‘Smart Plan’ solution helps service providersto quickly and easily
introduce new services and data plans, creating new revenue and enhancing
the customer experience
Paris, February 14, 2013 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE:
ALU) is offering service providers a way to give consumers more control over
their mobile broadband data plans, while delivering a greater variety of
services. The new ‘Smart Plan’ solution drastically reduces the time, cost and
effort involved in developing and charging for multiple offers while a mobile
app allows subscribers to pick and choose the services that meet their personal
usage needs and budgets.
Ownership of mobile devices is rising and access to the Internet, video and
data on the move is exceeding voice calling in many parts of the world. As a
result, service providers need to define competitive data-centric packages to
attract and retain customers. One size does not fit all and service providers
must better meet the needs of both individuals and families sharing a single
data plan. But introducing and managing multiple plans can be difficult, costly
and time consuming for service providers and potentially confusing for
customers.
Alcatel-Lucent’s Smart Plan solution removes the complexity and greatly
shortens the time needed to create new offers by giving service providers much
more control over the process and reducing reliance on third party expertise
and billing systems. Smart Plan uses plugins to integrate easily into a service
provider’s existing network and IT infrastructure. It then acts as an
orchestration layer to manage the necessary interactions between various
elements such as policy control and billing, enabling it to respond to
subscribers’ requests to initiate or change services in real-time.
Using Alcatel-Lucent’s unique Agile Rules Technology
(A.R.T.) with 150 patents pending, network intelligence and customers’
opt-in approval, Smart Plan allows service providers to recommend products and
offers based on information such as usage patterns, real-time location data and
loyalty, for example offering a regular traveller a roaming tariff as they wait
for a flight. For shared data plans, offers can be defined for each person in
the plan. Smart Plan also allows service providers to partner with other
companies to generate new business opportunities. For example, a retailer could
purchase data allowances from an operator and offer them as part of its own
customer loyalty program.
Graham Finnie, Chief Analyst with Heavy Reading, commented: “Mobile data
plans haven’t kept up with users, who are doing more and more with their
smartphones. Instead of a ‘one size fits all’ approach, mobile service
providers now have a real opportunity to improve customer loyalty and create
new revenues by providing a greater variety of offers that would appeal to the
different usage habits of their subscribers. The challenge is in the
back-office, aligning policy, charging and other platforms to give subscribers
the power to choose, and then enable the services. Any solution that can help
bridge that gap is likely to be welcomed by progressively-minded
operators.”
Smart Plan’s mobile app can be used by a service provider to enhance its
retail strategy, allowing customers to browse and buy all products and services
offered by the service provider. It also lets customers track spending and data
usage and will alert them to approaching limits. These alerts meet data roaming
regulatory requirements in the EU, as well as the growing awareness in the US
and other parts of the world, while giving service providers the opportunity to
propose alternative offers to customers. The solution can be further tailored
to incorporate country-specific data regulations.
Andrew McDonald, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s Platforms division, said:
“Analysis of 4G LTE network usage shows a four-fold increase in people watching
videos on their mobile devices compared to 3G. As more service providers move
to LTE to deliver mobile broadband services, they need to adapt their data
plans to subscriber behavior. The flexibility of Alcatel-Lucent’s Smart Plan
solution allows service providers to quickly react to changing market
conditions and competitors’ offers to ensure they retain the loyalty of their
customers and grow their business.”
Find out more about Smart Plan by visiting www.alcatel-lucent.com/solutions/smart-plan
and stop by the Alcatel-Lucent Booth 3B 114 in the new Fira Grand Via Hall 3 at
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from 25th to 28th
February.
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