PDF of this tutorialBy the late 1990s, wireless subscribers' voracious appetites for value-added services such as two-way messaging, unified communications, electronic voice-mail and e-mail, and personal number services drove an evolution toward more sophisticated 2.5G network services.
The rate of acceptance of 2.5G services varied around the world. The growth of value-added services in the United States was outpaced by widespread acceptance in Europe and Asia. One major reason for this was a lack of integration among various network technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). Billing systems could not support the disparate standards required for different network types.
In Europe and Asia, however, the adoption of a single standard, GSM, facilitated rapid acceptance and implementation of value-added 2.5G services.
As a result of the lack of uniformity in standards, wireless carriers focused on two leading criteria in the selection of wireless billing systems:
- Speed to market
- The ability to interface with other systems
These market conditions also gave rise to a new market driver that would confer an important strategic edge—convergence—the ability to offer and bill for multiple services, such as long distance, Web browsing, and voice on a single bill. Convergence prompted wireless carriers to plan the rollout of enhanced services and products that would extend wireless capabilities well beyond voice.
By 1998, wireless messaging had gained a foothold in Asia. Mixed mobile and fixed services, as well as value-added services, enjoyed growing popularity in Latin America. Meanwhile, in more mature markets such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and parts of Europe, increasing numbers of carriers began upgrading their billing systems to support the growing market for wireless data offerings.
The rollout of these services presented a critical challenge. To offer wireless data services, carriers needed a billing system that could accommodate the new services—particularly if charges were to be calculated based on the quantity of data transferred rather than the duration of time on-line.
As a result, convergent services strained legacy billing systems that were designed to measure and rate usage-sensitive wireless voice. With the emergence of 2.5G, existing billing systems simply were not equipped to rate wireless data, which typically was charged based on a flat rate.
