Billing & OSS in Cable
©Internet
Telephony - September 2007 -
David McNierney
Cable
MSOs are undergoing a renaissance, experiencing significant
demand for their broadband services and deriving new
revenues from services like DVR, VoIP and VOD. Many
industry analysts now view pure play VoIP providers
as doomed due to cable’s increasing stranglehold
on the VoIP market. MSOs are also reaching into other
new sevices, such as mobile to complete the quadruple
play, and into new customer segments, such as SMBs and
enterprises.
However,
forward-looking MSOs also see threats on the not-too-distant
horizon. Fiber connections with even greater bandwidth
are being deployed at ever increasing rates with initial
deployments targeting major metropolitan areas and residential
communities. Meanwhile, WiMAX promises ubiquitous wireless
bandwidth sufficient to deliver TV-quality video.
The
threat of disintermediation looms with the introduction
of direct-to-consumer offers from media companies. Pressure
from both the marketplace and regulators/legislators
to unbundle video services by providing a la carte offers
is increasing. And the ever increasing threat of the
core video services market shrinking as teens while
away the hours on YouTube, MySpace and other social
networking and UGC sites rather than sitting in front
of the TV is becoming a reality.
All
of this change presents significant challenges for a
legacy billing & OSS infrastructure that was designed
for traditional cable TV services. Many MSOs now find
their hands tied by their existing infrastructure and
now seek ways to enhance their systems and processes
without disrupting their ongoing operations and revenues.
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