Volubill, the leading provider of charging and policy solutions, today announced that its Volubill Business System (VBS) delivers a series of functions critical for monetizing local break out (LBO) of data services that can help operators offer more compelling roaming packages to consumers, benefit from forthcoming European roaming regulations, and tap in to previously-inaccessible subscriber groups. By uniquely combining policy control and charging capabilities in a single solution, VBS allows operators to extend competitive service offerings to visiting subscribers using their existing devices via LBO with sophisticated functions like self-care portals, real-time payment processing, instant provisioning and MVNO hosting.

As the European Commission’s July 2014 roaming regulations deadline to provide consumers the right to choose a different operator for roaming draws near, a new opportunity is emerging for European operators to monetize LBO. The regulations are intended to provide more competition and compelling roaming packages in the European mobile data market, but LBO monetization capabilities also present enhanced business opportunities for operators all around the world. By using real-time policy and charging to package services through LBO, operators everywhere can offer visitors data roaming services more like those offered by their home network provider, but at a more competitive price point, and without having to change devices or SIM cards.

“The next tranche of EU roaming regulation is creating added urgency for EU operators to enable LBO; but LBO is something all operators should be evaluating,” says Teresa Cottam, Chief Strategy Officer, Telesperience. “Roaming bill shock is bad for all parties. It’s a trust-killer that generates fear and uncertainty, meaning travellers simply switch off their mobile data connections and use WiFi alternatives, and it’s a reputation-killer, resulting in bad publicity, complaints and churn. If operators can get their roaming strategy and offers right, there’s enormous additional revenue potential.

“But mobile operators have more to lose than just revenues from getting it wrong,” adds Cottam. “They risk opening up a back door for rivals inside and outside the industry to target their customers while roaming – many of whom are valuable corporate travellers. Used well though, LBO is a powerful strategic play for European operators enabling them to transform these risks into opportunities. However, operators in other regions may have even more to gain, because they can learn the lessons from the EU and act ahead of their market to outflank rivals.”

The Volubill Business System enables operators to profit from local break out for roamers by offering compelling data roaming packages using the following key capabilities:

• Offer visitors a range of personalized data and other sophisticated value-added services and content, packaged accordingly to usage limits or validity dates.
• Dynamic charging for roaming packages where subscribers are only charged when the package is used, and with options for dynamic auto renewal.
• Real-time payment processing via a subscriber’s credit card, PayPal account, existing home operator account, or other methods for both pre-pay and post-pay data models.
• Active customer usage notifications to alert subscribers before they reach their plan limits.
• Free self-care portals for subscribers to top-up, renew or adjust their plans.
• Host policy control and charging functions with full remote and interoperable access for MVNOs and Resellers.

“LBO represents a significant revenue creation opportunity for operators everywhere. Convincing customers who normally turn their data roaming off the moment they land in a foreign country, out of fear of bill shock, to instead use the service without fear, is what this is about,” said John Aalbers, CEO, Volubill. “Many of our existing operators intend to make LBO a new piece of their overall strategy. The revenue opportunity is right there to be had and the appeal of this to network users is clear and unambiguous. Giving users more direct control over their data access and the amount they spend, particularly when roaming, benefits everyone.”

To learn more about how the Volubill Business System’s combined policy and charging capabilities allow operators to profit from local break out, contact Volubill at sales@volubill.com.

Visit Volubill on booth #7G45 in Hall 7 at Mobile World Congress February 25-28, 2013 in Barcelona to meet the team and learn more about their solutions.

About Volubill

Volubill provides policy management, policy enforcement and charging solutions to telecommunications service providers. With the exponential growth in the volume of mobile data traffic and increasing customer expectation, Volubill’s solutions enable operators to maximize revenues, and eliminate revenue leakage and fraud whilst delivering a personalized service experience. Volubill is global, with over 80 operator customers worldwide.