by Iwona Golińska, Business Development Director for Intec, Poland

During difficult times, most mobile network operators in Poland focus on cost cutting. One of the biggest, Polkomtel, has recently introduced more than 300 cost-cutting programs, with others, such as Orange or T-Mobile, reducing their costs by using brand synergies and cheaper resources, as well as outsourcing.

These cost strategies may work best in the short term. However, long-term strategies must also involve other issues-in particular the need to maintain optimum quality standards and the ability to secure new revenue streams from advanced services such as 3G. Behind the new services lie a variety of Business Support Systems (BSS), which provide operators with the support mechanisms to create and commoditise their offerings. For the operators to be able to capitalize on these new services, a new focus on BSS infrastructure is required to deliver the functionality to support them in real time, via automated interactions, and efficient management options.

The most pressing issue for operators therefore will be to make the correct strategic decisions, by choosing the right BSS, that will enable them to capitalize on new services. One recent such strategic decision, based upon the quality and flexibility of new services, was the signature of a significant contract between Polkomtel and Intec- a global supplier of BSS.

More information at www.intecbilling.com