With data services comes the transition from ubiquitous telephony services to multi-layered, highly segmented service offerings. This in turn requires a more sophisticated approach to customer analysis, says Peter Beard of WhiteLight Systems. Telecommunications is about providing access to information - whether on a web page, in an e-mail, by text message, fax or phone call. Details of this communication have to be stored, accessed and managed by the networks that make it happen. But as the number of ways to access data grows, so does the amount of data. Even with basic GPRS services, mobile telcos face a major nightmare in trying to analyse what their customers are doing. A daily total of several hundred million call data records accumulate, and telcos must examine these to second-guess what tariffs or services customers would ideally like - and how much they would be prepared to pay. With the advent of 2.5G and 3G, there will be a data 'explosion.'The huge array of new services open to customers will add masses of additional dimensions to the analysis puzzle, including location, data type, content type and multiple billing options. Yet telcos will have no choice but to get a grip on this enormous data mountain: it will be crucial if they want to understand their customers, offer the right services and make money.
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