Share and share alike

Shared data plans were pioneered by operators such as Canadian carrier Rogers Wireless, but have been quickly adopted by operators all over the world. Last year Orange UK launched a combined plan for the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 splitting a monthly data allowance, voice minutes, unlimited texts and Wi-Fi access between the two devices, on a single tariff. StarHub became the first operator in Singapore to offer a post-paid plan offering subscribers the ability to share data, minutes and text messages with other users.

Doug Suriano, CTO at mobile data management company Tekelec

Shared data plans allow operators to manage usage and increase device adoption. The simplified billing that comes as part of shared data plans, via the elimination of multiple bills on separate billing cycles, has been invaluable in improving customer loyalty. Moreover, the consolidation of services into one subscription has made data plans much ‘stickier’ and lowered churn. These elements mean operators providing shared data plans are enjoying a solid competitive edge over their rivals. Shared data plans can cater to different groups of people, such as families, using smartphones, tablets and USB dongles. When the group utilises one data plan, it avoids tariff fragmentation by device and makes pricing and administration much more clear. These plans also help the operator to improve customer loyalty and churn and boost its ARPU.

More and more operators are realising that shared data plans can offer them a strong competitive advantage and allow them to stay one step ahead of their rivals. Indeed, a recent joint research project undertaken by Tekelec and Infonetics Research forecasted that the number of mobile broadband devices sold globally on shared data plans will grow from 14.5 million in 2011 to 186.8 million in 2015, an 89 per cent CAGR.

This is the view of Doug Suriano, CTO at mobile data management company Tekelec. But Suriano adds that shared data plans also open new subscriber, device and rate-plan complexities that operators will have to manage. He believes that operators must add network intelligence to the control plane, which is responsible for actual network resource and connection management. He recommends that this intelligence should be in the form of policy management, subscriber data management and Diameter routing, which can help ensure shared data plans are managed successfully. Operators will be able to use these tools to introduce more dynamic policy rules to ensure they can segment which user, or device, on the plan is actually using bandwidth. Operators must also be able to replay this information back to subscribers so they can track their usage.

Doug Suriano, CTO at mobile data management company Tekelec

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