Part Two: What are the Consequences

What are the likely consequences for you?

Tick any problems in the list below that relate to your situation and count up the total.

• Inability to introduce new services and discounted tariffs
• Competitive disadvantage
• Revenue loss
• Sharp increase in conversion costs
• Higher level of dependency on data clearinghouses
• Less control over the roaming process
• Insufficient reporting
• Roaming fraud
• Need for re-pricing

Is your total greater than zero? If yes, what options do you have?

1. Do Nothing: Continue using data clearinghouse services for file conversion. No investment is needed but conversion costs are expected to increase and you can count on paying significant on-going fees to the DCH. You will not be able to introduce new services

2. Invest Continuously: Upgrade your billing system to the current TAP3 version. This approach takes time and requires a significant investment. In the end you will have a reliable in-house solution for addressing roaming tasks until the new TAP format appears on the market…And what about your pre-paid customers?

3. Bridge the gap. Introduce a solution in-between the billing system and the DCH. This can either be a simple TAP file converter or a more sophisticated integrated TAP handling application with a complete roaming management system at the high end of the spectrum. Without wasting too many words on the “Do nothing” and “Invest continuously” approaches, let’s consider how to measure the gap that needs to be bridged.