A Case Study: Vodacom Group and Redknee - Driving Growth in the Roaming Market and Improving the Customer Experience

A Case Study: Vodacom Group
and Redknee
Driving Growth in the Roaming Market and Improving
the Customer Experience

Summary
> How Redknee enabled Vodacom to address the increasing market
  competition and improve the customer experience, by supporting the
  launch of the Vodafone Passport international roaming solution on the
  Vodacom Group network in South Africa.

About Vodacom Group
> Vodacom is one of the largest pan-African mobile communications
  company and the leading mobile network in South Africa with over 58 per
  cent share of the market.

  ©Copyright Redknee Inc. 2015                               Case Study >

Collectively owned by the South African telecommunications group
 Telkom and the British mobile phone operator Vodafone, who is the
 majority shareholder, Vodacom provides GSM, 3G, UMTS, HSDPA, WiMAX
 and LTE coverage to more than 56 million customers across South Africa
 and its international markets including Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique
 and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

 Vodacom’s strategy is to operate more efficiently, achieve long-term
 revenue growth and to do more to improve the customer experience.

Challenge
> South Africa is a highly competitive market in which to operate, with
  strong price pressures, increasing customer churn and a number of mobile
  operators rivaling for market share. To maintain its market leading
  position and to deliver on its strategic goals, Vodacom needed to provide
  innovative services and offerings with cost controls, simplified pricing
  structures and price sensitivity for subscribers to easily adopt.

 Vodacom needed to provide a differentiated service and announced that
 it was going to launch the Vodafone Passport international roaming
 solution on the Vodacom Group network.

 To support its growth and profitability, Vodacom required a solution that
 would enable it to monetize its international roaming offering through
 flexible billing, charging and rating and would enable the service provider
 to generate new revenue streams, increase profitability and improve the
 customer experience.

 The initial phase of the Vodafone Passport international roaming rollout
 commenced with the regional flagship operator, Vodacom South Africa
 and its neighbor Vodacom Lesotho.

 Whilst Vodafone Passport is not a new service – it is effectively available
 in more than 40 countries worldwide – the initiation in South Africa would
 enable Vodacom South Africa and Vodacom Lesotho to respond to the
 market challenges, launch new offers and promotions quickly and provide
 an improved customer service.

  ©Copyright Redknee Inc. 2015                                 Case Study >

Solution
 > To address the increasing market competition and to improve the
   customer experience, Vodacom leveraged Redknee’s real-time convergent
   online charging, rating and invoice system with policy controls.

  Redknee’s solution is enabling Vodacom South Africa and Vodacom
  Lesotho to provide their subscribers with the ability to utilize their local
  call rate plans when they are roaming across 127 partnering networks in
  64 countries.

  Redknee Unified enables Tier 1 service providers to maximize the value of
  their network with differentiated cost controls, selected tariff options and
  flexible services to deliver an enhanced subscriber experience.

  Redknee’s market-leading next-generation solution provides Vodacom
  with a truly convergent real-time billing, charging and rating platform that
  offers the flexibility and scalability to advance the subscribers experience
  through innovative services, real-time notifications and customer self-care
  options.

  Redknee’s solution is enabling Tier 1 service providers to improve
  operational efficiency, reduce costs and build competitive advantage.

 Result
 > As an acquired customer from Redknee’s recent acquisition of Nokia
   Siemens Networks (NSN) Business Support System (BSS) division, the
   migration to Redknee’s latest online unified charging system (OCS) proved
   to be a complete success.

  Vodacom selected the Redknee Unified platform primarily for its pre-paid
  subscribers. The solution provides a single convergent online charging
  solution, which will help Vodacom address the challenges associated with
  international pricing and roaming tariffs. The Redknee Unified solution is
  enabling Vodacom to increase its market share – Vodacom recently
  reported 40.7 percent data revenue growth across the group.

  With Redknee’s solution, Vodacom is able to simplify the management
  and control of its international roaming offering and significantly reduced
  the cost for subscribers to make and receive calls and to predict the cost
  of each call. Redknee’s solution has provided Vodacom with the ability to
  improve the customer experience and add value by introducing new tariff

   ©Copyright Redknee Inc. 2015                                  Case Study >

options and price plans, which has effectively increased adoption and
 allowed Vodacom to reduce the pre-paid average price per minute for
 voice calls by over 25 percent and decrease the price for data usage per
 megabyte by 16.2 percent.

 The solution’s modular design and limited need for customization will
 allow Vodacom to extend its Vodafone Passport offering to its post-paid
 subscribers and to provide new channels to reach the un-serviced
 population, effectively creating new hybrid market segments. This will
 enable Vodacom to continue to build on its market position and achieve
 its growth goals.

 Part of Redknee’s comprehensive portfolio of billing, charging, customer
 care and policy solutions for communications service providers, Redknee
 Unified expertly addresses the specific needs of today’s Tier 1 service
 providers to deliver real-time, unified charging, rating and billing
 capabilities quickly and cost-effectively, to generate new revenue
 streams, increase profitability and improve the customer experience.

 In the future, Vodacom plans to utilize Redknee’s solution to launch pre-
 paid LTE services to its customers.

Quick Facts
Operator: Vodacom South Africa
Number of Subscribers: 56 million
Redknee customer: Strategic relationship since 1996
Redknee Solution: Redknee Unified online charging system (OCS)
Results:
Redknee’s Unified solution enabled:

     •   Vodacom to address the challenges associated with international
         pricing and roaming tariffs with new tariffs and pricing plans
     •   Simplified management and control of Vodacom’s international
         roaming offering and to significantly reduced the cost for its
         subscribers to make and receive calls
     •   The ability to extend its Vodafone Passport offering to its post-paid
         subscribers and to provide new channels to reach the un-serviced
         population
     •   Vodacom to build on its market position and achieve its growth
         goals

                                    For more information about Redknee’s real-time
                                 monetization software, contact sales@redknee.com.
  ©Copyright Redknee Inc. 2015                                       Case Study >

©Copyright Redknee Inc. 2015   Case Study >