Mediation Gets Active

Posted: 2/2004

Mediation Gets Active
Advanced Subscriber Services Require More Interactive OSS
By Rick Woods

A mediation system has been a
critical component of the OSS since the early 1980s. In its role as the funnel
for usage information from the network, mediation has always played a passive
role in the subscribers experience. Traditionally, mediation would collect
usage data after the subscriber had completed a session be it a voice call
or a data download and then pass the processed record on to a billing
application for final disposition.

Modern services and the requirements of modern service
delivery have changed the role of mediation. No longer is it sufficient for a
mediation system to be a passive player in session cycle. The business model of
the modern service provider has made it necessary for mediation systems to
interact with the subscriber, hence the term active mediation.
State-of-the-art mediation systems are expected to grant access, allow payment
options and permit service delivery. It now is necessary for mediation systems
to be aware of subscriber IDs and profiles, product catalogs, service offerings
and rating schemes.

Content delivery and broadband wireless services have brought
the business much closer to the network. Competition is forcing service providers to look for new ways
to attract and retain customers while at the same time maintaining average
revenue per user (ARPU). Prepaid services no longer are limited to the
credit-challenged and are becoming more attractive, making knowledge of consumer
behavior essential. Fortunately, hardware and software products are emerging
that provide critical granular data in real time for immediate action.

Some of these enablers include:

Active mediation
requires a protocol framework where any network element or application
server can exercise business functions during a subscribers session in real
time. RADIUS, Java, XML/SOAP, CORBA, GTP and Parlay are the primary protocols
supported by an active mediation system. The bidirectional exchange of data via
these protocols makes it possible to support MMS, SMS, gaming, video and audio
services.

Active mediation requires an agent framework as well,
where mediation agents and provisioning agents act on behalf of a real-time
service broker. Mediation agents accept data from external sources and interpret
its content so that the proper business functions can be executed. For example,
a gaming server via a Parlay gateway may ask if a particular subscriber has a
prepaid account. A mediation agent would receive this request from the protocol
framework and access the subscriber database. Prepay or postpay status would be identified and further
message brokering would be enabled. If the subscriber were a prepay customer,
his available balance would be determined and returned, via the mediation agent,
in a compatible form to the gaming server.

Provisioning agents act to provide further information to
network elements for various forms of service activation.

Active mediation also implies the ability to:

When a subscriber requests a particular service interactive
gaming, for example the active mediation system must be able to recognize
the individual game and determine its commercial value. This requires a product
catalog and a rating scheme. The active mediation system then must determine if
the use of the game falls into a subscribed free period (10 games per month for
free) or if the game is a pay-per-use service. If it is payper- use,
then the active mediation system must determine if the subscriber has the
ability to pay (ewallet, prepaid card or credit card). After these decisions
have been made, the active mediation system must return the results, granting or
denying service, to the requesting system.

Active mediation plays another important role in mediating
content and broadband services revenue sharing. In the majority of cases,
the network provider will not be the entity that provides content. Rather, a
network provider will have many relationships/contracts with content providers,
whereby an agreement has been made as to the relative value each partner adds to
the subscribers experience. For example, an interactive gaming content provider may
realize 80 percent of the revenue generated from the use of the game while the
network provider realizes 20 percent. The active mediation system is the focal
point where the usage information resides. At the end of a subscribers
session, active mediation will create records that describe the services used,
the providers of the various services (transport and content) and the contracted
settlement parameters required to share the revenue.

Indeed the role of mediation has changed. A mediation system
can no longer play a passive role in the modern OSS. Instead, an active
mediation system must bring business functions close to the network and make
those functions available to any entity, smart network elements, or application
servers, so that content can be delivered on-demand, in a safe, secure, prepaid
environment.

Rick Woods is vice president of product management and
business development for Intec Telecom Systems, a global provider of OSS for
fixed, mobile and next-generation networks.