The Alcatel Prepaid Telecom (PPT) service is Alcatel s answer to the growing demand for prepaid calling services on fixed networks. Alcatel s PPT serv

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1 The Alcatel Prepaid Telecom Service The All-in-One Solution for Offering Prepaid Telecommunications Services

2 The Alcatel Prepaid Telecom (PPT) service is Alcatel s answer to the growing demand for prepaid calling services on fixed networks. Alcatel s PPT service is a highly flexible service that enables any kind of service provider, whether incumbent or competitive, to define the prepaid solution desired to fit several types of business models and target several types of market segments. In short, it allows any kind of service user to make telephone calls from anywhere in the operator network until the limit of prepaid credit is reached.

3 CUSTOMIZED, EXPANDING AND PROFITABLE MARKET Today, a wide variety of non-traditional telecommunications users exist including tourists, travelers, expatriates, students, teenagers, people waiting for a home line, and people calling abroad. All of these users are interested in making calls at the cheapest price without any constraints, whether location or device, and they also want to control their costs. In certain cases, people do not own a first-line telecommunications subscription and they want to be able to make phone calls from any terminal. In contrast, if a user has a fixed-line subscription, he or she may want to have an alternative solution for certain situations (e.g., for calling abroad, from a remote line or just in case). Whatever the case, a different business model applies and a different prepaid service has to be defined. Highly Targeted Solutions In most cases today, several independent services are offered to meet the wide variety of user needs. Each service has its own database and runs (or not) on the same platform. The Alcatel PPT service can resolve this issue by enabling any kind of provider to define the prepaid services offered to fit exactly the market segment it targets all through one service. By launching such an offer, specific promotions or bonuses can be offered to customers based on their actual needs, and thereby increasing their loyalty. In addition, prepaid services can be used to target a section of the community who could not otherwise obtain telephone service, such as people with poor credit ratings and people not old enough to have a credit rating (i.e., under 18 years of age). The Alcatel PPT service allows solutions for each target audience to be developed based on two main options. Prepaid Subscription Prepaid Subscription service can be an alternative offer for a home-line subscription when the user requires added cost control. It is also a means to offer a telephone service to people waiting for a fixed line. Prepaid Calling Card The Prepaid Calling Card service is mainly designed for users who don't have a line subscription at home or who want to remain free and anonymous. It could be defined as anonymous calling card service without refill to address the needs of travelers, tourists, and expatriates who want to call their home country, or as a refillable calling card service for youngsters and international callers. Alcatel s PPT service offers a packaged, flexible and customizable solution to both service subscribers and service providers, creating a win-win situation for all parties involved. ALCATEL 1 >

4 New Business Opportunities Deploying the Alcatel PPT service in the network creates the opportunity to offer services to an entirely new base of customers. With prepaid services, the risk associated with users who would not normally qualify for a fixed or postpaid line is eliminated. This not only opens up a new potential base of customers, but creates a sense of loyalty for the users who are unable to obtain phone service otherwise. In addition, prepaid services can be offered to current postpaid subscribers who want alternative methods for special circumstances. The multi-tenant functionality of the Alcatel PPT service makes it possible for several service providers to independently operate their own commercial services from the same service platform. By wholesaling prepaid capabilities to a trusted third-party service provider, the operator creates yet another new customer base as well as a new source of revenue. Financial Gains Prepayment and a wide range of security measures virtually eliminate fraud while also increasing profitability and cash flow. Because calls cannot be placed until payment is received, no bad debt is created. The Alcatel PPT service also lowers the costs associated with customer acquisition and maintenance because billing systems and credit checks are not necessary. The removal of these costs guarantees a higher return on > 2 ALCATEL

5 investment (ROI) for the operator. Additionally, the all-in-one nature of the Alcatel PPT service reduces the capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX) normally required to offer and maintain separate services. Built with Network Migration in Mind One trend taking place in the telecommunications industry is the deployment of and migration toward next generation networks (NGNs). Regardless of the migration strategy, whether the time division multiplexing (TDM) network and NGN cohabit, or an NGN has been deployed targeting IP users as well as legacy users, the basic service offered through these networks remains the telephony service. Thus, the requirement for a companion prepaid application remains as high as in the past. The Alcatel PPT service allows services to be defined in a pure TDM environment, a pure NGN environment based on session initiation protocol (SIP) or both environments. Two examples of possible services include: > A refillable calling card service dedicated to international calls to a specific country. This service targets either the plain old telephone service (POTS) or IP user. Whatever the origin of the call, the call can be directed to the NGN and the service will be entirely executed in the NGN environment. > A subscription-based prepaid account on the home line to support cost control for personal calls. This service targets POTS users only; however local calls can be routed via the TDM network and long distance national or international calls via the NGN. So for a given user account, the prepaid service will be addressed and executed either in the TDM environment through an intelligent network application protocol (INAP) interface or in the NGN environment through a SIP interface, and this remains transparent for the user. Another trend to consider is the convergence of the fixed and mobile networks. Alcatel has prepaid solutions for both fixed and mobile environments that apply the same concepts and follow the same internal component-based architecture, thus enabling Alcatel to offer a convergent solution. The PPT service is mainly dedicated to charge telephony applications but can easily be extended to Internet users to offer Web management and to charge e-content applications, as well as all applications sharing the same account. The PPT service is part of the Alcatel Payment Suite for fixed networks, works on top of a PSTN and is ready to work on top of an NGN. ALCATEL 3 >

6 KEY FEATURES Multi-Tenancy The Alcatel PPT service allows the service operator to manage the service platform and the relationship with the network, while several service providers use the platform independently to define a commercial offering to their specific customers. Profile Selection The Alcatel PPT service relies on accounts and vouchers. The account is associated with one user; the voucher is used either to create or to refill an account. Both are based on the profile concept, which enables the service provider to supply an adapted service for each of the proposed solutions and to adapt each service offering to given market segments. Account Lifecycle Different account states (valid, active, expired, etc.) are defined according to the activity/validity periods of the account. The account state s transition is processed during the call-handling process. Account Refill A prepaid service can be defined with or without refill capability. The service user can refill the prepaid account either by using vouchers (scratch card) or by contacting the service provider and making a deposit. User Features Many user features are available including language selection, PIN selection, enable/disable PIN, authentication identifier selection, abbreviated dialing, bis (automatic redialing of last call), kiosk, calling line attachment, follow on, account recharge, account interrogation, help desk, online help, and user's management. Rating Rating is accomplished according to account profile, date and time, destination, service access number (SAN), calling party category, or friends and family list. Rating is based on minutes/ seconds. Additional features available to service providers through the rating function include credit slicing for multiple users using the same account at the same time, the ability to change a tariff via a voucher, apply a tariff per the period of the call, and to offer one free period for heavy users. > 4 ALCATEL

7 Additional Features > Call handling features are: service access remote access explicit/implicit authentication establish a call first call multiple users filtering matrix minimum credit to make the call real-time credit supervision advice and warning messages. > Service provider features change a tariff scheme via voucher general announcement before call setup preferential friend and family list management black list customer assistance for help desk voucher clearing account clearing special promotions heavy user/active user reward warning message features (activity/inactivity period, credit call duration, warning tone) fraud protection features statistics/call history features miscellaneous features (predefined destination card only for calling cards). > Options on demand are: web management e-content (micro payment) refill from ATM device and log consultation periodic credit update call back ALCATEL, A LEADER IN THE PREPAID SERVICES MARKET With 10 percent market share as of 3Q 2004 and over 100 customers, Alcatel is the recognized world leader in prepaid services in what is widely considered a fragmented market. Alcatel has shown commitment to the prepaid market by continuing to enrich its prepaid offering and, through its expertise in real-time services, continues to offer a new range of real-time payment applications. By combining the best attributes of previous versions of its prepaid products into this all-in-one service, Alcatel has differentiated itself from most competitors worldwide. The Alcatel PPT service is a fully featured product with an attractive set of options for both the service provider and user. And the flexibility of the PPT service is unmatched in the industry. Based on Alcatel s proven and future-proof 8690 Open Services Platform (OSP), which guarantees a full resilience and a high scalability, the Alcatel PPT service is deployable now for immediate revenue gains, yet also ready for the future of the network whether NGN or fixed/mobile convergence. ALCATEL 5 >

8 Alcatel and the Alcatel logo are registered trademarks of Alcatel. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Alcatel assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information presented, which is subject to change without notice Alcatel. All rights reserved. 3CL TQZZA Ed