PITA Newsletter
Solomon Telikom looks to CPDI for upgrade work
Technology evolves and so do mechanisms to hack through it. Regional telcos are just as vulnerable as their advanced western neighbours and if you don't have the tech solution to deal with it then looking to offshore providers is the next best shot. Solomon Telikom, in upgrading its communications network, opted for a Communications Product Development Inc (CPDI) platform that would serve them on several levels.
Telikom managing director Martyn Robinson said: "We wanted a proven, reliable platform at an economical price that would prevent fraud and offer a variety of new features." While CPDI's principal project task in the Solomons involves the provision of prepaid and voicemail services to the islands, taking precautionary measures through anti-fraud mechanisms will be a cost-saver for any telecommunications provider. Although Pacific figures are not readily available. The Communications Fraud Control Association estimates telecom fraud losses for last year to be around US$12 billion.
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Sheridan Broadbent, CPDI director of sales, South Pacific, notes CPDI's work in the Pacific: "CPDI has an outstanding track record of prepaid fraud prevention. Our platforms unerringly detect fraudulent call attempts." "Revenue leakage through fraud has become a critical challenge for prepaid telecom operators," Broadbent said. "CPDI has worked with operators around the world who have been continuously exposed to frequent fraud attempts, particularly by hackers employing random numbers and with multiple hits to "break" into their prepaid platform.
"CPDI's platform is designed to disallow unauthorized or simultaneous use of accounts, and alarms are sent to the carrier whenever unusual events occur. The telecom operator has the ability to freeze or block accounts until the nature of the unusual activity is established and the CPDI platform gives each carrier the flexibility to determine their own fraud management procedures according to their own needs."
Communications Product
Development Inc is a customer driven global developer and provider of Business Support System software solutions with customers in over 30 countries around the world. Meanwhile, Solomon Telikom is the sole domestic and international telecommunications provider for the Solomons. Telikom is a joint venture between the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund owning majority shares at 51 percent, United Kingdom company Cable & Wireless with 41.9 percent, and the Investment Corporation of the Solomon Islands with a 7.1 percent ownership.
The CPDI/Solomon Telikom project involves upgrading existing PSTN customers to the new CPDI platform and provides Solomon Telekom with the means to launch new services to Solomon Islanders. Immediate services to be deployed to new and existing customers include prepaid calling card services, prepaid residential calling and voicemail.
Robinson said: "Initially we will be focusing on delivering high quality, affordable voice services to enable more Solomon Islanders to keep in touch. "Once we have satisfied demand and increased our penetration we will focus on launching new services such as pre-paid GSM services."
CPDI's customers in the Pacific include Telikom PNG, Telstra, Telecom Fiji, Transtel, Tonga Communications Corporation, American Samoa Telecom Authority, Blue Sky American Samoa, Telecom Samoa Cellular, Verizon Saipan and Palau National Communications Corporation. Broadbent says that CPDI's Call Control platform is the "number one choice of Pacific Islands communications carriers.
"Our customers experience exceptionally high returns on their investments. The payback period for the operators are surprisingly short due to the flexibility and scalability of CPDI's platform, which helps carriers grow their business incrementally.
"Starting with a simple platform they can add new capacity as their customer traffic grows. This way, operators optimise their investment avoiding costly upgrades and exorbitant license fees.
"The same elegant features that are implemented by our largest customers, such as Verizon and Telstra, are also available in our smaller platforms. Our customers can offer world-class features without a high investment and manage their expansion costs easily over time by simply adding more processing capacity as required."
The CPDI platform, which provides Solomon Telikom with voicemail and prepaid services across wireless and wireline networks, is switch independent. It acts as a service node within CPDI's customers' networks meaning that the platform can interface with any switch or network element easily.
Robinson said: "Most important to us, however, was finding a partner that would support us now and in the future and could point to a history of such support to other pacific operators."
