A route to the future

Orange Réunion Mayotte modernizes real-time data charging and policy control to offer an improved customer experience

A climate of competition

Réunion is a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean, 700 kilometers east of Madagascar.

With three grand canyons, an active volcano and beautiful forests, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular tourist destination. On average, the island’s population is around 900,000, but during the French vacation period it increases to above one million.

With a limited number of subscribers, competition between the island’s three operators is fierce. Orange Réunion Mayotte has 300,000 subscribers and ranks second in terms of market share. Jérôme Tavernier, the company’s CIO, explains that as the challenger, the operator is constantly looking for new ways to offer an improved customer experience and gain better control of data services.

“We need a clear route to the future based on a new solution. Our chosen products are the Charging System, Mobile Broadband Charging and Ericsson Customer Management System (ECMS),” he says.

No surprises

The charging solution enables Orange Réunion Mayotte to automate monthly account management and to create and quickly launch new targeted and innovative data offers and services.

The operator can now also propose bundled traditional voice and messaging offers with new data services. It can enforce credit and usage control, preventing bill shock and securing fair use.

A scalable, flexible BSS solution, Charging System 5 delivers decoupling, configurability and a future-proof product roadmap.

Benoit Gendron, Ericsson’s Sales Director for France Telecom Orange, explains the benefits of the new approach: “With this new solution, Orange Réunion Mayotte customers are now in full control,” he says. “When they make calls or browse the internet they receive real-time notification about their spending level.”

This helps customers avoid any surprises when they receive their bill and prevents them from overspending on their subscription, allowing them to have confidence in Orange.

The solution provides customers with more than just monitoring of spending. Pamela Albin, an Orange subscriber who works in communications, enjoys the greater personalization of services that the solution enables.

“Orange allows me to tailor my package to suit my needs,” she explains. “If I need extra data for a certain time or for a certain service, then I can buy it from Orange.”

A strategic evolution

Ericsson and Orange are continuing to work together to ensure that the solution brings about further business benefits and helps the operator to increase its market share.

Today, the main benefits include reduced time to market on new offers and a 40 percent drop in maintenance costs.

Jérôme Tavernier explains why Ericsson were the ideal choice for the project: “Orange chose Ericsson because we are confident that the new charging solution will support our strategic evolution and enable us to provide our customers with new innovative offers and services.”

Customer Profile

Orange Réunion Mayotte is one of three operators on the island of Réunion, which is situated in the Indian Ocean, just off Madagascar. A subsidiary of France Telecom’s leading brand, the company ranks second out of the three, with a 30-35 percent market share. It has around 300,000 customers, split equally between prepaid or postpaid and hybrid subscriptions.

Website: www.reunion.orange.fr