Getting Ready for Quad-playZillion Business Review, 14th edition
Formula Telecom Solutions (FTS), Ltd has been active in the billing and CRM marketplace for ten years now, but following an IPO and a considerable strengthening of its competitive position in North America in 2005, industry analysts are now really sitting up and taking notice of this publicly quoted company. FTS Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Yair Sakov talks about how he expects the market to evolve.
Formula Telecom Solutions (LSE: FTS), a Formula Group company, is a leading global provider of billing and CRM solutions for service and content providers and the telecom industry. With more than 50 customers in 40 countries, FTS delivers end-to-end and modular solutions to traditional operators and to providers of the world’s most advance next-generation services.
Mr. Sakov was appointed Vice President of Marketing and Business Development of this global company in January 2005, bolstering the executive team with more than 15 years of experience in the information technologies and communication industries. “FTS sales and deployment had grown steadily since 2001,” says Sakov. “The decision to move forward on North America, however, followed by the appointment of industry veteran Shaul Ganel as President of our North America Division, gave the business a further boost. Our 2005 IPO on the AIM in London allowed us to further expand our North American operation, notably with the acquisition of Viziqor, a leading provider of billing and business support systems. We’re now a happening company, as they say. Industry analysts and the media talk about us more than they’ve ever done before.”
As FTS continues to broaden and improve on its product offerings, the latest results of its efforts were shown at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona where its industry leading Business Control and Charging Foundation (BCCF) was exhibited. “What we wanted to do at 3GSM is show operators how we can help them provide tomorrow’s services today,” adds Mr. Sakov. “The benefits of video, voice, and data convergence, in other words triple play, are high on operators’ agendas these days. But we also wanted to show them what happens when mobile is added to the now famous triple play trio, in other words when quad play arrives. What’s unique about our next generation solutions is that we’ve progressed from the conventional approach to billing, putting a business value on transactions rather than ‘just’ a monetary value. The sheer fact that customers read and act upon marketing material providers sent them, for example, cannot be monetized but is of business value as it means that you’re in communication with them. Our solutions allow providers to dynamically respond to this value resulting higher subscriber satisfaction and retention.” Mr. Sakov continues, “Other companies claim they’re triple play or quad play ready, but there’s a difference between stapled triple play and truly converged triple play. I believe that FTS is one of few companies to effectively cross-link all elements. And that’s a real differentiator especially now that we’re on the verge of wide-scale quad play.”
