With the ever-increasing popularity of smartphones and 3G access, the role of identity management in monetising this access is more crucial than ever. Co-sponsored feature: Nokia Siemens Networks 

Doug Dabérius, head of identity solutions at NSN:
new, two-sided revenue streams

In 2007 Light Reading warned that communications service providers could lose out on as much as $1 trillion in the emerging Web 2.0 market if they allow themselves to become mere bit pipe providers, few seemed to notice. Back then, the mobile internet was still in its infancy and easy-to-use smartphones and USB dongles had just begun to appear on the device market.

These days, things have changed. With HSDPA access in many parts of the world, and smartphones everywhere, monetising the mobile web has become one of the hottest topics in the industry, and discussions on this subject can be overheard in boardrooms across the world each and every day.

Chris Pearson, president of trade organisation 3G Americas, says: "Following the early days of the internet, and the subsequent boom of the worldwide web, the third phase of internet development – pertaining to the mobile internet – is now taking place, bringing with it the convergence of mobile and fixed networks. With this tremendous mobile internet opportunity is the huge responsibility for communications service providers to deliver security, privacy and a positive experience for their customers. The customer's identity management will be a critical part of the evolving converged architecture as new opportunities and vulnerabilities are introduced through the integration of different networks and technologies."

Identity – the record of a subscriber’s multiple web usernames, passwords, secrets, personal attributes, all linked to dynamic usage, activity, profiles and policies – has become the network’s logical center, and managing identities across all IP sessions is the ticket to converged service delivery. The ability of communications service providers to trace any alias back to the subscriber’s root identity certainly benefits transparency. But more than that, it puts the communications service provider in the driver’s seat. By applying the appropriate policies and leveraging profile data to make it personal, the communications service provider takes full control of the converged experience.

Identity is the key to unlocking successive network value – without it, sessions are limited to generic service control capabilities. Orchestration enables communications service providers to identify every session and correlate it with the given user, taking personal preference and rules into account. Communications service providers are in a unique position here to utilise their network expertise to provide network-enhanced authentication, device transparency, scalability, personalisation, and reliability.

Accurate, and easily accessible, subscriber data is critical

When it comes to managing the subscriber’s identity, the challenge for communications service providers is that subscribers often have several identities in different silos of their provider’s organization – data usage here, voice information there, charging and billing data somewhere else. Unifying this data across the organisation’s various silos can be difficult but must be done in order to improve service delivery and maximise ARPU. Another opportunity is bringing to market new services that require subscriber and third-party consent before rolling out.

A circle of trust

One company that has been ahead of the curve in helping communications service providers better manage their subscriber identities is Nokia Siemens Networks. Since its high-profile acquisition of the market-leading data management company Apertio in 2007, Nokia Siemens Networks has continued to invest in the long-term potential of subscriber data, and helped dozens of communications service providers across the world tap into this powerful resource.

Doug Dabérius, head of identity solutions at Nokia Siemens Networks, says: “Communications service providers certainly benefit from our IDM solution, which has evolved from our industry-leading subscriber data management solution in use by around one billion subscribers in the world today. Using our solutions communications service providers immediately tap new, two-sided revenue streams and transform and expand their business into a trusted identity broker for their subscribers – who also benefit because this puts at their fingertips a more straightforward, secure and private means of accessing Web 2.0 multimedia content and services. Improving the customer experience reduces churn and boosts ARPU. It’s a win-win situation for everybody.”

Anyone who has surfed the internet on a mobile device knows that it can be slow and tricky. With better identity management, the process can be streamlined and make it so much easier for the subscriber to navigate – reducing the number of passwords and usernames, to cite just two examples. At the same time identity management allows subscribers to receive more personalised services from their favorite Web 2.0 providers with complete privacy.

As Dabérius explains, there is even an opportunity to build bridges with other companies to unify passwords and usernames according to the mobile internet services the subscriber accesses most. This also helps communications service providers and these third-party organisations roll out new services much more quickly and efficiently, decreasing time-to-revenue by a significant amount.

“You can imagine a kind of circle of trust,” he says. “With secure authentication and linked accounts, subscribers will be able to enjoy easy, yet secure, access without the continuous need to log on in order to access the businesses that form their own circle of trust. Currently communications service providers take six months to a year to add new partner to their trusted circle after they come to a business agreement. With an IDM layer and solution you can reduce months to days and add partners at a much lower cost. It should also be said that, with intelligent authentication and authorisation, subscribers will be prompted to provide additional authentication when accessing government, banking, and other more restricted sites.” GTB

For the simple truth about IDM, please visit unite.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/simpletruthIDM

Use cases

John is a university student with interests ranging from music to mountain biking. Since switching to a new communications service provider John has increased his online time by a significant amount for one reason - the service is absolutely free. John's communications service provider, meanwhile, has found real profit from its new subscriber John. It has monetised the relationship between John and his Web 2.0 accounts and relationships, leveraging his subscriber data and taking a share of John's purchases from online music and bookstores and his weekly lottery play. Since this new communications service provider is saving these organisations the hassle of verifying his identity, they reimburse the communications service provider, generating real, significant ARPU.

Jane is a working mother of two. She has come to rely on mobile broadband as much as her fixed-line connection at home and work, to access a wide range of services, from traffic updates to help her get from school to work, to booking the family holiday, to organising her schedule. Jane recently switched service providers because a colleague had told her this new provider has really simplified her life, with a single sign-on to access all of her mobile and fixed-line service accounts - from push-traffic updates to her business and social networking sites. Jane uses her services more often as she feels safer now that her privacy is better protected and the chance of identity theft has been reduced. Now Jane is telling other colleagues the same thing: this single sign-on from her new provider really does make life simpler.