SADC telecom operators want to ensure against fraud and revenue loss

Whilst the telecommunications industry in Africa has seen a quantum leap in the past decade, with some markets being more competitive and lucrative, there remains this shadowy side of telecoms in Africa - Fraud.

Telecom Namibia will provide a hub and platform for learning, debating and networking around this important issue of Fraud as it hosts the Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (SATA) 5^th Regional Workshop on ICT Fraud, Revenue Assurance and Network/Cyber Security in Windhoek from 14^th – 16^th November 2011.

Information and Communication Technology Minister Joel Kaapanda is expected to officiate at the workshop. Telecom Namibia Managing Director, as host, will address the opening session.

This is the only event within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Region where issues on Telecommunications Fraud Management, Revenue Assurance and Network/Cyber Security are discussed. Delegates will spend three days of sharing knowledge, latest thinking, experiences and evaluate practical solutions for reducing fraud, assuring revenue and overcoming security attacks on our ICT networks.

Today, the challenges faced by the telecom sector are wide ranging. One such challenge is revenue leakage which is a fact of life, given the technical and business challenges in this complicated environment. Companies worldwide take a 1.5-2% leakage in revenue as normal. Now, due to competitive pressures, companies are beginning to focus on internally tightening their processes to curb revenue losses.

However, revenue leakage, across the entire revenue chain, remains a challenge for operators. It is an inherent risk in the telecom revenue cycle, irrespective of the region of operations. Various revenue assurance research reports say that the degree of exposure lies in the range of 10% to 15% of a CSP’s gross revenue, depending upon factors such as networks, type of services, geography, and revenue assurance maturity level.

The workshop, among others, will focus on:

- How effective Fraud Management Systems (FMS) can help detect and reduce telecoms fraud;

- Effective ways of conducting investigations in telecoms in order to achieve best results;

- Strategies to provide adequate barriers against fraud in subscriber prepaid systems;

- Key issues surrounding strategic risk management of network fraud and security;

- Interconnection bypass;

- Addressing internal fraud; and

- Combating fraud and security in the Next Generation Networks.

SATA was established in 1980 in pursuant of the Southern Africa Development Community SADC Treaty and the provisions of the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology. Until 1999, the association was known as the Southern Africa Telecommunications Administrations (SATA).

The regional association handles issues such as technical standards, tariffs, sub-regional information infrastructure (SRII), cross-border investment (satellite technology) and public/private partnerships.

SATA has 15 member operators namely Telecom Namibia, Angola Telecom, Movicel Angola, Botswana Telecom Corporation, Telecom Lesotho, Econet Ezi-Cel (Lesotho), Malawi Telecommunications Limited, Mauritius Telecom, Telecomunicações de Moçambique, Telkom South Africa, Swaziland Posts & Telecommunications Corporation, Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited, Zambia Telecommunications Company Limited, Tel.One Zimbabwe and TeleAccess (Zimbabwe).