Mobile Personalization

If you are a wireless subscriber, policy control is something you should be aware of whether you are a user or a subscriber, in order to ensure the easiest and most cost efficient wireless experience possible.

In a recent post on Bridgewater System’s blog, Mobile Gets Personal, the mobile personalization company took the time to explain what policy control is, and what solutions they can use to manage their wireless bills.

The blog states that policy control enables mobile operators to take charge of the services they offer their subscribers and to control the delivery of these services based on key parameters.

“For example, if you want to restrict a service so that it’s made available for exactly 24 hours or you want to cut off a data allocation at 500 MB, you simply create a policy which enforces such ’set values’. Your corresponding ‘policy’ in this example becomes that the network cuts off a specific subscriber if he or she has paid $5 and reaches the threshold of 500 MB of data,” according to the blog post.

The main parameters that can be easily managed through the implementation of effective policy control include time, duration and price.  In terms of time, once a time threshold is reached the subscriber’s ability to make calls is discontinued. In terms of price, once the monetary plan threshold is reached, the policy is triggered and takes action.

According to the mobile personalization company, policy control is delivered by means of software. This software may be rolled out by any cellular network operator, regardless of their base technology. And as 4G (LTE (News - Alert)) networks are deployed, the base technology there is little difference in the application of policy control software.

If there are no policies in place to influence user behavior, a ‘power user’ of data may go beyond their data allocation and acquire penalties. The recipient of such a penalty incurs ‘bill shock’. A customer who suffers bill shock is extremely likely to switch to a competitive network, which is why operators try to avoid it as much as possible.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications & technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2011, taking place Feb 2-4, 2011, in Miami. ITEXPO (News - Alert) (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here. And don’t forget to follow the ITEXPO pages on Facebook & Twitter for all the latest updates on the show!

Stefanie Mosca is a Web editor for TMCnet. Previously she worked as a freelance copy editor for Digital Surgeons LLC. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University and a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of New Haven. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Stefanie Mosca