Containing and cutting costs is always a critical activity for any business, but in the current convergent environment in telecom it’s doubly important for competitive service providers as ultra-low-cost competitors are entering the market, often deploying inherently lower-cost, more scalable, or more automated technology to compete at the services layer.

In areas such as bandwidth provision or unbundled DSL, cost containment is also key as market prices will tend to steadily reduce - competitive service providers must keep ahead of the curve.

The costs of actually provisioning and deploying services must come down through automation. A Service Delivery Framework program is being pursued to define the TMF’s role in the end-to-end management of Next Generation Services.
Click here to learn more about the Service Delivery Framework team [SDF]

Within service delivery the TM Forum has developed an innovative project to reduce service ‘production’ costs and speed new services to market. Click here to learn more about the Product and Service Assembly Catalyst [PSA] One of the most pervasive costs in telecoms is revenue ‘leakage’. Charging, billing, revenue assurance and third party settlements are all areas where leakage can erode telco financial performance. The TMF’s Revenue Assurance team has developed a TMF Revenue Assurance Technical Report, which  leads the reader through the different facets of RA and how good RA practice can be built into  corporate systems and processes.
Click here to learn more about the Revenue Assurance Guide Book.

Billing is a critical function: properly managed it can help reduce churn and increase customer satisfaction. Efficient billing also reduces costs and increases financial efficiency.  The TM Forum has recently merged with the Global Billing Association, which has developed a Billing Performance Benchmarking program. Participants contribute key performance indicator data and receive back data on the average and ‘best in class’ measurements from all the participants, enabling them to see where improvements might be made.
Click here to learn more about he Global Billing Association (GBA)

We also run a broad benchmarking program which currently measures  DSL, IP services, mobile and wholesale transport, but will be expanded over time to include other services.
Click here to learn more about the TM Forum Business Transformation Benchmarking Program