GB941 D Controls Addendum v1-7

Revenue Assurance
Guidebook
Revenue Leakage Framework and Examples
GB941 Addendum D
Version 1.7
April, 2011
TM Forum 2011

Revenue Assurance Guidebook: Revenue Leakage Framework and Examples
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GB941 -D, Version 1.7 © TM Forum 2011 Page 2 of 139

Table of Contents
Notice...................................................................................................................................................................2
Table of Contents ..............................................................................................................................................3
Executive Summary ..........................................................................................................................................6
1 Revenue Assurance Framework .................................................................................................................7
1.1 Product and Offer Management ......................................................................................................8
1.2 Order Management and Provisioning..............................................................................................8
1.3 Network and Usage Management ...................................................................................................8
1.4 Rating and Billing ..............................................................................................................................8
1.5 Receivables Management ...............................................................................................................9
1.6 Finance and Accounting ...................................................................................................................9
1.7 Customer Management....................................................................................................................9
1.8 Partner Management........................................................................................................................9
2 Revenue Leakage Examples..................................................................................................................... 10
2.1 Product and Offer Management ................................................................................................... 10
2.1.1 New product launched with no process to bill ...................................................................... 10
2.1.2 Unexpired product/service promotions ................................................................................. 11
2.1.3 Expired service or promotion no longer billable ................................................................... 12
2.1.4 Unprofitable usage based services ....................................................................................... 13
2.1.5 Unprofitable equipment sales ................................................................................................ 14
2.1.6 By-pass numbers not charged .............................................................................................. 15
2.1.7 Low margin calls .................................................................................................................... 16
2.1.8 Ambiguous sales promotions ................................................................................................ 17
2.1.9 Poor QoS provided to high ARPU customers ...................................................................... 18
2.1.10 Campaign Management Discounts Subscriber Linguistics Behavior ............................... 19
2.2 Order Management & Provisioning .............................................................................................. 20
2.2.1 Contract Incorrect................................................................................................................... 20
2.2.2 Insufficient customer information for billing purposes .......................................................... 21
2.2.3 Invalid customer given account during identification validation ........................................... 22
2.2.4 Delay in processing order ...................................................................................................... 23
2.2.5 Third party costs of orders on hold........................................................................................ 24
2.2.6 Third party costs for cancelled circuits .................................................................................. 25
2.2.7 Third party costs for early provision of service ..................................................................... 26
2.2.8 Order cancellation due to delay in provisioning.................................................................... 27
2.2.9 Provisioned service different to customer requirements ...................................................... 28
2.2.10 Service activated but no billing account created ................................................................ 29
2.2.11 Billing ceased but service still provided .............................................................................. 30
2.2.12 Ported-out numbers not delisted from billing ...................................................................... 31
2.2.13 Ported-in numbers not billed ............................................................................................... 32
2.2.14 Pre-paid handsets activated as post-paid .......................................................................... 33
2.2.15 Failure to meet contract volume commitment .................................................................... 34
2.2.16 Delay in number porting causes delay in billable service to customer ............................. 35
2.2.17 Overpayment for supporting services that have been cancelled ...................................... 36
2.2.18 Failure to bill for services added and removed during billing cycle ................................... 37
2.2.19 Costs incurred from delays in submission of cancellation ................................................. 38
2.2.20 Incorrect capture of equipment sales .................................................................................. 39
2.2.21 Stranded assets ................................................................................................................... 40

2.2.22 Over provisioning of network components ......................................................................... 41

2.2.23 Failure to implement service charges according to contract ............................................. 42
2.3 Network and Usage Management ................................................................................................ 43
2.3.1 Invalid customer allowed to make call .................................................................................. 43
2.3.2 CDRs not produced ............................................................................................................... 44
2.3.3 CDRs not produced correctly ................................................................................................ 45
2.3.4 Incorrect recording of call duration ........................................................................................ 46
2.3.5 Call rounding error ................................................................................................................. 47
2.3.6 Number ranges already in use assigned to new interconnect operator ............................. 48
2.3.7 Failure to bar IMSI from roaming .......................................................................................... 49
2.3.8 Third party costs incurred because network route unavailable ........................................... 50
2.3.9 Countries closed off ............................................................................................................... 51
2.3.10 Failure to use least cost route for traffic delivery ................................................................ 52
2.3.11 Pre-paid platform downtime gives free usage .................................................................... 53
2.3.12 CDRs not written to network element data file ................................................................... 54
2.3.13 Data loss during file transfer between systems.................................................................. 55
2.3.14 Billable CDRs incorrectly filtered by mediation system ...................................................... 56
2.3.15 Incorrect transformation of file in mediation ........................................................................ 57
2.3.16 Short duration calls rounded to zero duration .................................................................... 58
2.3.17 Incorrect set up of GSM gateways ...................................................................................... 59
2.3.18 Trunk identify set up incorrectly........................................................................................... 60
2.3.19 Internal abuse of network .................................................................................................... 61
2.3.20 Loss of CDRs caused by local storage failure on switch ................................................... 62
2.3.21 Prepaid usage not triggering IN platform ............................................................................ 63
rd
2.3.22 Delayed Network De-provisioning for 3 Party Services ................................................... 64
2.3.23 Erroneous Recharge Card Voucher Activations ................................................................ 65
2.3.24 Poor Service Quality ............................................................................................................ 66
2.4 Rating and Billing ........................................................................................................................... 67
2.4.1 Incorrect charges applied to events ...................................................................................... 67
2.4.2 Events records written off because they are too old to bill................................................... 68
2.4.3 CDRs in suspense written off without inspection ................................................................. 69
2.4.4 Manual billing inaccuracies.................................................................................................... 70
2.4.5 Missing long duration call segments ..................................................................................... 71
2.4.6 Incorrect routing of usage records to end systems .............................................................. 72
2.4.7 Bills produced do not cover the services provided ............................................................... 73
2.4.8 Calls incorrectly identified as duplicates ............................................................................... 74
2.4.9 CDR enrichment incorrect ..................................................................................................... 75
2.4.10 CDRs correlated incorrectly ................................................................................................ 76
2.4.11 Print vendor does not receive all complete bills ................................................................. 77
2.4.12 Bundle allowance applied incorrectly.................................................................................. 78
2.4.13 Pre-paid tariffs set up incorrectly ......................................................................................... 79
2.4.14 Retail call tariffs set up incorrectly ....................................................................................... 80
2.4.15 Equipment tariff set up incorrectly ....................................................................................... 81
2.4.16 Non-usage pricing structure set up incorrectly ................................................................... 82
2.4.17 Rating logic applied incorrectly............................................................................................ 83
2.4.18 Incorrect rating identifier applied during rating.................................................................... 84
2.4.19 Calls not accurately rated due to inaccurate reference data ............................................. 85
2.4.20 Concurrent charging loss..................................................................................................... 86
2.4.21 Discounts calculated incorrectly .......................................................................................... 87
2.4.22 Customer reference data missing from rating engine ........................................................ 88
2.4.23 Re-credit raised in pre-paid billing system for successfully sent SMS .............................. 89
2.4.24 Prepaid service allowed service with zero balance............................................................ 90
2.4.25 Inappropriate Credit Limits .................................................................................................. 91
2.4.26 Dual Charging for Roaming-out Subscribers ..................................................................... 92
2.4.27 Billing Errors Resulting From Billing Software Upgrade .................................................... 93

2.4.28 Deactivated VAS not Re-activated ..................................................................................... 94

2.5 Receivables Management ............................................................................................................ 95
2.5.1 Bad debt write-off ................................................................................................................... 95
2.5.2 Fraudulent credit card information supplied by customer .................................................... 96
2.5.3 Cash collection process failure.............................................................................................. 97
2.5.4 Inflexible ‘Payment by Installment’ Schemes ....................................................................... 98
2.5.5 Late Payments ....................................................................................................................... 99
2.6 Finance and Accounting .............................................................................................................. 100
2.6.1 Revenue incorrectly posted to General Ledger.................................................................. 100
2.6.2 Incomplete process of records from POS to the financial system .................................... 101
2.6.3 Tax over payment ................................................................................................................ 102
2.6.4 Pre-paid roaming VAT over payment to customs .............................................................. 103
2.7 Customer Management............................................................................................................... 104
2.7.1 Customer care rebates are given inappropriately .............................................................. 104
2.7.2 Pre-paid top-up payments are allocated to the incorrect account ..................................... 105
2.7.3 Discounts incorrectly applied repeatedly to a single account ............................................ 106
2.7.4 Incorrect manual intervention of the billing system ............................................................ 107
2.7.5 Incorrect manual intervention of the billing system ............................................................ 108
2.7.6 Inappropriate Cross/ Up-Selling Activity ............................................................................. 109
2.7.7 Inability to Pay ...................................................................................................................... 110
2.8 Partner Management................................................................................................................... 111
2.8.1 Roaming partners billed incorrectly..................................................................................... 111
2.8.2 Interconnect partners billed incorrectly ............................................................................... 112
2.8.3 Overcharging by a third party .............................................................................................. 113
2.8.4 Arbitrage ............................................................................................................................... 114
2.8.5 Overpayment of commissions............................................................................................. 115
2.8.6 Revenue is shared with partners incorrectly....................................................................... 116
2.8.7 Wholesale traffic is not recorded accurately and passed to others for billing ................... 117
2.8.8 Leasing circuits from third party under retail rather than wholesale contract.................... 118
2.8.9 Dealer fraud .......................................................................................................................... 119
2.8.10 Operator fails to meet bilateral agreement ....................................................................... 120
2.8.11 Fines imposed for failure to meet traffic agreement......................................................... 121
2.8.12 Sub-optimal call duration rounding on self-invoiced statement ....................................... 122
2.8.13 Wholesale recharges incorrectly calculated ..................................................................... 123
2.8.14 Inbound TAP files never received or delayed too long by clearing house ...................... 124
2.8.15 CDRs from inbound roaming files rejected by clearing house ........................................ 125
2.8.16 Inbound TAP CDRs dropped between clearing house and TAP module ...................... 126
2.8.17 SDR variance between clearing house and TAP module ............................................... 127
2.8.18 Inbound TAP files – incorrect deduction of tax where no reclaim possible .................... 128
2.8.19 Outbound TAP files or CDRs rejected or dropped by TAP module ................................ 129
2.8.20 Outbound TAP files or CDRs rejected by clearing house ............................................... 130
2.8.21 Interconnect rates set up incorrectly in interconnect billing system ................................ 131
2.8.22 Fixed line operator unable to bill for SMS ......................................................................... 132
2.8.23 Time of day blended rates ................................................................................................. 133
2.8.24 Traffic class blended rates................................................................................................. 134
2.8.25 Fraudulent interconnect traffic ........................................................................................... 135
3 Administrative Appendix ......................................................................................................................... 136
3.1 About this document .................................................................................................................... 136
3.2 Document History ........................................................................................................................ 136
3.2.1 Version History ..................................................................................................................... 136
3.2.2 Release History .................................................................................................................... 137
3.3 Company Contact Details ........................................................................................................... 137
3.4 Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................... 139

Executive Summary
Revenue Assurance is a rapidly maturing discipline within the telecommunications

industry; the last ten years has seen widespread industry acceptance of the issues
and increasingly effective techniques and systems to detect, investigate, correct and
prevent such revenue and cost leakage.
There is now a wealth of operational experience of revenue assurance and the aim of
the addendum is to demonstrate the breadth of this area by documenting a wide
range of real-life examples and classifying them within a revenue assurance
framework.
This framework consists of eight areas:
• Product and offer management
• Order management and provisioning
• Network and usage management
• Rating and billing
• Receivables management
• Finance and accounting
• Customer management
• Partner management
It is expected that operators will be able to use this Addendum to review the scope of
their revenue assurance operations to minimize the opportunity for issues to fall
outside the scope of their current revenue assurance operations.

1 Revenue Assurance Framework

The revenue assurance framework presented here is based on the end-to-end order
to cash life cycle within communications service providers.
It aims to provide a list of real-life examples of revenue assurance issues from a

range of potential failure points at which revenue leakage can occur, demonstrating
the breadth of the revenue assurance discipline.
The revenue assurance examples presented here are comprised of real-life

examples witnessed by members of the Revenue Assurance working group of the
TM Forum.
It should be pointed out that these examples have been drawn from many different
projects, and consequently it is extremely unlikely that an operator is likely to suffer
from all of these issues.
However, this document can be used by operators to review the scope of their
revenue assurance initiatives to minimize the chance that issues may remain
undetected.
For the purposes of this document revenue leakage includes traditional revenue
leakage as well as inflated costs referred to here as cost leakage and the financial
implications of lost revenue opportunity, where:
Revenue leakage Relates to lost revenues where a chargeable event

occurred which should have been billed to the customer
or operator but was not, or was charged at a lower rate.
Cost leakage relates to overpayment of costs for chargeable services to

a third party
Revenue Opportunity relates to the situation where a business policy is in place

to set pricing levels, but these are either set at negative or
unintentionally low margin levels or the situation where a
revenue assurance artificially limits the revenues that can
be generated from a subscriber.
It also includes losses causes by fraudulent activities, where synergies exist with
revenue assurance activities.
These risks all specifically related to the direct point at which the leakage occurs.
Any revenue assurance risks which do not result directly in leakage are not included
in this document.
The Revenue Assurance framework comprises of eight elements as described

below.

1.1 Product and Offer Management
The first leakage point relates to the product management and offer management
functions within a Communications Service Provider.
It primarily relates to commercial issues associated with product conception that may
result in the development of unprofitable products and services as well as the timing
of product launches and special offers which may be made from time to time.
1.2 Order Management and Provisioning
The second leakage point relates to the process of capturing and fulfilling orders from
both domestic subscribers and commercial organizations.
Issues range from errors in customer contracts, service activation faults or delays that
impact revenues and/or costs as well as the coordination of suppliers and third parties
costs.
1.3 Network and Usage Management
The third leakage point relates to the accurate accounting of service usage within the
network and the management of that information from collection from the switching
infrastructure to delivery to the rating and billing process.
Issues identified here include network security and integrity, management of network
equipment, network routing, recording and management of usage information, data
integrity and data transfer within an organization.
Some internal and external fraud issues are also identified here.
1.4 Rating and Billing
The fourth leakage point relates to the rating and billing process, from tariff
identification, pricing and invoice production.
Rating and billing issues range from subscriber management, charging and invoicing
errors including tax calculation and the handling of usage information within the rating
and billing environment.

1.5 Receivables Management
The fifth leakage point relates to collections of monies after the invoice has been
issued.
Issues here cover failures in the cash collection process, subscriber identity issues
and the write-off of bad debt.
1.6 Finance and Accounting
The sixth leakage point relates to the finance arena and in particular the accurate
reporting of the financial performance of an organization.
Finance and accounting issues are associated with general ledger mapping from the
billing environment, tax payments with government agencies, incomplete processing
of information from the billing environment and incorrect posting of entries in the chart
of accounts.
1.7 Customer Management
The seventh leakage point relates to the area of customer management and
customer care.
Issues found here include customer adjustments and rebates, subscriber identity
issues, incorrect charging and discounting.
1.8 Partner Management
The eighth and final leakage point relates to management of third parties, primarily
business-to-business interactions with organizations such as content providers,
interconnect partners, dealers, roaming partners, wholesale partners and resellers.
Issues cover the following areas: under-billing of partners, over-billing by partners,

mismanagement of interconnect agreements, route optimization, charging errors,
data exchange with external organizations and it also includes some fraud issues.

2 Revenue Leakage Examples

For each of the revenue assurance leakage framework components outlined in
section 1, this section describes real-life examples of revenue and cost assurance
issues witnessed by members of the TM Forum’s Revenue Assurance working
group.
2.1 Product and Offer Management
2.1.1 New product launched with no process to bill

Ref Title Operator Category
A.1 New product launch with process to bill Fixed line
Type of Leakage Area of Business Responsible
Revenue leakage Sales & marketing
Description
A commercial product was sold to a business customer even though the billing system was
not capable of charging and invoicing for that product, resulting in six months corporate
usage of that service being written off.
Root Cause
In a highly competitive market, priority was given to securing the business customer, a well
known company, and the assumption made that the billing system would catch up with
invoicing within two months.
Only after seven months was billing initiated but due to the contract with the business
customer the first six months charges were not accepted and had to be written off by the
operator.
Detection
This issue was detected when the six month’s revenues for this customer were written off.
Correction
Upgrade the billing system to charge for this product.
Prevention
Ensure products can be billed for when launching a new product. This should be part of
every operator’s new product development process.

2.1.2 Unexpired product/service promotions

A.2 Unexpired product/service promotion Fixed line
Description
A discounted promotion was offered to certain customers, for a twelve month period, but at
the end of the twelve months billing did not revert to standard tariff, the discounted rate
continued, in some cases for a further 18 months.
Root Cause
It was found that in many cases the expiration date was not configured properly, and as a
result the promotion/discount was not terminated when it should have been.
This was due to the fact that this information was inserted manually into the system that
controls the period of the promotion or service and that this information was inserted in the
wrong format. This resulted in the end date being corrupt and consequently the special
rate was not being terminating.
Detection
Manual queries were run on the expiration date tables to validate date formats and invalid
dates were found.
Furthermore, a comparison of services and promotion marketing catalogues was made
with the CRM product tables to identify where initiation date and expiry do not match.
Correction
Service and promotion expiry dates were updated according to the marketing plans.
Prevention
Creating a validation and verification process to ensure correct date formats are entered
and that they match with CRM product catalogues.

2.1.3 Expired service or promotion no longer billable

A.3 Expired service or promotion no longer billable Fixed line
Description
Customers were allowed to sign-up to services or promotions that had been discontinued
and no longer billable.
Root Cause
The product catalogue had not been updated to remove the discontinued
services/promotions and was still being sold.
Detection
Analysis of rejected billing records indicated a rate plan that no longer existed in the billing
system.
Correction
The old tariffs were reintroduced to the billing system, so that the operator could honor the
products that had been sold.
Prevention
Periodically check the status of products, services and promotion with the product
marketing department to ensure that the product catalogue is up to date.

2.1.4 Unprofitable usage based services

A.4 Unprofitable usage based services Mobile
Description
A mobile operator launched without full national coverage and entered into a national
roaming agreement with another operator to ensure that its subscribers were able to make
and received calls within 96% of their territory.
However, this national roaming product lost money for the home operator and the CFO
was not aware of this situation.
Root Cause
The charges for home subscribers for their national roaming calls were lower than the
service charge levied by the home operator’s national roaming partner.
As subscriber billing and national roaming out-payments were handled by different
systems, billing accuracy of these two processes were checked independently and never
compared with each other.
Detection
The negative margin was detected during a one-off tariff review of subscriber charges and
associated out-payments.
Correction
Due to the fact that this is a commercial issue, correction is difficult, unless changes to
published tariffs can be introduced without affecting the competitiveness of subscriber
tariffs or more favorable terms negotiated with the national roaming partner.
Prevention
Formally review the commercial terms and tariffs for all elements of a service prior to
launch as part of the new product development process.

2.1.5 Unprofitable equipment sales

A.5 Unprofitable equipment sales Fixed line
Description
Equipment is priced below cost, creating a negative margin, in addition to any subsidies for
customer acquisition.
Root Cause
Incorrect pricing of customer premises equipment.
Detection
Financial analysis of the service showed that the one-off revenues associated with the
provision of customer premises equipment was less than that charged by the supplier for
that equipment.
Correction
The price plan was updated to include the correct retail charges for the equipment.
Prevention
Sanity check of rate plans versus costs prior to service launch and every time a change is
made to the charging tables.

2.1.6 By-pass numbers not charged

A.6 By-pass numbers not charged Mobile
Revenue opportunity Sales & marketing
Description
International calling cards allow customers to make international calls often at low or free
rates.
Root Cause
An operator of low cost international calls, provided a freephone access number through
which registered customers could dial their destination number and benefit from
significantly lower rates than their own operator.
Detection
Analysis of zero-rated calls showed as peaks to these access numbers and upon
investigation the service was discovered.
Correction
These access numbers were barred within the network.
Prevention
It is difficult to prevent such services, but continuous analysis of customer call behavior can
identify such services.

2.1.7 Low margin calls

A.7 Low margin calls Mobile
Cos leakage Sales & marketing
Description
An operator had negotiated preferential termination rates to four countries with an
alternative carrier, where previously calls had to be terminated via their PTT at higher rates.
However, it was found that calls were still being routed via their PTT resulting in lower
margin for those calls.
Root Cause
Network routing had not been updated to reflect the new termination agreements.
Detection
This issue was detected through a one-off CDR analysis project relating to interconnect
traffic. All agreements were reviewed and interconnect traffic analyzed independently of
the settlement process. During this exercise it was found that no traffic to these four
international destinations was being routed by this alternative carrier. On further analysis
the traffic could be seen to be routed over trunk groups associated with the PTT.
Correction
The network routing tables were updated.
Prevention
Formalize the procedure for informing network operations of changes to the interconnect
agreements and perform spot checks that these changes have been implemented.

2.1.8 Ambiguous sales promotions

A.8 Ambiguous Sales Promotions Fixed line

Revenue Leakage Marketing
Description
Revenue leakage due to financial adjustments arising from billing complaints as a result
of ambiguous free sales promotions.
Root Cause
Customers' liability for costs not made clear in all material featuring free offers.
Detection
High number of bill adjustments following free offer campaign.
Correction
N/A. Campaign cannot be corrected once it has ended.
Prevention
Ensure customers' liability for costs are made clear in all material featuring free offers.

2.1.9 Poor QoS provided to high ARPU customers
A.9 Poor QoS provided to high ARPU customers WiMAX
Revenue Opportunity Marketing, Technology
Description
A WiMAX operator experienced substantial revenue dips as several of its high ARPU
corporate customers churned to a competitor
Root Cause
Poor Quality of Service was provided to the corporate customers, resulting in customer
dissatisfaction, and hence the churn.
Detection
Customer feedback during exit interviews.
Correction
No correction was performed.
Prevention
Offer of assured and premium QoS plans. Ensure processes & systems in place to provide
assured and premium QoS.

2.1.10 Campaign Management Discounts Subscriber Linguistics Behavior
A.10 Campaign Management Discounts Subscriber Wireless

Linguistics Behavior
Revenue Opportunity Marketing
Description
An international mobile operator rolled out its services in rural markets in the Indian
subcontinent and attracted several subscribers by offering low cost prepaid plans. The
operator launched SMS campaigns for value added services, and experienced a transient
increase in revenues. Gradually, the subscriber numbers and revenues declined, resulting
in lost revenue opportunity to the operator.
Root Cause
The SMS campaigns were launched in ‘English’, which was not well interpreted by the rural
population. Several subscribers unknowingly opted for the value added services without
realizing the cost implications of the same. This lowered the attractiveness of the plans, and
resulted in subscriber churn.
Detection
An analysis of traffic and churn reports revealed the root cause of the problem.
Correction
No correction could be done.
Prevention
Campaign management to consider the sociolinguistics for the given subscriber bases.

2.2 Order Management & Provisioning
2.2.1 Contract Incorrect

B.1 Contract incorrect Fixed line data provider
Revenue opportunity Sales & marketing
Description
In some cases an operator was taking orders for a lower speed connection that had been
requested by the customer, resulting in a loss of revenue opportunity.
Root Cause
The order capture process provided a default speed for new broadband circuits, that was
the slowest speed offered, and in some cases this default value was accepted by the
customer services representative rather than entering the customer’s requested speed if
higher.
Detection
Analysis of customer complaints showed a relatively high number of complaints for a new
broadband service.
Correction
Correction was initiated by customer complaints, when the service they received did not
agree with their original requirements.
Please note in some cases customer did not complain, and a lower speed service was
provided resulting in lost revenue opportunity.
Prevention
Customer services representatives attended additional training on the correct way to
complete customer orders.
The default speed of the service was removed from the system forcing the customer
services representatives to enter a value.

2.2.2 Insufficient customer information for billing purposes

B.2 Insufficient customer information for billing Mobile
purposes
Description
Incomplete customer information provided with a new order resulted in the service being
provided but with the inability to bill the subscriber.
Root Cause
The order management validation process of customer information accepted invalid
payment details.
Detection
A review of accounts with billing errors identified this problem, but the problem had been in
existence for four months prior to detection.
Correction
The customer was contacted and corrected payment details were supplied, but only the
last three billing periods could be billed, one month’s worth of usage remained unbilled.
Prevention
The order management process should be amended so that payment details are validated
before the provisioning of service commences.

2.2.3 Invalid customer given account during identification validation

B.3 Invalid customer given account during Fixed line
identification validation
Fraud Sales & marketing
Description
Failure to validate the identity of a customer at sign-on stage led to services being provided
by no payment being received.
This could include false identity being used, multiple application fraud or “long firm” fraud.
Root Cause
Insufficient identity checks for new subscribers.
Detection
Uncollected revenues against issued invoices.
Correction
No correction was possible as the customer could not be traced.
Prevention
Checking of identities with credit reference agencies, preferably on-line, together with
compiling a database of known fraudulent identities and sharing this information between
operators.
Call profiling can be used to identify the same person even if they are using an alias.

2.2.4 Delay in processing order

B.4 Delay in processing order Fixed line
Revenue opportunity loss and cost leakage Sales & marketing
Description
A delay in provisioning also delayed the subscriber’s use of the service and consequently
also delayed service and usage revenues from that subscriber as well as increased costs
in manual corrections for the order that were required.
Root Cause
Discrepancies between the service configuration data in various network elements gave
rise to provisioning failures that had to be resolved manually.
Detection
The introduction of KPIs measuring the number of orders that required manual intervention
and the time from order to service exposed the nature of the problem.
Correction
As well as the manual intervention required for failed orders a multi-way data matching and
correction exercise between network elements, order management and inventory
management was used to clean up the systems involved in service activation.
Prevention
Identify and correct the process breaks that allowed the data in these various systems to
go out of synchronization and run the service data matching exercise on a periodic basis.

2.2.5 Third party costs of orders on hold

B.5 Third party costs of orders on hold Fixed line
Description
Internal delays with the provisioning of service for new orders gave rise to the situation
where third parties facilities had been ordered and were being paid for even though the
service had not yet been provided to the customer and consequently no revenues were
being generated.
Root Cause
Facilities from third parties were ordered early in the provisioning process even though
internal issues may delay the go live date for the service.
Detection
KPIs monitoring the profitability of orders showed initial negative margin.
Correction
No correction for existing order was possible.
Prevention
For new orders, delay the provision of third party facilities until internal dependencies have
been met.

2.2.6 Third party costs for cancelled circuits

B.6 Third party costs for cancelled circuits Fixed line
Description
A provider of leased line data services was in a position where it was leasing more lines
from its network supplier than it was selling on to its customers.
Root Cause
The processes to supply and terminate leased lines were separate processes such that
when customers terminated their contracts or reduced the number of circuits they required
these circuits were not automatically flagged for resale or termination from its supplier.
Detection
The profitability of the lease lines service was declining and a review of circuit utilization
was initiated. This compared customer contracts with supplier contracts and it was found
that there were significantly more circuits being leased from its supplier than were being
leased to its customers.
Correction
The number of circuits being leased from its supplier was reduced.
Prevention
Active management of lease line cancellations with a periodic review of contracts with
suppliers to minimize over supply of leased lines.

2.2.7 Third party costs for early provision of service

B.7 Third party costs for early provision of service Fixed line
Cost leakage Technology
Description
Provision of service before due date gave rise to cost from third party suppliers before the
service was taken up and the customer was paying for the service.
Root Cause
The order management process assumed a “provision as quickly as possible” policy in
order to minimize the possibility of missing a customer go live date.
Detection
An analysis of costs versus revenues showed a revenue lag for certain customers.
Correction
This issue could not be corrected for existing orders.
Prevention
More sophisticated provisioning and order management scheduling algorithms were
required so that the service is ready for operation as close to the customer’s go-live date as
possible whilst minimizing the risk of overrunning the contracted service date thus
minimizing third party costs.

2.2.8 Order cancellation due to delay in provisioning

B.8 Order cancellation due to delay in provisioning Fixed line
Revenue opportunity and cost leakage Technology
Description
A delay in provisioning caused customers to cancel their order before service was
provided.
Consequently no revenues were generated from the customer although costs were
incurred in the order management process even though not fully provisioned, plus the loss
of the ongoing revenue opportunity from the customer.
Root Cause
Discrepancies between the service configuration data in various network elements gave
rise to provisioning failures that had to be resolved manually.
Detection
The introduction of KPIs measuring the number of orders that were cancelled before billing
commenced exposed the nature of the problem.
Correction
No correction was possible, the customer was lost.
Prevention
Identify and correct the process breaks that allowed the data in these various systems to
go out of synchronization.
Run a service data matching exercise on a periodic basis to detect these anomalies and
correct them before they affect the service action process.

2.2.9 Provisioned service different to customer requirements

B.9 Provisioned service different to customer Fixed line
requirements
Revenue leakage and cost leakage Technology
Description
Provisioning errors resulted in the subscriber benefiting from services and features which
were not included in their monthly service fees, resulting in potential revenue loss.
Sometimes this also resulted in additional third party costs being incurred, reducing the
profitability of the subscriber.
Root Cause
Provisioning failures led to the overprovision of services and features for a subscriber.
Detection
A subscription audit that matched service configuration settings between network elements
and billing accounts identifies these discrepancies.
Correction
The service and features discrepancies identified during the subscription audit were used
as the basis of manual correction to the service and features settings the network element
and/or billing systems.
Note, that in some cases subscribers were being under-charged for the services provided,
even though they had not originally been ordered, but after contacting them some
customer subscribed to these services resulting in additional revenues for the operator.
Prevention
Identify the process gaps that gave rise to the service activation discrepancies and correct
these faults.
Run the subscription audit on a regular basis.

2.2.10 Service activated but no billing account created

B.10 Service activated but no billing account Fixed line
created
Description
Provisioning of a data service sometimes resulted in service being provided but not
recorded in the provisioning system.
Root Cause
The provisioning process involved interactions with many network and BSS systems.
However, the provision system did not implement a transactional model when
implementing service, such that if one step failed the previous steps would be rolled back.
The result was that in some cases service was provided but the provisioning system
regarded the service as unprovisioned.
As billing was synchronized with the provisioning system in these cases no billing was
performed.
Detection
A comparison of configuration information from network elements with the billing system
showed these discrepancies.
Correction
The provisioning system was updated with the correct service information.
Prevention
The provisioning system was updated to include a roll-back feature for failed orders.

2.2.11 Billing ceased but service still provided

B.11 Billing ceased but service is still provided Fixed line
Revenue leakage Technology
Description
When moving house, a tenant requested that their service be terminated, however the
termination request resulted in the closure of the billing account but without ceasing the
service.
After the premises had become vacant the service was detected and used for a call selling
operation.
This resulted in no revenues to the operator, as billing had been correctly terminated, but
the operator did receive and settle call termination charges received by other networks, as
the call selling operation targeted international destinations.
Root Cause
When the request for the line cease returned failed, the error message returned to the
provisioning process was ignored, resulting the service remaining active even though the
process went on to close the billing account.
Detection
A spot check of unbilled lines with network usage identified the anomaly.
Correction
Once identified the line was ceased, but previous unbilled usage could not be recovered
but all termination costs associated with this usage had to be honored.
Prevention
Error handling in the de-provisioning process was corrected.

2.2.12 Ported-out numbers not delisted from billing

B.12 Ported-out number not delisted from billing Fixed line
Description
When number portability was introduced the operator continued to bill the customer even
though the number had been ported out.
Root Cause
The process for porting out numbers was not updated the internal ported numbers
database resulting in billing continuing for these numbers.
Detection
Analysis of customer complaints identified issues with the porting-out process.
Correction
The ported-out database was updated.
Prevention
The porting-out procedure was modified to update the internal ported-out numbers
database correctly.
A comparison of the network routing database for ported numbers with the billing database
should be run periodically to catch similar errors in the future.

2.2.13 Ported-in numbers not billed

B.13 Ported-in number not billed Mobile
Description
Ported-in mobile numbers were not being billed because the billing system did not
recognize the numbers as home subscribers.
Root Cause
An error with the network routing prefix for ported-in numbers results
Detection
A review of mobile portability procedures detected errors in the generation of usage data
for some ported-in numbers.
Correction
The mediation system was modified to handle the incorrect number portability prefix in this
case until the network elements were updated.
It was possible to identify and recover previous call records from the data warehouse for
the current billing period and reprocess them for billing.
Prevention
The network elements were modified to generate the correct routing prefix.

2.2.14 Pre-paid handsets activated as post-paid

B.14 Pre-paid handsets activated as post-paid Mobile
Description
In order to reduce queues in its retail outlets a mobile operator offered an “active at home”
service where post-paid phones could be activated by faxing through a registration form to
a customer services line.
The operator also offered a SIM-only prepaid service.
Some customers found that they could buy a post-paid handset and insert the pre-paid
SIM without having to register the post-paid handset.
As post-paid handsets have a higher subsidy than pre-paid handsets, these customers
were effectively getting subsidized pre-paid handset, increasing the costs and reducing the
margin of the service to the operator.
Root Cause
Handsets were not locked to type of SIM.
Detection
IMEI analysis showed post-paid handsets with pre-paid SIMs.
Correction
No correction was possible.
Prevention
Restrict post-paid handsets to post-paid SIMs unless unrestricted by customer services.

2.2.15 Failure to meet contract volume commitment

B.15 Failure to meet contract volume commitment Fixed line
Description
Interconnect or wholesale customers who do not fulfill the contracted volume commitment
were still charged the discount rate.
Root Cause
The analysis of usage for interconnect and wholesale customers with volume agreements
was not being performed.
Detection
A manual audit of volume agreements identified the problem.
Correction
Adjustment invoices were raised for the last three months of traffic with these customers,
but traffic before this period could not be corrected.
Prevention
Ensure monitoring of usage versus volume agreements is operational.

2.2.16 Delay in number porting causes delay in billable service to customer

B.16 Delay in number porting causes delay in Mobile
billable service to customer
Revenue opportunity Customer service
Description
A delay in ported mobile numbers between operators causes a period of time when the
customer did not have service with either the original or new networks resulting in loss of
revenue opportunity for the new operator.
Root Cause
The new operator suffered delays in porting-in new numbers such that service was
terminated by the original network on the date previously agreed.
Detection
Analysis of customer complaints.
Correction
No correction was possible the revenue was lost.
Please note that subscribers also suffered a loss of confidence in the new network
operator, this being the first time that many of them had taken service from them.
Prevention
Ensure porting-in process operates to agreed deadlines.

2.2.17 Overpayment for supporting services that have been cancelled

B.17 Overpayment for supporting services that Fixed line
have been cancelled
Description
A fixed line operator also provided a hosting service and it was found that costs were being
incurred from the hosting partner for services that had been cancelled.
Root Cause
The cancellation or downward adjustment of customer requirements for hosting services
were not communicated to the hosting service provider resulting in charges for servers that
were no longer being used.
Detection
A one-off review of customer orders versus supplier invoices showed a discrepancy.
Correction
No correction was possible, these costs could not be recovered.
Prevention
Coordination between cancellation of orders and active management to the level of
corresponding services commissioned from suppliers.

2.2.18 Failure to bill for services added and removed during billing cycle
B.18 Failure to bill for services added and removed Fixed line
during billing cycle
Description
Adjustments certain services during a billing period were not reflected on the invoice until
the next billing period.
Root Cause
For certain services the billing system did not pro-rate service adjustments made during a
billing period. Billing was accurate from the beginning of the next billing period, but was
missed from the time the adjustment was made until the end of that billing period.
This could result in under or over-billing depending upon the nature of the adjustment.
Detection
A review of invoices showed no mid-period adjustments even though it was known that this
was happening.
Correction
No correction was possible once the invoices had been issued.
Prevention
The billing system was upgraded to support pro-rata billing for mid-period service
adjustments for the affected services.

2.2.19 Costs incurred from delays in submission of cancellation

B.19 Cost incurred from delays in submission of Fixed line
cancellation
Revenue leakage Customer service
Description
Cancellation of customer orders did not result in the immediate cancellation of third party
services resulting in charging of these services for an additional, and unnecessary, billing
period.
Root Cause
The customer service was terminated as requested based on contractual terms, but
because of the internal delay the notification of the termination of third party service to the
purchasing team third party costs were incurred for an additional billing period.
Detection
Monthly margin analysis of these services showed an anomaly at the end of the service
period.
Correction
No correction was possible as it was not possible to obtain a refund on from the third party
supplier.
Prevention
The eradication of delays in the order cancellation procedure, such that notification of the
release of third party costs is prioritized.

2.2.20 Incorrect capture of equipment sales

B.20 Incorrect capture of equipment sales Mobile
Revenue leakage Sales & Marketing
Description
Chargeable mobile handsets were being issued free of charge.
Root Cause
Incorrect equipment identification resulted in chargeable handset being sold as free of
charge.
Detection
A stock reconciliation showed a difference between the expected and actual stock levels
held. Further investigation uncovered the error.
Correction
The equipment identification was amended.
Prevention
In store cross-checking of equipment labeling.

2.2.21 Stranded assets

B.21 Stranded assets Fixed line
Description
A DSL service provider was purchasing an excess amount of equipment for the number of
subscribers using the service.
Root Cause
During the termination of service the network resources were deactivated in the physical
network but were not marked as free in the inventory system.
Detection
A data integrity audit between network equipment, order management and the inventory
system identified discrepancy in status of equipment.
Correction
The inventory system was updated with the correct equipment status so these stranded
assets could be utilized.
Prevention
The service deactivation process was corrected to ensure the inventory management
system was updated correctly.
Periodic data integrity audits would ensure such anomalies were identified if the situation
was to recur.

2.2.22 Over provisioning of network components

B.22 Over provisioning of network components Fixed line
Description
The provision of ports for line termination operated on the basis of activating multiple ports
in one go when none we were available and subsequent activation requests using the
already active but unused ports, until another batch were activated.
However, the process always opened another batch or ports without using up the over
provisioned ports from the last activation request, resulting in significant overcapacity in
network termination units.
Root Cause
Activation process failure to use activated but inactive ports.
Detection
Increasing lack of space in the line termination enclosures triggered an investigation and
audit that identified a high number of unused line terminators.
Correction
No correction was possible for existing line termination units, although future requests were
forced to use existing ports.
Prevention
Activation process was corrected to allocate ports correctly, with monitoring of active
versus inactive ports.

2.2.23 Failure to implement service charges according to contract

B.23 Failure to implement service charges Fixed line
according to contract
Description
A business account added a service which accounted for installation charges being
charged to the customer. However, the contract required the installation charge should
free of charge.
Root Cause
An installation charge waiver request form was not complete but the customer account
team.
Detection
Analysis of one-time charges showed the increase for this customer.
Correction
A credit for the installation charges was given to the customer.
Prevention
The original customer contract should be referred to when generating subsequent service
requests.

2.3 Network and Usage Management
2.3.1 Invalid customer allowed to make call

C.1 Invalid customer allowed to make call Mobile
Description
Loss caused by device connected to the network creating usage events with chargeable
elements but no process to bill.
Root Cause
Postpaid users that requested to be disconnect from the service provider were marked as
disconnected in the CRM/Billing systems, but the information was not updated in the HLR
Detection
Comparison of the lists of active users between the HLR and Billing and CRM systems
identified these discrepancies.
Correction
Updating the HLR database in accordance with the data in the CRM system.
Prevention
Revision of the update processes between the CRM and the HLR, and weekly comparison
between the active users information between the HLR and the CRM and billing systems.

2.3.2 CDRs not produced

C.2 CDR not produced Fixed line
Description
CDRs for a small number of external routes were not generating usage records.
Root Cause
Some new routes had been introduced with interconnect partners, but the default setting
for the trunks was not to generate usage data and this had not been altered. The trunks
therefore were not generating usage.
Detection
At the end of the next accounting period invoices raised by another party disagreed with
the expected traffic terminated with that partner due to those trunks not recording usage
data.
This also affected the accuracy of the invoices raised by the operator for traffic terminated
on behalf of the other operator.
Correction
None, CDRs could not be generated after the event.
Prevention
Ensure all routing changes are communicated with the BSS community.
Run periodic usage analysis and identify zero usage trunks.

2.3.3 CDRs not produced correctly

C.3 CDRs not produced correctly Mobile
Description
CDRs for certain services were generated with an unexpected routing prefix which caused
the records to be rejected by the mediation system.
Root Cause
Network engineering introduced a new routing mechanism without informing the mediation
team of the new routing prefix.
Detection
Inspection of CDRs showed unusual routing prefixes.
Correction
The error/suspense files for the current billing period were reprocessed by the mediation
system. Usage in files for previous billing periods was not recoverable.
Prevention
Planned changes to the network environment must be reviewed with the BSS community

2.3.4 Incorrect recording of call duration

C.4 Incorrect recording of call duration Mobile
Description
An operator found that the duration in some usage events were under recorded.
Root Cause
A timing error on the switch resulted in the duration field recording a duration less than that
indicated by the start time and end time fields.
Detection
A manual inspection of CDRs identified this problem.
Correction
No correction was attempted for existing CDRs.
Prevention
The mediation system was updated to recalculate the duration based on the difference
between the start time and end time fields.

2.3.5 Call rounding error

C.5 Call rounding error Fixed line
Description
An operator’s billing system charged to the neatest second whilst the network records to
the nearest hundredth of a second.
The operator found that the fractional parts of call duration were truncated rather than
rounded to the nearest second.
Root Cause
The mediation system’s handling of fractional parts of seconds.
Detection
Independent CDR tracking between mediation input and mediation output showed the
truncation of the duration.
Correction
No CDRs were corrected.
Prevention
The mediation system was updated to round call duration to the nearest second.

2.3.6 Number ranges already in use assigned to new interconnect operator

C.6 Number ranges already in use assigned to Fixed line
new interconnect operator
Description
A national PTT re-allocated an existing number range to a new operator that had
previously been allocated to another operator, with two consequences.
Firstly, the traffic to that operator was routed incorrectly, resulting in termination charges
rather than a service fee for the operator.
Secondly, the settlement invoices were sent to the wrong operators, resulting in invoice
disputes, costs incurred in investigating the issue and rebilling the operators and a delay to
payment of the service fees impacting the operator’s cash flow.
Root Cause
Ineffective number range management allowed a number range to be allocated without
being recorded, enabling the range to be re-allocated.
Detection
This issue came to light due to the dispute raised by the other operator.
Correction
Reset routing and settlement rules for the original number range and allocate an additional
number range to the new operator.
Prevention
Ensure the number range allocation process records allocated ranges correctly and as a
fail-safe extend the network number allocation process not to allow a previously allocated
number range to be reallocated without approval from the interconnect department.

2.3.7 Failure to bar IMSI from roaming

C.7 Failure to bar IMSI from roaming Mobile
Description
A mobile network allowed foreign subscribers to make and receive calls even though the
operator did not have a roaming agreement with the visiting network.
This prevented subscriber charges being raised on the visiting network, but the visited
network still had to pay the termination costs associated with the outgoing calls made by
the unexpected visiting subscribers.
Root Cause
The network allowed these subscribers to attach to the network.
In addition, the mediation system had a lookup table of the valid roaming agreements and
dropped the unexpected roaming records without generating an alert or report.
Detection
An analysis of network usage from roaming subscribers summarized by visiting network
was compared with the list of roaming agreements and the anomalies were identified.
Correction
The network was updated to prevent subscribers from the identified networks attaching to
the network.
Prevention
Periodic review of network roaming configuration with list of valid roaming agreements.

2.3.8 Third party costs incurred because network route unavailable

C.8 Third party costs incurred because network Fixed line
route unavailable
Description
A fixed line operator suffered from increased traffic termination costs.
Root Cause
A technical fault with a trunk group caused traffic to use the overflow routes.
These overflow routes were connected to another operator that charged higher termination
rates.
Detection
Network operations team detected the problem as alarms were raised for the faulty route.
Correction
The route was fixed and placed back into service resulting in the normal routing of traffic.
It was not possible to recover the increased termination costs during the trunk outage.
Prevention
This type of issue cannot be prevented.

2.3.9 Countries closed off

C.9 Countries closed off Mobile
Revenue opportunity Technology
Description
Subscribers are not allowed to make international calls to certain countries.
Root Cause
Due to suspected fraudulent traffic to some countries, all the traffic to these countries was
blocked.
Detection
Detecting zero traffic to destinations to which there was traffic in the past, and by analyzing
complaints of customers that they cannot make calls to certain countries.
Correction
Removing the blocking of the calls to the closed off countries in parallel of taking actions to
prevent the fraudulent traffic.
Prevention
Regular checking of availability of connections to all countries, and analysis of changes in
traffic volume per destination.

2.3.10 Failure to use least cost route for traffic delivery

C.10 Failure to use least cost routing for traffic Fixed line
delivery
Description
An operator had agreements with a number of different interconnect partners, offering
different termination charges to given destinations based on volume, time of day.
It discovered that by routing its traffic to different operators it could reduce its termination
costs.
Root Cause
The network implemented a static traffic routing plan that did not take termination costs into
account.
Detection
Margin analysis of wholesale traffic indicated higher costs than necessary.
Correction
No correction possible.
Prevention
Continuous management of performance against interconnect agreements to ensure most
cost-effective route is being used, at least on a daily basis. This must take into account
volume agreements, discount and penalty rates.
Please note that the least cost route is not necessarily the best route to use due to quality
of service issues.

2.3.11 Pre-paid platform downtime gives free usage

C.11 Pre-paid platform downtime gives free usage Mobile
Description
An operator found that it was providing unexpectedly high volumes of free service during
routine maintenance of its prepaid platform.
Root Cause
The prepaid platform’s charging and balance management engine could not be updated
without taking it out of service.
However, the operator did not want to interrupt service and so allowed pre-paid subscribers
to continue to make calls even though these could not be accounted for.
To minimize revenue leakage issues this was performed in the early hours of the morning,
but subscribers were using the internet to inform others that a maintenance period was in
progress.
Detection
Analysis of traffic patterns during maintenance period showed unusually high traffic
volumes for the time of day.
Correction
No correction possible.
Prevention
Enable system maintenance without the need to take the pre-paid platform of out service,
perhaps by utilizing a shadow or fall-back system.

2.3.12 CDRs not written to network element data file

C.12 CDRs not written to network element data file Fixed line
Description
An operator found that calls from certain lines were not generating service usage
information.
Root Cause
For many years employees of the operator were given free calls. This was implemented
by switching itemized billing off for the home lines for employees.
However, when an employee ceased service or moved home, itemized billing was
reinstated for those lines.
Detection
A network audit of line attributes found many more lines were providing free calls than
there were current employees.
Correction
Prevention
Ensure termination of employment results in modification of the line attributes.
Consider implementing this employee benefit by administering a database of eligible
personnel within the billing system.

2.3.13 Data loss during file transfer between systems

C.13 Data loss during file transfer between systems Mobile
Description
An interruption in network availability during a file transfer between the network elements
and the mediation system resulted in data loss.
Note, that this can happen between any two internal or external systems, for example:
network element to mediation, mediation to billing, mediation to interconnect settlement,
mediation to roaming clearing house, etc.
Root Cause
An interruption to the network connectivity resulted in Lack of data integrity checks by
sending and receiving system.
Detection
Trend analysis of traffic volumes billing indicated drop in traffic but this was not shown by
network statistics.
Correction
Files were recollected from the switch and not data loss was experienced in this case.
It should be noted however that certain devices, especially network elements have a
limited storage capacity and if data is not transferred within a given time period this data
may be lost permanently.
Prevention
Implement in-line data integrity checks such as the following:
• File sequence number gap check
• Block sequence number gap check
• Record sequence number gap check
• Inter-CDR end-time gap check.

2.3.14 Billable CDRs incorrectly filtered by mediation system

C.14 Billable CDRs incorrectly filtered by mediation Mobile
system
Description
A mobile operator offered a voicemail service and provided a short code enabling
subscribers to access their voicemail which was free of charge.
The billing system was overloaded and the mediation vendor was instructed to remove
calls to voicemail retrieval.
Implementation of the new filtering rule caused billing to an international destination to
cease.
Root Cause
The new filtering rule was implemented as a prefix match rather than an exact match,
causing more records than expected to be removed from the billing chain.
Detection
Independent analysis of network usage records and billing summaries showed a
discrepancy in international traffic.
Correction
For the current billing period records were recovered from the reject file and the filter was
changed from a prefix match to an exact match.
Prevention
Improved testing and code inspection processes for new releases of mediation software.

2.3.15 Incorrect transformation of file in mediation

C.15 Incorrect transformation of file in mediation Fixed line
Description
It was found that mediation was adding an hour to the timestamps within a CDR, pushing
calls an hour early into peak rate and was pushing calls an hour earlier into off-peak rates.
There was a net loss of revenue as a result of this issue.
Root Cause
A switch ended up being deployed in a time zone that was different to its original delivery
destination. The switch clock was not altered for local time; instead the mediation system
added an hour to the timestamp.
Initially, this was correct but when the country entered daylight saving the clock was
correctly adjusted to local time, but the rule of adding an hour was not turned off in the
mediation system.
Detection
Testing of the mediation system with hand generated CDRs of known origination,
destination and timing highlighted the problem.
Correction
No correction of billed event was possible.
Prevention
Ensure changes to mediation rules are fully documented and actively managed.
Full test the mediation system, including with known CDRs, before deploying into the
production environment.

2.3.16 Short duration calls rounded to zero duration

C.16 Short duration calls rounded to zero duration Mobile
Description
An operator found that it was not charging for calls of less than three seconds because it
rounded such calls to zero.
Root Cause
When service was launched an operator suffered from a high proportion of dropped calls
and decided not to charge calls of less than three seconds because this was likely to be
due to network quality issues.
This rule was never reviewed and was still in place two and a half years after launch.
Detection
CDR tracking from mediation input to mediation output found the discrepancy.
Correction
No correction to previous bills was possible.
Prevention
Ensure changes to mediation rules are fully documented and actively managed.
Full test the mediation system, including with known CDRs, before deploying into the
production environment.

2.3.17 Incorrect set up of GSM gateways

C.17 Incorrect set up of GSM gateways Mobile
Description
GSM gateway MSC incorrectly recording off-net calls.
Root Cause
Incorrect switch configuration resulted in chargeable calls to certain destinations being
recorded with a zero duration. This was limited to a small number of international
destinations via one interconnect partners.
Detection
Zero duration call analysis showed an unusually high number of events for specific
destinations via one interconnect partner.
Correction
The switch configuration was updated to record these calls correctly.
Prevention
Periodic use of call simulation, where a switch’s configuration is tested for charging of all
valid service combinations, would prevent such issues if used each time the configuration
is updated.

2.3.18 Trunk identify set up incorrectly

C.18 Trunk identity set up incorrectly Fixed line
Description
It was found that traffic on certain routes was being charged at an incorrect rate to the
wrong operator.
Trunks terminated not reused for certain period of time.
1 Restarted route to different operator, routed inappropriately.
2 Recharging the wrong operator.
Root Cause
Terminated trunks were being reused too soon.
Normally, before trunks could be reused they had to remain active for a given period of
time. However, in this case the route was restarted to a different operator with the
consequence that traffic was routed inappropriately and the wrong operator was charged
for traffic received on that route.
Detection
An invoicing query raised by the original operator highlighted this problem, as they were not
sending any traffic on this route.
On further investigation it was found that the traffic termination fees were higher than
expected, because traffic was still being terminated to the original operator rather than the
new operator.
Correction
No correction was possible. Traffic had to be accounted and settled based on the actual
routing of the calls.
Prevention
Review of trunk allocation procedure to ensure correct procedures are followed.
Periodic analysis of the implementation of network routing with the agreements in place.

2.3.19 Internal abuse of network

C.19 Internal abuse of network Mobile
Description
An operator found that employees of another, related operator were benefitting from free
calls on mobile phones provided by that company in another country.
Root Cause
An operator was acquired by another operator and became part of its group. Employees of
the acquiring company were working on site and provided were with company mobile
phones with free usage that was booked to internal departmental accounts.
However, after the acquisition period, the employees return to their original company, that
was based in another company, but many retained their phone and continued to make use
of the free service once they returned home.
Detection
Analysis of call usage booked to internal departments was much higher than expected and
consisted mainly of international roaming calls.
Correction
Prevention
Active management of equipment and service provided to internal staff members.

2.3.20 Loss of CDRs caused by local storage failure on switch

C.20 Loss of CDRs caused by local storage failure Fixed line
on switch
Description
An operator lost revenue due to the loss of call detail records.
Root Cause
A fault with the call recording module of a switch caused data files to be lost before they
had been collected by the mediation system.
Detection
A gap in file sequence number was detected by the mediation system.
Correction
Prevention
Ensure switch data storage is resilient to a single point of failure.

2.3.21 Prepaid usage not triggering IN platform

C.21 Prepaid usage not triggering IN platform Mobile
Description
Subscribers that had migrated status from post-paid to pre-paid and had retained their
numbers were given free usage.
Root Cause
The migration process had updated the subscriber status in the subscriber table so that the
mediation system filtered calls records from the post-paid billing system, but the HLR had
not been updated to trigger the IN platform.
Detection
An analysis of MSC records showed some pre-paid subscribers did not have the pre-paid
extended data fields present in their CDRs.
Correction
No correction was performed.
Prevention
Correct the post-paid to pre-paid migration process to ensure the HLR is updated correctly.
Run a check that all pre-paid subscriber trigger the IN platform.

2.3.22 Delayed Network De-provisioning for 3rd Party Services
C.22 Delayed network de-provisioning for 3rd party Wireless

services
Revenue and Cost Leakage Technology
Description
To attract subscribers to its newly launched mobile television services, a quad-play operator
offered a sports channel promotion during the World Cup season. The promotion provided a
free subscription to ‘Star Sports’ with a subscription to ‘ESPN’. After the World Cup was over,
several subscribers continued to receive the free subscription.
Root Cause
After the World Cup was over, the promotion had been deactivated on the billing system, but
the network configuration was not updated given the lack of automated provisioning
mechanisms. As a result, subscribers were not billed for viewing ‘Star Sports’, resulting in
revenue leakage. Additionally, the channel partner continued to bill the operator for channel
usage, resulting in cost leakage.
Detection
High invoice amounts from the channel partner triggered the alarm, and an analysis of
network configuration revealed the root cause.
Correction
No correction could be done.
Prevention
Automated and synchronous provisioning of billing and network systems.
* This controls combines the controls A.2 and B.17, and provides a scenario where both
revenue and cost leakage can result in significant losses to an operator.

2.3.23 Erroneous Recharge Card Voucher Activations
C.23 Erroneous recharge card voucher activations Wireless
Cost Leakage Technology
Description
An operator in West Africa incurred cost leakages resulting from a high number of unusable
recharge vouchers, requiring the operator to provide manual adjustments to subscribers.
Root Cause
To minimize fraud and voucher theft during transit, the operator had implemented a process
whereby the dealer stores are required to send a voucher batch activation request to the
operator. The activation process was executed manually by low-skilled staff who made
typographical errors while keying in the voucher batch numbers. As a result, there were
instances where subscribers were unable to use voucher cards. Moreover, erroneous
activations spawned two fraud vulnerabilities: voucher theft and duplicate voucher
recharges.
Detection
An analysis of customer complaints revealed a high number of unusable voucher

complaints. The voucher activation process was reviewed, and activation logs were
analyzed to derive at the root cause.
Correction
Manual adjustments to subscribers.
Prevention
Hiring of high-skilled personnel for voucher activation. Reconciliation of activation requests

with activation logs and reporting on discrepancies.

2.3.24 Poor Service Quality
C.24 Poor Service Quality Fixed line
Revenue leakage Marketing
Description
Revenue leakage due to customers receiving financial compensation for service outages.
Root Cause
Poor quality management of service pre- and post-launch.
Detection
Low service availability ratio.
High number of complaints regarding service.
High customer churn ratio.
Correction
Address technical service issues responsible for most financial compensation requests.
Prevention
Alignment of service development and launch with established quality standards.

2.4 Rating and Billing
2.4.1 Incorrect charges applied to events

D.1 Incorrect charges applied to events Fixed line
Revenue and cost leakage Technology
Description
A misidentification of traffic class by the billing system resulted in subscriber billing charging
for premium rate calls at normal long distance rates.
Rating for the out-payments to the owners the of premium rate services was conducted
correctly by another system.
Root Cause
An error in the number plan table guided the rating engine to normal long distance tariffs.
Detection
Independent monitoring of premium rate traffic showed a discrepancy with the billing
statistics.
Correction
No correction was possible once the calls appeared on a subscriber invoice.
Prevention
The number plan table was reviewed to ensure all entries were correct and checking
procedure introduced after all subsequent changes.

2.4.2 Events records written off because they are too old to bill
D.2 Records sent to a third party which are lost or Mobile
delayed
Description
Inbound roaming records were sent to the visiting network operators over 30 days old and
were rejected by the roaming clearing system.
Please note that the operator incurred and settled the termination charges associated with
off-termination of calls made by these subscribers.
Root Cause
Delays in the processing of inbound roaming records caused the CDRs to become
unbillable.
Detection
The problem was identified when the files were rejected by the operator’s roaming clearing
house.
Correction
Prevention
Procedures were put in place to identify late process of CDRs and prioritize their
processing to meeting the clearing deadline.

2.4.3 CDRs in suspense written off without inspection

D.3 CDRs in suspense not yet rated Fixed line
Description
Errors in billing of premium rate services resulted in chargeable subscriber records being
deleted without inspection or correction.
Root Cause
Billing did not occur for premium rate numbers that were not linked to billing accounts.
Instead the usage records were written to an error/suspense file that grew in size, to such a
point that the file was periodically deleted in order to make space on the system.
Detection
A one-off analysis of the error/suspense file showed that it contained billable records.
Correction
None possible, the data files were deleted.
Prevention
Ensure all error/suspense file are actively managed.

2.4.4 Manual billing inaccuracies

D.4 Manual billing inaccuracies Mobile
Description
A mobile operator introduced a corporate product before the billing system could generate
invoices for the service.
Instead, the operator used a spreadsheet to construct the bills by hand.
Root Cause
At the time the invoices were raised, not all of the billing information was available, but the
invoices were generated anyway.
Detection
A manual inspection of the invoice process identified billing anomalies.
Correction
In some cases it was possible to raise adjustments to the original invoices, but in some
cases the charges were written off.
Prevention
Ensure all manual invoices are doubled before being issued.
Ensure the billing can charge for services before they are launched.

2.4.5 Missing long duration call segments

D.5 Missing long duration call segments Fixed line
Description
The mediation system was responsible to assembling long duration call segments in to a
single aggregated record for billing, but in some circumstances the call remained unbilled.
Root Cause
The network occasionally omitted to generate all segments of a long duration call.
Detection
Analysis of network usage information and billing summaries identified a shortfall in billed
duration.
Correction
Switch updated to generate all long duration call segments.
Prevention
Ensure the switch generates all long duration call segments.
To mitigate the risk the mediation system should be altered to at least charge up to the
missing segment rather than reject the whole call.
Further, consideration should be given to charge for the whole call if subsequent segments
are generated after the missing segment.

2.4.6 Incorrect routing of usage records to end systems

D.6 Incorrect routing of usage records to end Fixed line
systems
Description
Subscriber records were incorrectly routed to the interconnect settlement system.
Whilst the records were eventually billed correctly, cost were incurred in investigating the
problems and reprocessing the records, plus cash flow was impacted because they missed
the billing cut off and had to be billed in the next billing period.
Root Cause
Incorrect routing rules in the mediation system identified subscriber usage records are
interconnect settlement records.
Detection
A high number of rejected records by the interconnect settlement system.
Correction
The records were extracted from the interconnect settlement system and recycled into the
billing system.
Prevention
Review of mediation business rules.
Testing of the mediation system with known test cases prior to releasing to the production
environment.

2.4.7 Bills produced do not cover the services provided

D.7 Bills produced do not cover the services Fixed line
provided
Description
For certain services an operator was not charging for the supply of customer premises
equipment (CPE).
Root Cause
The feed from logistics system that recorded the dispatch of CPE for these services was
failing and no check was made by the billing system.
Detection
A manual review of equipment supply and revenues identified a revenue shortfall.
Correction
For some customers it was possible to charge retrospectively for the supply of the
equipment for other the charges had to written off as it was too late to charge.
Prevention
Effective error checking and notification to be applied to all data feeds.

2.4.8 Calls incorrectly identified as duplicates

D.8 Calls incorrectly identified as duplicates Mobile
Description
An operator found that it was not charging for all calls.
Root Cause
The billing system implemented a check for duplicate calls which ran prior to any billing run
to ensure that no duplicate records had reached the billing system.
However, due to errors in this check it incorrectly identified some calls as duplicates and
removed them from billing.
Detection
Analysis of network usage data and billing data showed a discrepancy in usage duration
between the two data sources.
Correction
No correction was performed for previous issued bills.
Prevention
The duplicate detection rules were updated to prevent this issue.
All new releases of the billing system should be tested for the correct operation the de-
duplication process prior to going into production.

2.4.9 CDR enrichment incorrect

D.9 CDR enrichment incorrect Fixed line
Description
The introduction of a 1xxx Indirect access service temporarily caused these calls to be
charged as international calls to the USA.
Root Cause
The routing prefix was supposed to be recorded in a new field in the usage records,
however the switch left the prefix on the front the B number, causing the misidentification of
these calls.
The problems was identified in the billing system prior to invoicing, but the operator
incurred costs in correcting the problem and waiting for the switch manufacturer to deliver a
new switch build to correct the problem as source.
Detection
Billing statistics showed a large increase in international traffic to the USA and this caused
an investigation.
Correction
The mediation system was changed to remove the routing prefix from the B number and
redirect the records to the IDA processing system that charged the long distance operator
for delivering the calls to them rather than directly to the subscribers.
Prevention
Testing of new switch builds before they are introduced into the network.

2.4.10 CDRs correlated incorrectly

D.10 CDRs correlated incorrectly Mobile
Description
Revenue loss was detected because long duration calls were not correlated correctly.
Root Cause
Long calls in the network caused multiple, intermediate call records to be produced in the
network.
The mediation system was tasked with identifying such sets of records and aggregating
them into a single record for billing purposes.
Instead, the mediation system just sent the last record in the set rather than accumulating
the total duration from all records in the set.
Detection
The problem was detected by independent analysis of network usage records and billing
records. The minutes of use from the network records were higher than that from the
billing records.
Correction
Such calls within the current billing period were reprocessed and billed correctly.
Prevention
Adequate testing of mediation functionality prior to deployment of the system would have
prevented the issue.

2.4.11 Print vendor does not receive all complete bills

D.11 Print vendor does not receive all complete bills Mobile
Description
An operator found that not all invoices had been issued even though they had been
generated by the billing system.
These invoices appeared as bad debt in the financial systems as the revenue had been
booked into the general ledger.
Root Cause
An intermittent failure in the transfer of data between the operator and the print shop
resulted in a series of invoice not being issued.
Detection
A customer complained that they had not received a bill.
Correction
None, it was not possible to regenerate the invoices.
Prevention
A failsafe transfer mechanism is required between the operator and the print shop to detect
missing invoice files, such as the inclusion of file sequence numbers and checks for
detecting gaps in this sequence.

2.4.12 Bundle allowance applied incorrectly

D.12 Bundle allowance applied incorrectly Mobile
Description
Calls to a specific national mobile operator were incorrectly identified as on-net calls and
offset against bundled minutes rather than being charged.
Root Cause
The prepaid rating engine classified CDRs with a traffic class and the table used identified
this specific mobile prefix as an on-net rather than as an off-net call.
Detection
A spot-check of zero rated calls in the pre-paid platform identified the problem.
Correction
No correction was possible as the pre-paid rating engine could not post-rate.
Prevention
Testing of the pre-paid rating engine prior to use in the production environment.

2.4.13 Pre-paid tariffs set up incorrectly

D.13 Pre-paid tariffs set up incorrectly Mobile
Description
Pre paid customers were charged using incorrect tariffs.
Root Cause
Common root causes for this problem are:
1. Incorrect data in billing reference tables
2. Manual contract/price plan was interpreted incorrectly, and as a result was entered
incorrectly to the billing system.
3. Pre-paid users were associated with the incorrect price plans
In this case the problem was the association of the customer to the incorrect price plan.
Detection
By using a Rating and Billing Verification (RBV) engine. The contract was re-interpreted
independently and entered to an RBV. The RBV obtained the information regarding the
customer type from the CRM system, and about the correct pricing from the master
product catalogue. The RBV showed that recurring charges for certain items were different
in the Billing and the RBV system because the customer was associated to the incorrect
plan in the billing system
Correction
Correcting the association of the customer to the correspondent plan in the billing system.
Prevention
By proactively using an RBV system to verify both existing and new price plans/contracts,
using the original contract, master product catalogue, and data from the CRM system.

2.4.14 Retail call tariffs set up incorrectly

D.14 Retail call tariffs set up incorrectly Mobile
Description
Calls to an international destination were charged at a reduced rate.
Root Cause
The tariff table included an international destination as part of Europe rather than in a
different international rate band, resulting in lower charges of calls to this country.
Detection
Margin analysis of international calls performed by combing subscriber billing and
interconnect settlement data found one country to be operating at a significantly lower
margin than expected.
Correction
No correction was possible once the calls had been billed.
Prevention
The tariff tables were updated and periodic checks put in place to ensure the tables
remained accurate.

2.4.15 Equipment tariff set up incorrectly

D.15 Equipment tariff set up incorrectly Fixed line
Revenue leakage Order management
Description
For a broadband service, some customer premises equipment, in this case an ADSL
router/modem, was provided free of charge.
Root Cause
Equipment charge incorrectly recorded as zero for some customers.
Detection
An ad hoc analysis of the revenues generated by the service included an analysis of one-
off charges showed that this was less than the number of lines provisioned, indicating a
Correction
No correction was possible since the analysis was performed many months after the
service had been provided.
Prevention
Periodic, routine analysis of one-off revenues as well as usage revenues.

2.4.16 Non-usage pricing structure set up incorrectly

D.16 Non-usage pricing structure set up incorrectly Fixed line
Description
Non-usage charges, i.e., recurring and one-time charges were entered incorrectly into the
rating/billing system.
Root Cause
Common root causes for this problem are:
1. Incorrect data in billing reference tables
2. Manual contract/price plan was interpreted incorrectly, and as a result was entered
incorrectly to the billing system.
3. Pre-paid users were associated with the incorrect price plans
In this case the problem was association Incorrect data in billing reference tables.
Detection
By using Rating and Billing Verification engine (RBV). The contract was re-interpreted
independently and entered to an RBV. The RBV got the information about the customer
type from the CRM system, and about the correct charging from the master product
catalogue. The RBV showed that recurring charges for certain items were different in the
Billing and the RBV system.
Correction
Re entering the relevant items prices to the billing system and reproducing the bill.
Prevention
Proactive use of a RBV system to verify existing and new price plans/contracts, using the
original contract, master product catalogue, and CRM system could prevent such issues.
Also, by recurrent verification of reference data accuracy.

2.4.17 Rating logic applied incorrectly

D.17 Rating logic applied incorrectly Fixed line
Description
Customers saw an increase in the tax amount as FUSF was charged incorrectly by the
rating engine.
Root Cause
There was an error in the billing system as the percentage of FUSF was incorrectly set at a
high percentage.
Detection
Analysis of statistics produced by the billing process showed an unusual increase in the tax
amount applied to customers over multiple billing cycles.
Correction
Adjustments were applied to the customer’s accounts.
Prevention
When rate changes are performed the updated rates can be compared to the new rates
and if there is any mismatch it can be highlighted and detected before they are applied.

2.4.18 Incorrect rating identifier applied during rating

D.18 Incorrect rating identifier applied during rating Fixed line
Description
Long distance calls were undercharge due to an error in the distance calculation algorithm.
Root Cause
The distance band was calculated based on the geographic coordinates of the originating
and destination zones and this information added to the usage record by the mediation
system.
However, the calculation was incorrect and this caused the rating engine to calculate the
wrong charge.
Detection
The test call generation system identified the problem.
Correction
Non-invoiced calls were reprocessed by the mediation system and re-billed.
No correction could be performed for previously billed calls.
Prevention
The mediation system was updated to calculate the distance band correctly.

2.4.19 Calls not accurately rated due to inaccurate reference data

D.19 Calls not accurately rated due to inaccurate Fixed line
reference data
Description
The income from a new service was much lower than expected.
Root Cause
A reference table used in the billing system was populated manually; it included prices for
different services in cents units. However, a mistake was made when entering this
information. The price was entered in Euros instead of cents, i.e. 0.005 instead of 0.5,
which resulted in a much lower rate being applied to the service than expected.
Detection
By noticing the low income of the service and by using a Rating and Billing Verification
engine (RBV). The RBV got its reference data from the source information on the prices
from the product Catalogue (and not from the Billing system reference table).
Correction
Manual correction of the reference data in the billing system
Prevention
By creating an automatic process to update the data in the billing system reference tables
from the product catalogue, and by recurrent verification of the reference data accuracy

2.4.20 Concurrent charging loss

D.20 Concurrent charging loss Mobile
Description
If two charging events were generated for the same prepaid account at the same time one
of the charges was not applied.
Root Cause
The pre-paid platform was not queuing its charging request properly and at times of high
load some charges were dropped.
Detection
Comparison of network usage information and charging records showed the missing
charges.
Correction
No correction was possible as the second charging event was lost.
Prevention
An updated prepaid charging engine was stress tested before replacing the existing
system.

2.4.21 Discounts calculated incorrectly

D.21 Discounts calculated incorrectly Fixed line
Description
Customers had a discount for off peak hours calls, and a second discount for calling certain
countries. The plan definition was that in the case where both discounts were applicable,
only the higher discount should be applied. However in practice the Operator applied both
discounts for off peak hours calls to those countries.
Root Cause
Incorrect definition of the price plan in the billing system
Detection
By using Rating and Billing Verification engine (RBV). The contract was re-interpreted
independently and entered to an RBV, the bill produced by the billing system was
compared by the RBV with the bill it produced, and the discrepancies in the amounts of
discounts for specific calls were detected.
Correction
Correcting the price plan in the billing system
Prevention
By proactively using an RBV system to verify existing and new price plans/contracts. Using
the original contract as the source of information for the RBV

2.4.22 Customer reference data missing from rating engine

D.22 Customer reference data missing from rating Mobile
engine
Description
Usage events for certain customers were rejected by the rating engine due to the
subscriber’s reference data being missing from the subscriber table or incomplete.
Root Cause
Occasionally, new subscriber records were not inserted correctly into the subscriber table
as referenced by the rating engine, causing a lookup failure and rejection of the usage
record.
Detection
Analysis of the error suspense file indicated many rejected records from the same
subscribers.
Correction
The subscriber table was updated manually and the rejected usage records reprocessed.
Prevention
Identify the error that caused the updates to fail and compare the rating subscriber table
with the master CRM table periodically to identify missing entries.

2.4.23 Re-credit raised in pre-paid billing system for successfully sent SMS
D.23 Re-credit raised in pre-paid billing system for Mobile
successfully sent SMS
Description
Subscribers were being credited for failed SMSs even though the SMS was delivered
successfully.
Root Cause
A mobile operator charge pre-paid subscribers for SMS on request, but did not want to
charge pre-paid subscribers for SMS that were not delivered, so when an SMS failure
message was detected a credit was issued to top-up the account for the cost of the failed
SMS.
However, the SMSC repeatedly marked successful SMS deliveries as failed, resulting in
unnecessary recharges to the affected prepaid accounts.
Detection
Routine comparison of network usage records with prepaid charging platform identified the
incorrect recharges.
Correction
Prevention
Full testing of the SMSC prior to live operation.

2.4.24 Prepaid service allowed service with zero balance

D.24 Re-credit raised in pre-paid billing system for Wi-Fi
successfully sent SMS
Description
Business customers of a national voice and data provider were able to obtain Wi-Fi service
even if their credit was zero.
Root Cause
Updating of the Radius server required syntax changes in the Radius policies.
The versions of the Radius server in the development and production environments were
different meaning that the revised policies were not implemented correctly in production,
resulting in a Wi-Fi connection being provided even though the credit balance of the
customer was zero.
Detection
Analysis of Wi-Fi connection showed some unusually long connection with abnormally high
downloaded data volumes from a restricted user base.
Correction
No correction was possible for previous connections. The production server was updated
to implement the new policies correctly.
Prevention
Testing environment updated to ensure tested systems reflect the production environment.

2.4.25 Inappropriate Credit Limits
D.25 Inappropriate Credit Limits Fixed line
Revenue leakage Billing & Collections
Description
Revenue leakage due to inappropriate credit limits assigned to customers.
Root Cause
Available credit limits not aligned with defined customer segments.
Detection
High number of customers being disconnected due to reaching assigned credit limit.
High average percentage variance between average monthly bill and assigned credit limit.
Correction
Re-assigning more appropriate credit limit for customer.
Prevention
Constant review of alignment of credit limits with defined customer segments.

2.4.26 Dual Charging for Roaming-out Subscribers
D.26 Outbound MMS charged twice for roaming out Wireless

postpaid subscribers
Opportunity Loss Technology
Description
Roaming-out postpaid subscribers were charged twice for each outbound MMS by a tier 1
operator in India.
Root Cause
MMS charging node performed real time charging for all subscribers (including home &
roaming-out subscribers). Inbound TAP files, containing the MMS xDRs, were processed in
the operator’s billing system, resulting in dual charging of MMS xDRs.
Detection
Reporting of errors by the Revenue Assurance solution, and an increasing number of

customer service complaints related to overbilling
Correction
Customer bills were adjusted during the next billing cycle.
Prevention
Inbound TAP files were pre-processed to filter away the MMS xDRs for postpaid
subscribers, before being processed by the billing system.

2.4.27 Billing Errors Resulting From Billing Software Upgrade
D.27 Billing errors resulting from Wireline

billing software upgrade
Revenue Leakage Technology
Description
A broadband service provider underwent a billing transformation to accommodate its

increasing subscriber base. The operator experienced a dip in revenues for its corporate
subscriber base.
Root Cause
A custom module had been deployed in the previous billing system to bill the services offered
to corporate subscribers. The documentation and source code were poorly maintained for
this module. This module could not be introduced in the new billing system due to technology
constraints, and hence the revenue leakage.
Detection
An analysis of revenue trend for corporate subscribers revealed an increase in service

usage, but a decline in revenues.
Correction
No correction could be performed for the lost revenues. The new billing vendor was issued a
change request to include the functionalities of the custom module in the new billing system.
Prevention
Documentation and maintenance of changes to operational systems.

2.4.28 Deactivated VAS not Re-activated
D.28 Deactivated VAS not re-activated Wireless
Opportunity Loss Marketing, Technology
Description
A wireless operator provides ring back tones (RBT) as a VAS to its prepaid subscribers, and
charges a subscription fee at monthly schedules. Despite a high number of subscriptions, the
operator experiences frequent service deactivations, resulting in revenue losses from missed
opportunity.
Root Cause
A root cause analysis that when a subscriber’s prepaid balance falls below the subscription
fee during the scheduled run, the RBT service is deactivated. Even if the account is
recharged by an amount above the subscription fee, the VAS is not automatically activated.
The service activation happens only during the next scheduled run, provided the required
balance is available. Subscribers can call the CSRs to have the service activated between
two consecutive scheduled runs. However, given the nature of the service, several
subscribers fail to realize the RBT activation, and hence remain unsubscribed. This results in
situations where the RBT service remains deactivated for long periods for several
subscribers, resulting in missed revenue opportunities to the operator.
Detection
An analysis of RBT revenue trend, service activation process, and subscriber service status
revealed the root cause of the problem.
Correction
No corrections can be done in such scenarios, as the service was not provided to the
subscriber.
Prevention
Possible means of prevention: Frequent scheduled runs for deactivated subscribers.
Inform subscribers about deactivated services, and provide incentives for service activation.

2.5 Receivables Management
2.5.1 Bad debt write-off

E.1 Bad debt write-off Fixed line
Revenue leakage, potential fraud Finance
Description
Revenue loss due to uncollected billed revenue that is written off after the litigation process.
Root Cause
The new customer process does not always perform a credit check to identify potential
defaulters.
Detection
An analysis of the reason for unpaid invoices revealed the issue. This could also be due to
expatriate workers who return to their native countries without clearing their outstanding
dues.
Correction
This cannot be corrected; this revenue cannot be recovered once it is written off.
Prevention
Improved credit checking procedures as part of the customer take-on process, to identify
subscribers who have a poor credit rating and are likely to default on their payments.
Monitoring of customer usage and payment patterns to identify potential defaulters before
the event.
Please note that this could be an indicator of fraudulent behavior especially if the same
subscriber is responsible, perhaps with different identities on the same network, or with the
same identity on different networks.
Prompt payment discount scheme for early paying customers.
Opening fast-track payment channels such as direct debit.
Service restoration fee following disconnection due to non-payment.
To curb revenue leakages caused by departing expatriate workers, create real-time links
between immigration systems and credit companies.
Tighter credit controls on worst offending nationals, e.g. request sponsor guarantees at
time of service activation.

2.5.2 Fraudulent credit card information supplied by customer

E.2 Fraudulent credit card information supplied by Fixed line
customer
Revenue leakage due to fraud Finance
Description
Stolen credit card details are provided in order to gain service but after the bill is produced
no payment is made.
Root Cause
New customer process does not detect that details of stolen cards are being provided.
Detection
Analysis of the reason code for unpaid invoices revealed the problem.
Correction
Instigate revenue recovery procedures by criminal investigation and prosecution.
Prevention
Tighter identity checking procedures and payment details checks during customer take-on
process.

2.5.3 Cash collection process failure

E.3 Cash collection process failure Fixed line
Revenue leakage Finance
Description
An operator failed to issue the direct debit payments for a proportion of its customer base.
Although ultimately the direct debits were issued it caused an impact to cash flow.
Root Cause
A file of direct debits payments was generated by the billing system but it was transmitted
successfully to the payment services provider.
Detection
A trend analysis of payments showed a dip in the collected revenues for the accounting
period.
Correction
The file was re-transmitted to the payment services provider.
Prevention
Correction to the file transmission protocol to prevent recording of a failed transfer as a
successful event.

2.5.4 Inflexible ‘Payment by Installment’ Schemes
E.4 Inflexible ‘Payment by Installment’ Schemes Fixed line
Description
Revenue leakage due to customer’s lack of adherence to payment installment schedule.
Root Cause
Payment installment schedule does not suit customers.
Detection
High number of missed payment installments.
Correction
Suggest alternative payment installment schedule for payment defaulters.
Prevention
Constant review of payment installment schemes in place to ensure they meet the needs
and expectations of customers.

2.5.5 Late Payments
E.5 Late Payments Fixed line
Description
Revenue leakage due to late payments ultimately resulting in bill write-offs.
Root Cause
No encouragement for customers to pay on time.
Detection
Low percentage of bills paid on time by customer.
Correction
N/A. Once bill has passed due date, nothing can be done to restore its status to ‘on time’.
Prevention
Prompt payment discount scheme for early paying customers.
Opening fast-track payment channels such as direct debit.
Service restoration fee following disconnection due to non-payment.

2.6 Finance and Accounting
2.6.1 Revenue incorrectly posted to General Ledger

F.1 Revenue incorrectly posted to General Ledger Fixed line
Description
The financial reports of an operator showed high levels of revenue in an error/suspense
account preventing the accurate reporting of its financial information.
Root Cause
An error in the mapping between the billing charts of accounts the general ledger.
Detection
The value of revenues that could not be allocated to general ledger accounts was much
higher than expected.
Correction
A manual exercise was undertaken to trace the translation from the billing chart of accounts
to the financial reporting system.
Prevention
The billing chart of accounts was revised to minimize the potential for this error to recur in
future.
The billing chart of accounts was periodically reviewed to ensure the general ledger stayed
up to date with changes in the billing environment.

2.6.2 Incomplete process of records from POS to the financial system

F.2 Incomplete process or records from POS to Fixed line
the financial system
Description
Certain point of sale (POS) transactions could not be posted to the chart of accounts.
Root Cause
The point of sale data had transaction codes that were not defined for the financial system.
Detection
A larger than expected number of unallocated POS transactions.
Correction
Mapping rules were defined for the new transaction codes.
Prevention
Finance team involved in all changes to transaction codes to ensure their correct mapping
to the financial systems.

2.6.3 Tax over payment

F.3 Tax over payment Fixed line
Cost leakage Finance
Description
An operator was overpaying sales tax for wholesale transactions were tax does not apply
to other jurisdictions.
Root Cause
An error in the tax tables caused tax to be calculated and paid unnecessarily.
Detection
New member of staff in the finance team queried the payment of these taxes.
Correction
The tax was reclaimed from the government agency.
Prevention
Periodic review of tax tables to ensure current legislation correctly implemented.
Review of tax tables on introduction of new tax rules.

2.6.4 Pre-paid roaming VAT over payment to customs

F.4 Pre-paid roaming VAT over payment to Mobile
customs
Description
Value added tax (VAT) paid on outbound roaming charges even though the subscriber was
outside of a chargeable VAT zone.
Root Cause
Incorrect VAT calculation rules implemented within the accounting system.
Detection
An internal review of tax calculations identified too much tax was being paid.
Correction
VAT adjustment submitted to the government’s tax agency.
Prevention
Periodic review of VAT calculation rules.
Automatic review of VAT calculation rules when changes are implemented to VAT rules.

2.7 Customer Management
2.7.1 Customer care rebates are given inappropriately

G.1 Customer care rebates are given Fixed line
inappropriately
Description
For reasons of customer retention customer service representatives were instructed to give
customer rebates for certain types of complaint without reference to a supervisor.
However, some subscriber abused the system and made repeated complaints and
received multiple rebates.
Root Cause
The rebate history was not shown on the customer services system.
Detection
An analysis of rebate transactions showed clusters of subscriber numbers and indicated
abuse of the policy had taken place.
Correction
Not correct was possible, rebates could not be recovered.
Prevention
Education of the CSR representatives and inclusion of the rebate history shown in the
customer care system.

2.7.2 Pre-paid top-up payments are allocated to the incorrect account

G.2 Pre-paid top-up payments are allocated to the Fixed line
incorrect account
Description
Credit top-ups for some pre-paid customers resulted in someone else’s account being
credited with the voucher.
Root Cause
A database migration error resulted in inaccurate customer information remaining on the
voucher management system, resulting in incorrect allocation of credit in certain
circumstances.
Detection
This problem was detected by customer complaints being escalated by call centre staff.
Correction
Database migration errors were fixed manually.
Prevention
Adequate testing of billing support systems prior to use in live network.

2.7.3 Discounts incorrectly applied repeatedly to a single account

G.3 Discounts incorrectly applied repeatedly to a Fixed line
single account
Description
Some corporate customers with account hierarchies enjoy double discounting
Root Cause
The account hierarchy mechanism did not prevent the same discount being applied at the
root account as well as a departmental account.
For customers that were billed at the root account, the discount was applied twice.
Detection
Manual inspection of the billing account structure revealed the problem.
Correction
No correction would be made for previously issued invoices.
Prevention
The billing system was updated to prevent the same discount being applied at different
levels in the account hierarchy.

2.7.4 Incorrect manual intervention of the billing system

G.4 Incorrect manual intervention of the billing Fixed line
system
Description
Bills were adjusted manually resulting in both under-billing and over-billing.
Root Cause
No authorization process for manual bill adjustments.
Detection
Customer complaint for over-billing of a manually adjusted bill caused other manually
adjusted bills to be inspected and under-billing was also detected.
Correction
No correction is possible once the invoice was issued.
Prevention
Adopt a four-eyes policy for manual bill correct, i.e. allow changes a reviewed by a second
qualified person before the bill is issued.

2.7.5 Incorrect manual intervention of the billing system
G.5 Misdirected Bills Fixed line
Description
Revenue leakage due to customers not receiving bills.
Root Cause
Bills being sent to outdated/ incorrect customer postal address.
Detection
High percentage of bill write-offs originating from customers requesting hard copies of bills.
High percentage of late payments originating from customers requesting hard copies of bills.
Correction
N/A. No action can be taken once bill written off or late payment received.
Prevention
Encourage e-billing.
Confirm postal addresses for frequent late payers requesting hard copies of bills.

2.7.6 Inappropriate Cross/ Up-Selling Activity
G.6 Inappropriate Cross/ Up-Selling Activity Fixed line
Revenue leakage Sales
Description
Revenue leakage due to customer’s inability to pay for additional/ upgraded service.
Root Cause
Cross/ up-selling activity targeting wrong set of customers.
Detection
High number of cancellations of additional/ upgraded services following cross/ up-selling

activity.
High number of customers being disconnected due to reaching assigned credit limit
following cross/ up-selling activity.
High percentage of late payments following cross/ up-selling activity.
Correction
Offering customer more suitable additional/ upgraded services in line with customer’s usage
pattern.
Prevention
Well defined customer target segment for any cross/ up-selling activity, based upon
customers’ usage patterns.

2.7.7 Inability to Pay
G.7 Inability to Pay Fixed line
Description
Revenue leakage due to customers’ inability to pay due to death, debilitating illness or
imprisonment.
Root Cause
Death, debilitating illness, imprisonment.
Detection
Formal notification from customer.
Correction
N/A. Monies cannot be recovered.
Prevention
Upper age limit for new customer registration.

2.8 Partner Management
2.8.1 Roaming partners billed incorrectly

H.1 Roaming partners billed incorrectly Fixed line
Description
Roaming partners were not billed for short calls that could be billed according to the
interconnect agreements.
Root Cause
A rule that dropped short calls CDRs at the mediation dropped the short calls of external
calls.
Detection
Analysis of the dropped calls showed billable records in the error/suspense file.
Correction
Changing the drop rules in the mediation corrected the problem for subsequent calls.
Prevention
Regular dropped calls analysis and revision of the mediation rules

2.8.2 Interconnect partners billed incorrectly

H.2 Interconnect partners billed incorrectly Mobile
Description
Invoices for interconnect partners were not complete, resulting in under-billing.
Root Cause
New routes had been introduced by network operations, but the mediation system had not
been informed of these new routes and consequently was not forwarding this information
to the interconnect settlement system.
Detection
Invoices were queried by an interconnect partner, giving rise to the suspicion that not all
usage was included on the invoice.
A subsequent end-to-end analysis of usage data from the switch usage data files found
more traffic on external routes than an equivalent analysis of the information held by the
interconnect settlement system.
Correction
The mediation system reference tables were updated to include the new external routes.
Prevention
Ensure adjustments to network routing are reviewed with the BSS community rather than
being performed in isolation within the network.
Periodic review of network routing tables with BSS systems.

2.8.3 Overcharging by a third party

H.3 Overcharging by a third party Fixed line
Description
Charges received from an interconnect partner for terminating traffic on their network were
higher than they should have been.
Root Cause
Charging errors by the interconnect partner resulted in overcharging for terminating traffic.
Detection
A comparison of network traffic with the received invoice showed less traffic leaving the
network than was being billed for by the other party.
Correction
The invoice was disputed and the charges corrected in line with the evidence supplied by
the originating network.
Prevention
Ensure invoices from third parties are cross-checked based on the record of traffic sent to a
particular operator.

2.8.4 Arbitrage
H.4 Arbitrage Fixed line
Description
A fixed line operator did not differentiate between fixed line and mobile termination rates,
using a blended rate assuming a certain mix of fixed and mobile traffic.
This fact was exploited by an international operator that did differentiate, charging more for
termination of mobile calls than for fixed-line calls.
It chose to route all of this mobile traffic via this operator, making a higher margin for itself
on mobile termination to that country than via other possible terminating carriers.
It also chose to terminate fixed-line traffic via another operator that had a lower fixed-line
termination rate to that country.
This resulted in a different mix of traffic received from this international operator resulting in
significantly reduced margins for this traffic.
Root Cause
Deliberate exploitation of pricing differences between operators to maximize revenues and
the failure of the terminating network to analyze the mix of traffic from its partner to ensure
it was in line with the agreement between them.
Detection
Margin analysis on the traffic received on these routes was lower than expected.
Correction
No correction was possible, as charging was in line with published tariffs.
Prevention
Do not offer blended rates; ensure tariffs defined at appropriate level.

2.8.5 Overpayment of commissions

H.5 Overpayment of commissions Mobile
Cost leakage Sales & marketing
Description
Commission payments made to channel partners when not appropriate.
According to an agreement the operator should pay to its resellers of packages (phones
and SIM) a commission only if the package generated a certain amount of traffic.
However, in practice the amount was paid regardless of the amount of traffic generated by
the package.
Root Cause
The commissioning process was not fully automatic. The amount of traffic generated by the
packages was not available in an appropriate form on due time, to the people calculating
the commissions payments.
Detection
When the information regarding the amount of traffic generated by each of the packages
was finally available it was identified that several packages did not generate the required
volume of traffic for triggering the payment of the commission.
Correction
Creating an automatic process that pays commissions only after the volume of traffic that
was generated is known.
Prevention
Creating a control that verifies its correctness of the commissioning process by comparing
traffic information from primary systems, to the traffic information that arrives to the
commissioning system.

2.8.6 Revenue is shared with partners incorrectly

H.6 Revenue is shared with partners incorrectly Fixed line and Mobile Service
Providers
Description
Revenue share calculations are inaccurate when the content provision failed.
This revenue leakage scenario is applicable for any service provider offering a mix of 3rd
party services. This scenario can have several variations, and the responsible business
areas would vary accordingly.
As an example, for mobile commerce service provider, the partner management could
refer to streamlining business relationships with financial institutions, with the end objective
of offering lucrative services to subscribers. The concept can be extended to downstream
channel management and maintaining a strong network of dealers, agents and merchants
to promote service adoptions.
Root Cause
The charging rules for subscribers were different for out-payments to content providers.
Subscribers were charged on completion of the content download, whereas content
providers were charged based on request.
Detection
Margin analysis of the content service showed lower margins than expected. Further
analysis highlighted the difference in commercial terms between subscriber billing and the
triggering of out-payments to content providers.
Correction
No correction was possible and charging and settlements were in accordance with agree
contractual terms.
Prevention
Review of contractual terms with content providers.

2.8.7 Wholesale traffic is not recorded accurately and passed to others for billing
H.7 Wholesale traffic is not recorded accurately Fixed line
and passed to others for billing
Description
The identification of service usage records to be sent to an MVNO for billing to their
customers was inaccurate, resulting in undercharging of the MVNO as well as the MVNO’s
customers.
Root Cause
The host network did not transfer all data files to the MVNO.
Detection
Trend analysis based on the MVNO’s billing statistics indicated an unexpected drop in
traffic.
Correction
The usage data files for the MVNO were regenerated by the host network.
Prevention
Perform routine trend analysis on billing statistics to identify potential data loss.
Ensure a file tracking mechanism is in place with the host network, such that gaps in
sequence of files received can be identified prior to the billing process.
Generate test calls from MVNO handsets and check that they are received in the data feed
from the host network.

2.8.8 Leasing circuits from third party under retail rather than wholesale contract
H.8 Leasing circuits from a third party under a Fixed line
retail rather than wholesale contract
Description
Overpayment of costs for leasing circuits due to being charged a retail rate rather than a
discounted wholesale rate.
Root Cause
Procurement team failed to spot the incorrect tariff.
Detection
Margin analysis showed services were operating below expected margin.
Correction
The terms of the purchase were renegotiated and a rebate was made for the previous
overcharging.
Prevention
Review of commercial terms prior to contract signature to ensure costs in line with product
plan.

2.8.9 Dealer fraud

H.9 Dealer fraud Mobile
Cost leakage due to fraud Finance
Description
Dealer inflated the number of handsets activated to claim higher commissions.
A single identity was used multiple times to activate additional handsets which were never
used.
Root Cause
The handset activation process allowed multiple handsets to be activated with the same
identity.
Detection
Analysis of unused active handsets, i.e. those handsets that never made a call nor
received one within three months of activation, revealed a cluster for a given dealer for a
given time period.
Correction
A criminal investigation was initiated to recover overpaid commissions.
Prevention
Prevent multiple handsets being activated for a given identity without supervisor
authorization.

2.8.10 Operator fails to meet bilateral agreement

H.10 Operator fails to meet bilateral agreement Fixed line
Description
Traffic volumes sent to a third party operator do not meet the volume agreement.
In this case the operator still has to pay for the full volume, effectively increasing the
termination of the traffic sent to this operator, thus impacting margin on that traffic.
Root Cause
When a lower cost became available for a certain traffic class, traffic was re-routed using
this lower cost operator without taking into account the volume agreement with the original
operator.
Detection
Margin analysis revealed lower margin on this traffic than expected.
Correction
No correction was possible as the issue was only detected at the end of the accounting
period.
Prevention
Improvements to the least cost routing algorithms to take into account volume agreements
when termination rates change.

2.8.11 Fines imposed for failure to meet traffic agreement

H.11 Fines imposed for failure to meet traffic Fixed line
agreement
Description
Traffic volumes sent to a third party operator do not meet the bilateral agreement, and a
higher, penalty rate is imposed by the third party, resulting in higher costs for termination of
the traffic sent and impacting margin for that traffic.
Root Cause
Traffic is not being routed in the most optimal way when taking into account penalty and
discounted rates associated with interconnect agreements.
Detection
Termination costs higher than expected.
Correction
Cannot be corrected retrospectively, this cost cannot be recovered once it has been
routed.
Prevention
Ensure traffic routing is actively monitored throughout the accounting period to minimize
the possibility of penalty rates being imposed thereby maximizing the opportunity of
achieving discounted rates.

2.8.12 Sub-optimal call duration rounding on self-invoiced statement

H.12 Sub-optimal call duration rounding on self- Fixed line
invoiced statement.
Description
An operator’s interconnect settlement process caused revenue loss due to truncating
fractional parts of call duration rather than rounding up to the nearest second.
Root Cause
Call rounding rules implemented within the mediation system.
Detection
A one-off code review of mediation system revealed the incorrect call rounding rules.
Correction
Unbilled calls for the current accounting period were re-processed with the new rounding
rules.
No correction was possible for previously charge calls.
Prevention
End-to-end reconciliation of correctly rounded network duration with invoiced duration.
Testing of interconnect billing chain with a range of call durations to ensure correct
rounding.

2.8.13 Wholesale recharges incorrectly calculated

H.13 Wholesale recharges incorrectly calculated Fixed line
Description
Recharges of third party costs inaccurately calculated and passed on.
Root Cause
Not all of the third party costs involved in providing a corporate data services were
identified as being associated with the customer resulting in undercharging of the
customer.
Detection
An audit of procured services versus sales invoices showed a discrepancy. Many of these
assets were active and associated with the supply of live services.
Correction
The unbilled active assets were identified and recharged to the appropriate customer,
some back billing was possible.
Please note that some stranded assets were also identified during the course of this
investigation and analysis.
Prevention
Effective coordination of the procurement of third party services and onward billing of
customers.

2.8.14 Inbound TAP files never received or delayed too long by clearing house
H.14 Inbound TAP files never received or delayed Mobile
too long by clearing house
Description
A sub-set of outbound roaming TAP files were never received from the clearing house.
Root Cause
The roaming clearing house’s file server crashed and some of the data was lost.
Detection
A gap in the sequence of files received from the roaming clearing house for a particular set
of international roaming partners was detected.
Correction
Prevention
Protect sensitive data feeds with file systems that are resilient to two points of failure.

2.8.15 CDRs from inbound roaming files rejected by clearing house

H.15 CDRs from inbound roaming files rejected by Mobile
clearing house
Description
Inbound TAP records were written to the wrong files and were rejected by the roaming
clearing house. By the time the issue was investigated the data was more than 30 days
old and was not longer eligible for clearing.
Root Cause
TAP files have a particular naming convention that indicates the visited and visiting network
operator. The visited network had placed calls from the wrong visiting network in some of
these files.
Detection
Rejected file report from the roaming clearing house.
Correction
None was possible as the time for submitting inbound roaming record had expired.
Prevention
Testing of production of TAP-out files.

2.8.16 Inbound TAP CDRs dropped between clearing house and TAP module
H.16 Inbound TAP CDRs dropped between clearing Mobile
house and TAP module
Description
A temporary lack of file space on the operator’s TAP file collection module caused TAP
files to be lost during the transfer process from the roaming clearing house.
Root Cause
Acknowledgement of the collection of the TAP data file from the clearing house was made
even though the file could not be written to the local system.
Detection
Monthly trend analysis of TAP data showed a dip in traffic.
Correction
No correction was possible, as the data loss was not detected in time for the data to be re-
collected from the roaming clearing house and billed within cut-off period for the billing
period.
Prevention
Daily reconciliation of the file transfer list provided by the roaming clearing house and the
files list generated by the mediation system.

2.8.17 SDR variance between clearing house and TAP module

H.17 SDR variance between clearing house and Mobile
TAP module
Description
A roaming clearing house repeatedly rejected TAP files submitted causing the operator to
correct the files by re-rating and re-submitting to the clearing house.
Additional internal costs were incurred to perform this process and an additional re-
processing fee was charged by the clearing house.
Root Cause
Incorrect SDR exchange rate was being applied to the TAP records.
Detection
Rejected files from roaming clearing house.
Correction
Update SDR rates, re-rate TAP file and re-submit to clearing house.
Prevention
Ensure SDR exchange rates are correctly updated on a daily basis.

2.8.18 Inbound TAP files – incorrect deduction of tax where no reclaim possible
H.18 Inbound TAP files – incorrect deduction of tax Mobile
where no reclaim possible
Description
Overpayment of taxes resulted in revenue loss.
Root Cause
Incorrect tax calculations in the billing system and once the payments had been made the
overpaid tax could not be recovered.
Detection
Manual analysis of billing system discovered the problem.
Correction
The tax calculation was adjusted.
Prevention
Adequate testing of billing support system prior to live operation.

2.8.19 Outbound TAP files or CDRs rejected or dropped by TAP module

H.19 Outbound TAP files or CDRs rejected or Mobile
dropped by TAP module
Description
A mobile operator experienced systematic loss of revenue due to a particular type of
international roaming.
Visiting subscribers originated calls that were incorrectly billed by the TAP module.
Root Cause
Calls that involved CAMEL service generated composite CDRs (mobile-land and land-
land). In these composite CDRs the network nodes generated some unexpected fields
causing the records to be rejected.
Detection
Large numbers of rejected CDRs in the TAP module caused alarms to be generated and
the situation was investigated.
Correction
A custom module was written to correct the CDRs such that they could be reprocessed by
the TAP module and the network vendor was contacted for a repair to the network
elements.
Prevention
The operator introduced an automatic network testing tool that allows the real-time analysis
of toll ticketing files where these CDRs were generated. The real-time analysis allowed
checking of CDRs fields against expectation, with warning and alarms being generated as
soon as an anomaly was identified, thus reducing the number of CDRs affected before
post processing activities.

2.8.20 Outbound TAP files or CDRs rejected by clearing house

H.20 Outbound TAP files or CDRs rejected by Mobile
clearing house
Description
TAP files were rejected by clearing house.
Root Cause
TAP files were sent to the clearing house with a higher delay than permitted by contract.
Such files have to be generated within 30 days.
Detection
Rejection notices from clearing house.
Correction
Changing internal procedures to ensure timely production of the TAP files.
Prevention
A set of controls that monitors the production and emission of TAP files as well as inspects
their format and volume, and checks for significant variances from previous periods.

2.8.21 Interconnect rates set up incorrectly in interconnect billing system

H.21 Interconnect rates set up incorrectly in Mobile
interconnect billing system
Description
Interconnect settlement process was under-charging interconnect partners.
Root Cause
Lack of controls around modifying tariffs in the interconnect settlement system allowed
termination of fixed calls at mobile rates termination of mobile calls at fixed rates.
As the operator was a mobile operator there was net under-billing as they terminated a
much higher proportion of mobile traffic than fixed traffic.
Detection
An independent analysis of the end-to-end accurate of the interconnect revenue stream
detected the reversal of the traffic volumes and hence the charging.
Correction
Fortunately, this was detected prior to the invoice run so there was time to reverse the
rates and the bills were successfully corrected.
Prevention
Adequate testing of billing support systems prior to go live.

2.8.22 Fixed line operator unable to bill for SMS

H.22 Fixed line operator unable to bill for SMS Fixed line
Description
A fixed line operator offered an SMS service, routing SMS message to an SMS service
provider for delivery.
The operator was not billing its subscribers for sending SMS’s whilst the service provider
was charging for handling of the SMS messages.
Root Cause
The SMS service provider did not send the delivery acknowledge message to the operator.
Detection
A financial review of the SMS product showed no revenues.
Correction
The operator temporarily billed from the SMS request message rather than the delivery
acknowledge message.
Prevention
Either reconcile the number of SMS request messages with the SMS acknowledgement
message or charge from the SMS request message.

2.8.23 Time of day blended rates

H.23 Time of day blended rates Fixed line
Description
The interconnect settlement process is unable to differentiate between different time bands
for international traffic and consequently a blended rate is applied causing charging
inaccuracies.
Note, if identified by an interconnect operator, this charging anomaly could be exploited.
Root Cause
Operator billing reports, from which interconnect settlement takes place, does not show the
time band.
Detection
Manual review of interconnect settlement process.
Correction
No correction possible; this revenue could not be recovered.
Prevention
Improve the interconnect settlement process so to report interconnect traffic based on time
band.

2.8.24 Traffic class blended rates

H.24 Traffic class blended rates Fixed line
Description
A new local exchange carrier (LEC) negotiated a blended rate for termination of traffic to a
particular long distance operator, assuming just 10% of international traffic.
However, as a result of this agreement the LEC advertised low international termination
rates significantly increasing the proportion of international traffic over the assumptions in
the blended rate resulting in higher margins for the LEC but reduced margins for the long
distance operator.
Root Cause
Deliberate exploitation of a blended rate for financial gain by one operator and the other not
monitoring the traffic mix being received from the other.
Detection
One of the international partners for the long distance operator queried an abnormally high
increase in traffic it was terminating on their behalf originating from the same region, the
region serviced by the LEC.
Correction
No correction was possible for the traffic already terminated as the agreement did not allow
invoicing adjustments to be made to the blended rate.
The interconnect agreement was terminated for future traffic.
Prevention
Monitor the traffic mix received from an operator and ensure it is in line with the agreement
with that operator. If not, either adjusts the agreement or bar traffic from that operator.

2.8.25 Fraudulent interconnect traffic

H.25 Time of day blended rates Fixed line
Description
A new operator terminating traffic to their PTT in a way that voided termination charges
even though the PTT bore the international termination charges.
Root Cause
The new operator deliberately exploited a loophole in the PTT’s tandem switch that
resulted in these calls being recorded with zero duration.
The PTT’s interconnect system filtered out zero duration calls prior to rating, even though
the usage records had correct start time and end time stamps.
Detection
When analyzing usage patterns for the PTT an unexpectedly high number of zero duration
calls were observed for international calls originating on a group of trunks associated with a
particular operator.
Correction
The mediation system recalculated the duration of the calls from the start and end times.
Prevention
The interconnect agreement was terminated and the operator successfully prosecuted for
fraudulent delivery of traffic.
Periodic network testing to ensure accurate recording of usage information.

3 Administrative Appendix
This Appendix provides additional background material about the TM Forum and this
document.
3.1 About this document
This is a TM Forum Guidebook. The guidebook format is used when:

o The document lays out a ‘core’ part of TM Forum’s approach to automating
business processes. Such guidebooks would include the Telecom
Operations Map and the Technology Integration Map, but not the detailed
specifications that are developed in support of the approach.
o Information about TM Forum policy, or goals or programs is provided, such
as the Strategic Plan or Operating Plan.
o Information about the marketplace is provided, as in the report on the size
of the OSS market.
3.2 Document History
3.2.1 Version History
Version Number Date Modified Modified by: Description of

changes
1.0 12/OCT/08 Geoff Ibbett First version for first
formal review by the
Revenue Assurance
working group.
1.1 20/DEC/08 Geoff Ibbett Additional scenarios:
2.3.1
2.3.9
2.4.10
2.4.13
2.4.15
2.4.16
2.4.19
2.4.21
2.8.1
2.8.5
2.8.20
1.2 04-March-09 Tony Poulos Minor updates

1.3 04-Mar-09 Tina O’Sullivan Minor corrections.

1.4 20-Apr-09 Alicja Kawecki Minor updates for web
posting.
1.5 21-Jul-09 Alicja Kawecki Sections 3.2, 3.3 and
3.4 updated per Gadi
Solotorevsky
1.6 02-Mar-2011 Amit Goenka Updated based on
recommendations from
Abdullah H. Al Harthy
and Connectiva
Systems, Inc.
1.7 5-May-2011 Alicja Kawecki Updated Notice, minor
cosmetic corrections
made prior to web
posting and ME
3.2.2 Release History
Release Number Date Modified Modified by: Description of

changes
1 12/OCT/08 Geoff Ibbett First version of
Addendum D to
GB941.
2 03/MAR/08 Geoff Ibbett Updated company
contact information
3 2 March 2011 Amit Goenka Connectiva
Anandan Jayaraman
3.3 Company Contact Details
Company Team Member Representative

cVidya Networks Name Gadi Solotorevsky
Title Chief Scientist
Email [email protected]
Phone +972 52 556 5218
Fax
Infosys Technologies Name Neha Chopra
Title Programmer Analyst
Phone +91 978 077252
Fax +91 172 5046222

Company Team Member Representative

Revenue Protect Name Eric Priezkalns
Title Director
Phone +44 7958 467273
Fax
Sitronics Telecom Solutions Name Geoff Ibbett
Title Senior Consultant
Phone +44 7977 449832
Fax +420 296 524 103
Tata Consultancy Services Name Sreedhar Guggalla
Title Telecom EU CSP ISU Consultant
Phone +44 (0) 79 1239 3918
Fax +44 (0) 20 7245 1875
Connectiva Systems, Inc Name Anandan Jayaraman
Title Chief Product and Strategy Officer
Phone +15103962254
Fax

3.4 Acknowledgments
This document was prepared by the members of the TM Forum Revenue Assurance
Working Group team:
o Alberto Canadé, Elsag Datamat
o Sreedhar Guggalla, Tata Consultancy Services
o Geoff Ibbett, Sitronics Telecom Solutions, Editor
o Vinoo Jacob, Subex
o Leonid Khokjlov, Vimpelcom
o Eric Priezkalns, Revenue Protect
o Gadi Solotorevsky, cVidya Networks, RA Working Group Team Leader
o Stephen Tebbet, Ernst & Young
o Elena Ustyugova, Ernst & Young
o Mike Willet, Telstra
Additional input was provided by the following people:
o Coskun Akinalp, Logan-Orviss
o Orangel Alviarez, CANTV
o Shai Calev, cVidya Networks
o Neha Chopra, Infosys Technologies
o Belkys Diaz, CANTV
o Tal Bendoli, cVidya Networks
o Kenny Dickson, BT
o Edwin Hanke, BT
o Leonid Khokhlov, VimpelCom
o Andre Kopostynski , Azure Solutions
o Frederico Macchi, Hewlett-Packard

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Revenue Assurance

Revenue Leakage Framework and Examples

TM Forum 2011

Direct inquiries to the TM Forum office:

240 Headquarters Plaza,

GB941 -D, Version 1.7 © TM Forum 2011 Page 2 of 139

GB941 -D, Version 1.7 © TM Forum 2011 Page 3 of 139

2.2.22 Over provisioning of network components ......................................................................... 41

GB941 -D, Version 1.7 © TM Forum 2011 Page 4 of 139

2.4.28 Deactivated VAS not Re-activated ..................................................................................... 94

GB941 -D, Version 1.7 © TM Forum 2011 Page 5 of 139

Revenue Assurance is a rapidly maturing discipline within the telecommunications

This framework consists of eight areas:

• Product and offer management

• Order management and provisioning

• Network and usage management

• Rating and billing

• Finance and accounting

GB941 -D, Version 1.7 © TM Forum 2011 Page 6 of 139

1 Revenue Assurance Framework

It aims to provide a list of real-life examples of revenue assurance issues from a

The revenue assurance examples presented here are comprised of real-life

Revenue leakage Relates to lost revenues where a chargeable event

Cost leakage relates to overpayment of costs for chargeable services to

Revenue Opportunity relates to the situation where a business policy is in place

The Revenue Assurance framework comprises of eight elements as described

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1.1 Product and Offer Management

1.2 Order Management and Provisioning

1.3 Network and Usage Management

1.4 Rating and Billing

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1.5 Receivables Management

1.6 Finance and Accounting

1.7 Customer Management

1.8 Partner Management

Issues cover the following areas: under-billing of partners, over-billing by partners,

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2 Revenue Leakage Examples

2.1 Product and Offer Management

2.1.1 New product launched with no process to bill

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2.1.2 Unexpired product/service promotions

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2.1.3 Expired service or promotion no longer billable

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2.1.4 Unprofitable usage based services

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2.1.5 Unprofitable equipment sales

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2.1.6 By-pass numbers not charged

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2.1.7 Low margin calls

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2.1.8 Ambiguous sales promotions

Type of Leakage Area of Business Responsible

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2.1.9 Poor QoS provided to high ARPU customers

Ref Title Operator Category