Advising on the commercial impact of technology and
    market changes in telecoms, software and IT services

The development of regulation and interconnection shapes the future of the marketplace. We help you to understand the impact of regulatory and interconnect issues and the effects these have on your strategies and revenues.

The challenge of regulatory intervention in the telecommunications industry is to reach an appropriate balance between, sometimes conflicting, policy goals. These include the protection of consumer rights, safeguarding investments in the sector and stimulating competition.

You need to have a complete understanding of the world of regulation to help you understand the impact of development and change.

Regulation@Ovum provides you with the perfect channel to access our expertise in this area.

How can Ovum help you?

We are recognised as the leading authority on the European market for the ICT sector, and our analysts provide personable, accessible and independent advice. We have a collaborative approach when working with our clients and utilise the breadth and depth of our analysts' expertise to ensure that we provide you with easily understood information and advice.

Ovum minimises the risks for its clients, while identifying and helping them to comprehend and exploit:

• market opportunities for growth
• market developments that impact your bottom line
• key player performance and competitor intelligence
• regulation and its effect on your organisation.

Regulation@Ovum is part of Ovum's portfolio of services, which combines a unique blend of research deliverables with access to our highly experienced analysts.

Our Regulation@Ovum service is designed to help regulators, operators (incumbents, alternative operators and mobile operators) and consultants to make sense of Regulatory issues in the telecoms sector. We help you understand how current developments are likely to affect your revenues and payments, and therefore your bottom-line.

We pull together all the information you need from a variety of sources - regulators, incumbents, competitive operators and mobile operators - and provide you with insightful analysis of the key issues that affect you.

Ovum's advisory services are available online and deliver continuous research and analysis that enable you to base your strategic decisions on the most up-to-date information and advice. Our analysis covers companies, technologies and markets, and is delivered in a variety of formats: from short, hard-hitting opinion pieces to extensive, in-depth reports.

Services that meet your immediate needs

Interconnection

Interconnection has a major impact on the profitability of incumbents and alternative operators alike. As much as 50% of an incumbent's costs and 30% of its revenues relate directly to interconnection, and this can be even more significant for alternative operators.

Regulators also need to have a clear understanding of the latest interconnection developments to ensure they can intervene effectively in disputes between players.

Interconnection is not the only important factor in sustaining profitability, there is a whole new set of technologies that have escaped the regulators' scrutiny. These require new business models for interconnection to ensure fair play and a proposition that is attractive to customers.

Regulation

Keeping up to date with regulatory developments from the world's key marketplaces can help you understand and shape the future regulatory scenarios at home.

Telecoms regulation is evolving to adapt to the ever changing market conditions. Convergence and the impact of next generation networks will be two of the drivers in the future. Regulation must adapt to ensure market conditions are favourable to innovation, service uptake and return on investments.

Understanding how the regulatory scenarios might evolve in the future is key to devising operators' strategies. Knowing the most recent developments from the world's key markets and how they are relevant to your operations is paramount to sustained profitable growth.

2006 coverage

• Voice over IP regulation: particularly focusing on regulators' decisions on numbering, obligations on fixed incumbents and PATS providers, Naked DSL and interconnect rates
• Bitstream: European regulators' decisions on wholesale DSL, implementation of market 11 and 12 analysis, focus on differential approaches
• LLU: monitoring uptake of full and shared solutions, technicalities of the offers and current regulation applied
• Fixed to mobile regulation: Frequently updated analysis of mobile termination and the impact on fixed operators
• Asymmetric regulation: how alternative fixed providers are regulated in comparison with incumbents
• Retail regulation: implementation and evolution of price cap schemes imposed by regulators on fixed public services
• Telecom strategic review: we will constantly follow the UK debate over the new structure of the telecoms industry, details of the Ofcom/BT negotiation and the innovative solutions that are being brought forward
• IP interconnection, NGN regulation: together with Ovum's regulatory consultants, we will keep track of all major developments in the NGN world, new forms of access and interconnection, new business models and how regulators tackle this new world
• Spectrum policy: from 2006 we will look into spectrum policy: issues related with allocation of spectrum as a scarce resource, analogue-switch off and implications in the uses of spectrum, new technology requirements and regulation (wi-max), secondary markets for spectrum and other mechanisms of allocation.

Key questions that our service will answer:

• How do interconnect charges in your country compare with those in other countries?
• What are the biggest interconnect threats and opportunities for you right now?
• What is your best strategy for interconnect?
• How is the regulation on Next Generation Networks evolving?
• How can you use regulation to your advantage?
• What are the current trends in interconnect charges and regulation?
• Is there anything to learn from the Telecom strategic review?

Your next move ...

• find out more about Ovum's Advisory Services contact us at your nearest office.