BARCEOLONA, Spain - WeDo Technologies executives said the company could consider launching consumer security products in the long term, as telecom operators begin to focus on protecting an increasing array of connected devices.
Sergio Silvestre, global chief marketing officer of the fraud protection and revenue assurance company, said the growing number of 'smart' home products as well as connected mobile devices offer operators an opportunity to generate new revenues from consumer protection, during an exclusive interview with Fierce Wireless:Europe at the Mobile World Congress trade show.
"We all have several devices at home, or with us, that need protection, and it's an important side of the business. The problem, I think, [is] the take up rate is… small because for some years the telecoms operators felt…subscribers will not be willing to pay for this."
Silvestre said operators that take the plunge and start protecting smart meters and other home devices will start to create a new business model. However, he conceded it is a "totally different value chain, and supply chain," relative to operators' current revenue streams.
Joao Albergaria Resende, vice president of product development, said the telecoms industry must quickly work out where it can add value to smart home protection. "If they [the operators] don't occupy these areas, others will," Resende said, adding, "I think that's a very important step up in our industry."
Data protection has been a hot topic at Mobile World Congress 2014, due to revelations of snooping by the US National Security Agency (NSA). Silvestre said consumers are soon likely to start looking for ways to ensure information given to over-the-top service providers is secure, but that the products "[W]on't be an anti-virus. It must be something stronger and heavier than an anti-virus."
The WeDo executives' comments echoed those made by Benoit Scheen, senior executive vice president for Europe at Orange, who told Fierce Wireless:Europe that data security is an opportunity for operators to "regain some credibility," with consumers, in an interview on the eve of Mobile World Congress 2014.
WeDo also used the trade show to detail upgrades to its RAID revenue and business assurance product, which Resende said improves the visibility of fraud and risk threats for enterprises.
Named RAID:FMS, the product utilises big data architecture integration to improve the product's analytical capabilities, to enable operators to protect multiple levels of their service. The update covers areas including international revenue share fraud, bypass or wholesale fraud, and private automated branch exchange (PABX) hacking.
Resende said the company has focussed on incorporating fraud protection in its overall enterprise assurance product, and that doing so streamlines the way the various elements can be utilised to deliver new results.
"One of the key goals is to allow the fraud management teams to increase the detection coverage, because of the new vulnerabilities, the new fraud threats that they have to face," Resende explained, noting that service providers are under huge pressure when delivering products and services.
For more:
- see WeDo Technologies RAID announcement
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