Provision of interconnect billing and other OSS applications through ASP and other outsourcing services - Opportunities for telcos large and small

Competition has forced telcos to Look for new, lower-cost, solutions for im plementing operational support systems (OSS). Application service provision (ASP) enables customers to effectively rent applications and removes the n eed for them to install and run the software themselves. ASP can enable tel cos to outsource their OSS applications. Indeed, telcos may consider hostin g ASP applications themselves. This article examines the issues, using as a case study BT's experience in setting up its interconnect billing service (IXBS), which allows telcos across Europe to access a version of BT's inter connect billing application, INCA, as an ASP service.