MOBILE INDUSTRY TO TACKLE ROAMING FRAUD WITH NEAR-REAL-TIME MANAGEMENT

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Johnson Choo
johnsonchoo@medicaorp.com.sg

GLOBAL mobile-phone operators lost US$60 billion ($92.3 billion) in
revenue to call roaming cheats last year. This figure accounts for almost
25 per cent of their total losses incurred through fraud.

The sum is equal to 3 per cent of an operator's total revenue, said the
GSM Association (GSMA), a global trade association representing more than
700 GSM mobile-phone operators across 218 countries.

One unnamed operator lost 11.1 million euros ($22.8 million) to such
cheats, according to a recent GSMA survey of 37 operators.

To arrest this trend, GSMA and Syniverse, a global mobile solutions
company, have developed a new system of fraud management, called Near Real
Time Roaming Data Exchange (NRTRDE).

Currently, operators rely on what is called a High Usage Report from their
roaming partners to alert them to possible instances of fraud. These
reports are usually available within a 36-hour window.

"The information usually arrives too late to prevent a fraud ... a lot of
damage can be done," said Mr Tony Holcombe, head of Syniverse
Technologies.

With NRTRDE, the visited network is required to forward call data records
(CDRs) detailing roaming service usage to the home operator within four
hours.

If the CDR cannot be conveyed to the home operator in time, the visited
operator is liable for any fraud associated with those calls.

GSMA has mandated that all its members who use the GSM system implement
the NRTRDE by Oct 1 next year. While the deadline is still more than a
year away, both GSMA and Syniverse are urging operators to implement
compliant solutions soon, as late adopters of the new management system
may face dramatically-rising roaming fraud.

Syniverse Technologies has recently been awarded the licence to provide
number portability solutions to Singapore's telecommunications operators.
The system is expected to be up and running in the second quarter of next
year and will serve more than six million subscribers.