Overview
The coronavirus pandemic has played havoc with so many business activities but also shows why we should make better use of modern telecoms services to deliver education, information and advice. Instead of canceling RAG’s big European conference, which would have been hosted by BT in London on May 13th and 14th, we moved it online. See the schedule and replay recordings of all the sessions below.
Agenda
The conference will cover revenue assurance, fraud management, cybersecurity, billing accuracy, enterprise risk management, margin optimization, cost management and other kinds of business assurance. The biographies of speakers can be found here, and the schedule for both days is presented below.
Agenda Day 1: Wednesday 13th May |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Session | Speakers | Topic | Time | |
| London | ||||
| Introduction | Eric Priezkalns Rachel Goodin Tony Sani |
The conference compères explain the day’s activities and how to interact with speakers | 7.30am | |
| Presentation | Nithin Gangadharan | Addressing Handset and Device Risks in the Digital World A specialist in machine learning and anomaly detection explains how to better protect networked devices |
8.00am | replay |
| Presentation | Joseph Nderitu | 13 Years a Slave A personal story about a miscarriage of justice and the impact that corrupt regulators can have on telcos and the people who work for them |
8.45am | replay |
| Break | 9.30am | |||
| Presentation | John Davies | The Three Common Myths of Test Tools An expert in the science of testing deals with misconceptions about using test calls and other test events to identify leakages and detect frauds |
10.00am | replay |
| Presentation | Bharat Pandit | Revenue Assurance of the Future The Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Intelligence at Tata Sky explains how his team has taken the principles of revenue assurance and applied them to a wider range of challenges |
10.45am | replay |
| Break | 11.30am | |||
| Presentation | Sergey Okhrimenko | The A and B Number Handshake: A Proposal for a Global Fraud Solution The COO of Lanck Telecom outlines an affordable mechanism that would make several kinds of fraud impossible |
12.30pm | replay |
| Panel | Bernice DeMarco Jeremy Paynter Msimisi Fakudze Carlos Marques Paul Davies |
Trends in Revenue Assurance Our panel of experts draw on the experience they have gained around the world to identify who has found new ways to increase the value delivered by revenue assurance, and the challenges they will tackle next |
1.15pm | replay |
| Presentation | Nev Phillips | Is There a Correlation between Poor Reference Data Management and Errors? An exploration of the relationship between business assurance and the management of standing data, including an evaluation of the cost of waiting until mistakes are identified by customers |
2.00pm | replay |
| Break | 2.45pm | |||
| Panel | Morgan Ramsey Olumayowa Oloyede Goran Marić Jeffrey Ross Tony Sani |
Finding New Ways to Fight Wangiri and Spam An international panel of experts discuss the root causes of the global rise in ‘one ring’ scams, what telcos can do to protect customers, the relationship between wangiri and other kinds of robocall spam, and how the USA’s TRACED Act may force telcos worldwide to take action |
3.30pm | replay |
| Presentation | Glen Winn | Business Assurance for Digital TV Experienced RAFM professional Glen Winn walks the audience through the ways his team has protected the television revenues of Virgin Media, and how they have adapted the RAG Leakage Catalogue for that purpose. |
4.15pm | replay |
| Presentation | Jacob Howell | Blockchain: A Tool in the Business Assurance Toolbox An analysis of the potential to use distributed ledger technology to reduce telco leakages |
5.00pm | replay |
| Closing remarks | Eric Priezkalns Rachel Goodin Tony Sani |
The compères bring the first day of the conference to a close | 5.45pm | |
Agenda Day 2: Thursday 14th May |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Session | Speakers | Topic | Time | |
| London | ||||
| Introduction | Eric Priezkalns Rachel Goodin Tony Sani |
The conference compères explain the day’s activities and how to interact with speakers | 7.30am | |
| Presentation | Arnd Baranowski | SIP and Fraud The CEO of Oculeus discusses the disadvantages and benefits of telcos transiting to IP networks and the use of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for signalling |
8.00am | replay |
| Presentation | Lorene Hunt Madan Jangra |
Assuring the Network Assets of Optus Two senior managers from Optus share a case study about their telco tightening controls around the location and tracking of network assets and the benefits they gained as a consequence |
8.45am | replay |
| Break | 9.30am | |||
| Panel | Rahul Puri Darren Rinaldi Glen Winn Eric Priezkalns |
The Relationship between Revenue Protection, Assurance and Maximization for Multiplay TV Providers A free-ranging conversation where pay-TV providers from various countries discuss anti-piracy, customer analytics and everything between |
10.00am | replay |
| Presentation | Paul Cox | Revenue Assurance Rating Reconciliation An exploration of the challenges involved in ensuring the correct price has been applied to every service and how to overcome them through cost-effective controls |
10.45am | replay |
| Panel | Donald Reinhart Vincent Revol Lee Scargall |
Hot Topics in Fraud Management The panel of experts will discuss bypass, SIM swapping and IRSF as they evaluate which frauds are rising, which are falling, and how fraud management techniques are changing in response |
11.30am | replay |
| Break | 12.15am | Presentation | Michael Lazarou Eric Priezkalns |
Turning RAG Learning into a Comprehensive Online Training Resource A brief look at content on the RAG Learning platform and plans to expand the syllabus offered to students |
1.15pm |
| Presentation | Kenneth Mouton | International Revenue Share Fraud in Practice Drawing on real data, this talk will show how number ranges are abused to inflate traffic, the losses telco suffer as a result, and how these link to flaws in the transfer of knowledge between RAFM and Interconnect/Wholesale departments |
1.45pm | replay |
| Panel | Rémy Eckernkemper Shahid Ishtiaq Xavier Lesage Lee Scargall |
How to Integrate Test Calls into an Assurance Strategy Managers from Etisalat and Bouygues Telecom talk with other experts about the ways they use test calls to find issues that might otherwise go unnoticed |
2.30pm | replay |
| Break | 3.15pm | |||
| Panel | Mike Morley‑Fletcher Mike Waldron Vernon Kitay |
The Relationship between Telco Risk Management and Risk Management across Industries A panel with broad experience of risk compares telecoms to financial services, retail, utilities and charities, and discusses the routes individuals take when moving into and out of telco revenue assurance. |
3.45pm | replay |
| Presentation | Geoff Ibbett | The RAG Leakage Catalogue and Results of the Leakage Coverage Survey The leader of RAG’s leakage coverage initiative explains how he and telcos around the world have compiled the most comprehensive inventory of telco revenue and cost leakages and how the survey of leakage coverage defines a roadmap from revenue assurance to business assurance |
4.30pm | replay |
| Panel | Eric Priezkalns Rachel Goodin Tony Sani |
Wise Heads Panel Maintaining the tradition for all RAG conferences, our compères debate the key takeaways from this event whilst the audience has a final opportunity to ask questions and make observations |
5.15pm | |
| Closing remarks | Eric Priezkalns Rachel Goodin Tony Sani |
The compères bring the conference to a close | 5.30pm | |
Playback on Demand
- Nithin Gangadharan
- Joseph Nderitu
- John Davies
- Bharat Pandit
- Sergey Okhrimenko
- Panel: Trends in Revenue Assurance
- Nev Phillips
- Panel: Finding New Ways to Fight Wangiri and Spam
- Glen Winn
- Jacob Howell
- Arnd Baranowski
- Lorene Hunt and Madan Jangra
- Panel: The Relationship between Revenue Protection, Assurance and Maximization for Pay TV Providers
- Paul Cox
- Panel: Hot Topics in Fraud Management
- Kenneth Mouton
- Panel: How to Integrate Test Calls into an Assurance Strategy
- Panel: The Relationship between Telco Risk Management and Risk Management across Industries
- Geoff Ibbett
“Addressing Handset and Device Risks in the Digital World” by Nithin Gangadharan of Subex
A specialist in machine learning and anomaly detection explains how to better protect networked devices.
“13 Years a Slave” by Joseph Nderitu
Joseph recounts a personal story about a miscarriage of justice and the impact that corrupt regulators can have on telcos and the people who work for them. The presentation reiterates and extends the insights Joseph shared in his keynote address to RAG Johannesburg 2019.
“The Three Common Myths of Test Tools” by John Davies of BluGem
An expert in the science of testing deals with misconceptions about using test calls and other test events to identify leakages and detect frauds.
“Revenue Assurance of the Future” by Bharat Pandit of Tata Sky
The Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Intelligence at Tata Sky explains how his team has taken the principles of revenue assurance and applied them to a wider range of challenges.
“The A and B Number Handshake, a Proposal for a Global Fraud Solution” by Sergey Okhrimenko of LANCK Telecom
The COO of LANCK Telecom outlines an affordable mechanism to verify the origin of calls and so make several kinds of fraud impossible.
Panel: Trends in Revenue Assurance
Bernice DeMarco of BT, Jeremy Paynter of Inmarsat, Msimisi Fakudze of MTN Group and Carlos Marques of Mobileum join moderator and widely-experienced RA professional Paul Davies for a discussion of the newest ways to increase the returns generated by revenue assurance.
“Is There a Correlation between Poor Reference Data Management and Errors?” by Nev Phillips of Symmetry Solutions
An exploration of the relationship between telecoms business assurance and the management of standing data, including an evaluation of the cost of waiting until mistakes are identified by customers.
Panel: Finding New Ways to Fight Wangiri and Spam
Morgan Ramsey of Vodafone Group, Olumayowa Oloyede of MTN Nigeria, Goran Marić of HT ERONET, Jeffrey Ross of GBSD Technologies and moderator Tony Sani of RAG discuss the root causes of the global rise in ‘one ring’ scams, what telcos can do to protect customers, the relationship between wangiri and other kinds of robocall spam, and how the USA’s TRACED Act may force telcos worldwide to take action.
“Business Assurance for Digital TV” by Glen Winn
Experienced RAFM professional Glen Winn walks the audience through the ways his team has protected the television revenues of Virgin Media, and how they have adapted the RAG Leakage Catalogue for that purpose.
“Blockchain: A Tool in the Business Assurance Toolbox” by Jacob Howell of TEOCO
An analysis of the potential to use distributed ledger technology to reduce losses and improve the profitability of telcos.
“SIP and Fraud: The Underestimated Problem” by Arnd Baranowski of Oculeus
The CEO of Oculeus discusses the disadvantages and benefits of telcos transiting to IP networks and the use of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for signalling.
“Assuring the Network Assets of Optus” by Lorene Hunt and Madan Jangra
Senior managers in Optus explain how they enhanced the tracking and management of network assets.
Panel: The Relationship between Revenue Protection, Assurance and Maximization for Pay TV Providers
Major digital TV providers from India, Australia and the British Isles discuss profitability analytics, anti-piracy, customer satisfaction and everything between. Panel moderator Eric Priezkalns of RAG is joined by Rahul Puri of Tata Sky, Darren Rinaldi of Foxtel and Glen Winn of Virgin Media.
“Revenue Assurance Rating Reconciliation” by Paul Cox
Neural Technologies’ Paul Cox shares stories and insights into rating assurance.
Panel: Hot Topics in Fraud Management
Donald Reinhart of LATRO Services, Vincent Revol of FraudBuster and risk executive Lee Scargall discuss bypass, SIM swapping and IRSF whilst evaluating which frauds are rising, which are falling, and how fraud management techniques are changing in response.
“International Revenue Share Fraud in Practice” by Kenneth Mouton of SIGOS
Drawing on real data, this talk shows how number ranges are abused to inflate telecoms traffic and the losses telcos suffer as a result. Common issues in the transfer of knowledge between RAFM and Interconnect/Wholesale departments are also discussed.
Panel: How to Integrate Test Calls into an Assurance Strategy
Experts talk about the ways they use test calls to find issues that might otherwise go unnoticed. The panellists are: Shahid Ishtiaq from Etisalat; Rémy Eckernkemper from Bouygues Telecom; Xavier Lesage from Araxxe; and panel moderator Lee Scargall.
Panel: The Relationship between Telco Risk Management and Risk Management across Industries
A panel with broad experience of risk in numerous sectors compares telecoms to financial services, retail, utilities and charities. The panel also discusses the routes individuals take when moving into and out of telco revenue assurance. The panel consists of: Mike Waldron of Worldpay; Mike Morley-Fletcher of MacMillan Cancer Support; Rachel Goodin of Ocado; and moderator Vernon Kitay of Blackfoot UK.
“The RAG Leakage Catalogue and Leakage Coverage Survey” by Geoff Ibbett of RAG
The leader of RAG’s leakage coverage initiative explains how he and telcos around the world have compiled the most comprehensive inventory of telco revenue and cost leakages. The talk also explains how the 2019 survey of leakage coverage defines a roadmap from revenue assurance to business assurance.
About Our Sponsors
RAG is a not-for-profit enterprise, and telcos and regulators may attend our events for free, as do many specially invited experts. That means we rely on the generosity of the businesses that host our meetings and pay for everything from our web server to the coffee we serve attendees. We would like to thank the following businesses for contributions that have made this conference possible.