Portal Software says that Liaoning China Netcom completed the final phase of an effort to expand Liaoning digital media offerings and provide new, flexible rate plans and promotions to Liaoning's customers, while opening a revenue channel for content providers.
Portal, via its services organization Portal Consulting, worked closely with Liaoning to seamlessly merge three digital media content providers onto its billing system, enabling seamless and real-time revenue share, while at the same time offering consumers a greater variety of pre- and post-paid pricing bundles and payment options.
In October 2005, Portal announced that it had begun a multi-phase project to assist Liaoning in expanding its use of the Portal Revenue Management platform amid significant customer demand for broadband connectivity and value-added content services.
Liaoning utilizes the Portal Revenue Management platform for rating and billing for both its pre- and post-pay customers and has increased its year-over-year broadband subscriber growth 15% and content subscribers by nearly 40% while reducing its customer acquisition costs by 26 percent. The company currently serves 1.5 million broadband subscribers and expects to reach 2 million subscribers by end of year.
"The rapid growth of our subscriber base, combined with a highly competitive marketplace require a scalable and flexible billing and Revenue Management solution," said Pang Yang, IT and projects manager of Liaoning CNC. "Portal has been instrumental in allowing us to offer differentiated content services and payment options — both critical to our success in retaining existing customers and capturing market share."
Liaoning CNC, a Portal customer since 1999, provides both dial-up and broadband (xDSL) Internet services and value-added services such as instant messaging, video on demand, music downloads and online gaming. As part of this most recent project, Portal deployed a new payment gateway, the Liaoning Payment Connecter, to enable pre-paid content customers to top off their account using a credit card or wireless phone account.
"The Chinese market represents a never-before-seen opportunity for communication service providers," said Bhaskar Gorti, General Manager of the communications global business unit at Oracle. "Liaoning continues to exponentially drive its subscriber and revenue growth by staying ahead of customer demand. Portal is proud to be their partner in capturing this grand opportunity."