The mobile operations support systems (OSS) market grew 8.6% in 2011 to reach US$9,079 million. Operations support systems are computer systems, software, procedures, and tools used by telecommunications service providers to ensure the smooth running of their networks.

Despite the economic climate, investment in the mobile OSS is expected to still sustain 3.3% growth in 2012 to US$9,376 million, as mobile operators seek efficiency gains and better oversight with their networks. “As mobile operators strive to simplify their legacy OSS architectures and procedures, 2011, 2012, and likely through 2015 should see the benefits of 4G deployments and upgrades. The forecast for 2017 is anticipated to surpass US$10,271 million, but that is likely to be down from the market’s peak in 2015 of US$10,768 million,” commented Jake Saunders, VP – forecasting at ABI Research.

The mobile OSS marketplace is a complex one with a rich eco-system of IT software, telecom infrastructure vendors, and system integrators. Infrastructure independent OSS providers, such as Amdocs, Oracle, and IBM have been able to secure significant value from the OSS market by harnessing many of the standardization efforts by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the TM Forum, and the ITIL.

Mobile operators have been realizing that, while one can have a smoothly running mobile network, have no network outages and competitive pricing of services, and yet customers still churn in significant numbers. Upon investigation, operators discovered that a large proportion of the customer base left the network not because of any specific complaint, but because of a general lack of satisfaction with the network. “The focus is now on customer experience management. To that effect, a number of mobile operators are putting in place OSS tools that help the operators assess the customer experience at a particular moment in time or even in real-time,” added Aditya Kaul, practice director, mobile networks.

ABI Research’s Report on “Operations Support Systems (OSS): The OS Running the Mobile Network,” belongs to the company’s Next Generation Optimization, DPI and Policy (http://www.abiresearch.com/research/service/next-generation-optimization-dpi-policy/) and Managed Services (http://www.abiresearch.com/research/service/managed-services/) Research Services. The report profiles the OSS solutions and tools of the key players in the eco-system, assesses their relative market positions and provides an outlook for the market.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 70+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.