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Jim Barthold
While much of the past year's buzz has been about cable industry opportunities to move into other telecommunications arenas - telephony and high-speed data most prominent among them - at least one company has taken a reverse route. Convergys Corp., with its telephone background, pushed into cable's volatile billing and subscriber management arena.
"In the past, there have been many companies who attempted to enter the cable billing arena, many of them with very big names," recalled Curt Champion, Convergys' marketing director-cable and broadband solutions. "We think back to American Express, when they came in, as well as EDS (Electronic Data Systems)."
These kinds of failed predecessors showed what a daunting task it could be to enter the cable fraternity.
"I think the difference in why Convergys has been able to be successful was because we really came in with a background that was specifically targeted toward the billing and customer care area," he continued.
That success is reflected in the 30 % market share Convergys claims to date, Champions said. It didn't hurt that the company was spawned by a familiar telecommunications name, Cincinnati Bell Information Systems (CBIS).
"Many of the cable operators that we serve today had experience with Convergys when we were CBIS. They saw the company could deliver support and products," said Champion.
Among Convergys' customers are Cox Communications Inc. and MediaOne Group.
"We're able to go and launch with Cox across the United States in all of their markets with a convergent solution, as well as with Telewest in the U.K.," said Champion.
That ability to handle cable's increasingly complex billing and subscriber management needs is one reason Champion sees a bright future.
The future, he said, will bring more challenges. Internet Protocol (IP) telephony will, if the cable industry's hopes are fulfilled, grow into a revenue source. Interactive television could become the marketplace dominator cable has longed for. And, of course, high-speed data offerings will continue to grow. All these will need to be billed and managed.
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