ACN Europe is the largest direct seller of telecommunications, energy and essential services, such as IPTV and Broadband, to homes and businesses in Europe. It operates through a network of highly motivated independent representatives in over 18 countries, and offers consumers the products and services they already use every day at highly competitive rates.
In 2014, ACN launched a new MVNO, JOi Telecom, in France and the UK. In France, it runs on the SFR network, and in the UK, it runs on the Three network. JOi Telecom is powered by MDS Global’s Cloud Monetisation Platform (CMP) and IBM iSeries servers and systems.
A flexible, cost-effective solution
ACN wanted to expand its large European footprint with a new consumer brand that would offer customers more choice and value. ACN was already familiar with MDS Global’s integrated technology solutions, having relied on a single instance of CMP to deliver multi-play services in 18 European countries since 2001. They reviewed the existing product and decided that by using the extensive configuration features within CMP, and its proven capability to rapidly launch new services and offers, they could quickly define and launch as an MVNO, at the same time as launching the JOi Telecom brand
The perfect partnership
This extensive, multi-play solution is built on a stable foundation of IBM iSeries servers and systems, complemented by MDS Global’s CMP, which has been designed to support the provision, real-time charging, billing and management of complex communications services. The advantage of CMP is that flexibility and scalability is built-in, so over the years, it has been adapted to accommodate enhancements to ACN’s service.
The collaboration between IBM and MDS Global has enabled ACN to get its services to market quickly and cost effectively, allowing them to offer very competitive rates to customers, as well as excellent customer service.
The centralised system has been designed to support the needs of all the countries in which ACN operates, integrating with the banking services in each country and supporting the customer’s preferred language for billing and contracts.
“Being fast is crucial, and we are convinced that MDS Global has the team and products we need to execute on our plans. JOi Telecom’s simple proposition brings something new to the mobile market, putting the power of choice and flexibility in the customer’s hands.”
Alex Bennett, Vice President of Product Management at ACN Europe
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Key benefits
After launching successfully in the UK and France, ACN plans to roll out JOi Telecom to other European countries, which will be facilitated by CMP’s flexibility and the automated nature of many business processes:
“MDS Global demonstrated their understanding of our specific requirements for providing services across Europe. As a well-known innovator in the market, they understood that supporting the JOi Telecom MVNO launch was critical to their business strategy. Their services teams worked as an extension to the JOi Telecom team to meet the challenging timescales. We leveraged CMP’s configurability and standards-based APIs to augment our European infrastructure. We could not be more pleased with the success of this project.”
Eugen Comendant, Director of JOi Telecom, MVNO & Multiplay, Europe
Evolution for the changing world
As with other successful, high growth organisations, ACN is always on the lookout for new ways to expand its business profitably, whilst helping its customers to save money. It must also respond to changes in the market and the ever-evolving world of technology and telecommunications.
CMP has demonstrated that it has the flexibility and scalability to meet these requirements, enabling ACN to rapidly launch new services, adapt to customer demands for the latest digital services and reach new markets.
