Telecom Sector - 2 : 10 different ways to pay the bill for 10% mobile subscribers

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India's telecom sector is divided into 23 different circles foreffective operations and management - like licensing and restricting number ofoperators. With the introduction of mobile services in 1995, there was nolooking back on the growth of mobile subscribers - the latest count beingaround 900 million ! With the largest operator, Airtel, holding about 170+million mobile subscribers, how would they ensure that all the customers payfor their service in time?
It should be interesting to note that 90%+ of mobile subscribers usepre-paid services. This ensures a stead flow of cash (up-front) for theoperators for the services being offered. There are both online and offlinemechanisms to re-charge one's prepaid mobile number. In the offline mode, theauthorized agents can re-charge an amount for a specific mobile number. This ismade so simple through SMS-based update that mom-n-pop stores in street cornerscan become the operator agents. Simple but effective use of technology thataffects 600 million subscribers !
For the post-paid bill payment, there are umpteen options beingprovided by each operator.

1. Online bill payment using credit / debit card and internet banking on operator sites
2. Pay at the operator service centers
3. Drop a cheque at drop-boxes provided at specific outlets
4. Make payment through 3rd party online authorized agents like paytm
5. Pay through Bank ATMs
6. Pay using pre-paid cards like ITZ card
7. Pay through Internet Banking
8. Provide standing instructions for direct debit from your bank account
9. Don't stand in the queue but pay at the self-service kiosks at operator centers
10. Interactive voice response systems (IVR) offer another mechanism for bill payment

If you are not interested in any of the above, a 'collection agent'would be present at your door stop. To be fair to the operators, we must thinkthat they are asking for money 'after-providing-service' in case of post-paidconnections.
The heart of all these operations are the Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM) and Billing Systems from Information Technology (IT)perspective. Recording the call durations, locations, generating itemizedbilling based on circles and billing cycles, sending notices (SMS or e-mail) toall those millions of subscribers and tracking their payments through differentchannels is no mean task. The billions of rupees investment required forcapital infrastructure would not be possible without appropriate IT systems inplace.
We must acknowledge Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel for strategicallyoutsourcing the entire IT operations in the beginning itself. Even the telecominfrastructure is outsourced by them and they focus on core competency ofinnovation and marketing. He pioneered that model which is replicated in oneway or the other even in other sectors too.