Report: Revenue 'leakage' of telcos at $176bn a year

Revenue loss among telcos is increasing globally, says an annual Operator Attitudes to Revenue Assurance survey, but decreasing among European and North American operators.

The survey says that world's telecoms operators "leaked" $176bn in revenue in 2006, or 12.1 per cent of their combined turnovers, compared to 11.6 per cent last year.

The figures are from the fourth annual Operator Attitudes to Revenue Assurance survey conducted by Analysys on behalf of Subex Azure, a company which specialises in 'revenue maximisation' for telcos.

Fraud is the biggest single source of revenue loss, according to the report, swallowing 2.9 per cent of turnover. Poor credit management, incorrect service usage data and incorrect payments to other networks are growing areas of loss.

According to the report, the largest operator s, those with five million or more subscribers, suffer the lowest losses.
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Alcatel, Lucent shareholders approve merger
Paris: Shareholders of Alcatel and Lucent Technologies on Thursday approved Alcatel's $11 billion acquisition of its U.S. rival despite concerns that the French telecommunications-equipment firm may have overpaid.

The approval put an end to weeks of speculation about the financial benefits of the merger for Alcatel.

The deal, which is billed as a merger of equals, was narrowly approved by Lucent shareholders in a nearly simultaneous vote in Wilmington, Delaware. About 2.3 billion shares, or 52% of those outstanding, were voted in favor. Only a simple majority of the votes was required for approval. The companies expect the deal to be completed by the end of the year, having already gotten clearance from various U.S. and French regulators, with only one review pending.

The move came in reaction to intensifying competition in the telecoms-equipment sector, especially from new low-cost manufacturers in China. Industry prices have also fallen because there are fewer buyers due to consolidation.
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