Sigma Systems Puts Revenue Loss in Reverse for Cable Operators

TORONTO--(Marketwired - Jun 10, 2013) - Sigma Systems, a provider of catalog-driven service fulfillment products that works with some of the largest cable, telco and mobile companies worldwide, believes that cable operators must expand their service portfolios to include new revenue-generating services such as home automation and home security for the residential market and cloud applications for the SMB (small and medium business) market to combat revenue loss from declines in legacy offerings.

"Communication service providers (CSPs), and in particular cable operators, have an immediate opportunity to enhance their service bundles for both the growing consumer and SMB markets as demand for traditional pay-TV and voice services slows," said Rick Mallon, vice president of marketing and product management at Sigma Systems. "To balance the loss, operators must take advantage of new value-add applications and services that enable them to capture and retain these valuable subscribers. They now have the opportunity to become the single, trusted source for the growing number of applications these customers need."

Consumers seek control
Analysts have been issuing warnings about reductions in pay-TV subscribers as over-the-top (OTT) providers start to gain traction. To combat this, operators must differentiate themselves by becoming more than just a provider of communications and entertainment services. But they need the ability to offer these services quickly and cost-effectively.

Chief among the new services that will drive further revenue and have the potential to increase customer loyalty are home automation, home security and eHealth. In 2011, GSMA estimated the global market for home automation, home energy management and smart meters was more than $8 billion in 2010 and it would leap to $44 billion by 2016. For consumers, there is a clear connection between purchasing high-speed broadband and home automation services from the same provider, allowing them to monitor their thermostat and utilities usage remotely, manage internet-connected home entertainment systems or unlock their doors with one click. Service providers that can offer these services as part of their bundles, giving consumers with a single source for all of these services with one integrated bill, will have a strong differentiation against their competitors.

SMBs seek simplicity
SMBs also realize benefits in purchasing new services from an existing provider and with the U.S. SMB IT spend for 2013 estimated at $149 billion, it's a market well worth operators' focus. In addition to traditional services of high-speed internet and IP telephony, operators can offer SMB customers business software, such as customer relationship management (CRM), office productivity, online back-up, email marketing tools, etc. According to a recent report by SMB Nation, SMBs will invest $3.2 billion in these Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings this year alone.

Sigma's Cloud ServiceBroker helps service providers quickly and cost-effectively deliver cloud applications as part of their SMB service bundle. Latin America-based Columbus Communications and Tiscali, an Italian telecommunications provider, have each announced their deployment of the Sigma Cloud ServiceBroker in 2013.

"Sigma believes that the SMB market is the key to continued revenue growth for service providers. However, this market has very specific needs," said Mallon. "These customers place a high value on having a single source for their business-critical applications, offering a broad range of services, a single point of contact for support issues and a single bill. With the number and complexity of cloud business solutions, they no longer want to deal with researching and managing multiple services themselves. But they do want more control over the day-to-day administration of these services. That's why we have invested heavily in developing our end-user portal. It not only gives the customer the control they want, but reduces administrative costs for the service provider." 

Speeding time-to-market for new services
Already, major CSPs, such as AT&T, Comcast, China Telecom and TWC have announced that they will roll out home automation, including security services, to their markets. However, many CSPs do not have -- or wish to spend -- the capital to develop their own service offerings. Many also face challenges in integrating these new into their existing catalogs or bill in a unified manner.

Sigma Systems' catalog-driven approach to service fulfillment helps service providers accelerate new service rollouts. By eliminating the need to hard-code new services and bundles, Sigma's OSS products can significantly reduce the costs of launching new services, resulting in higher profits.

Sigma Systems' zero-touch provisioning helps operators enable and manage SaaS services and applications for communication service providers. Its Cloud ServiceBroker is an integrated SaaS service fulfillment solution that removes operational silos and reduces overall CapEx and as OpEx, by managing all telecommunications business services, from VoIP to cloud-based SaaS applications. Cloud ServiceBroker provides operators the flexibility to add and change services quickly while its native connection to OSS removes integration challenges and allows CSPs to stay competitive without the high capital investments that take time to yield ROI.

As the market for home automation, home security and eHealth is refined, cable operators should step in as trusted partner to consumer and SMB customers and realize new revenue streams from these cutting-edge technologies.

Sigma Systems will be at The Cable Show from June 10-12 in Washington, D.C. To arrange a press or analyst briefing at the show, please contact sigma@engagepr.com.

About Sigma Systems
Sigma Systems is a market leader in catalog-driven fulfillment systems. Sigma's OSS/BSS products enable CSPs to deliver a complete suite of services over any access network to any device. The portfolio spans cloud brokerage, order management, service provisioning, service catalog, service inventory, device management as well as professional services to ensure efficient deployment and long-term success. Sigma has fulfilled 100s of millions of RGUs across residential and business markets including services like broadband, VoIP, SIP trunking, unified communication, IPTV, mobile, cloud and M2M. Over 50 CSPs -- including Charter, Cox, Rogers, TELUS, Bell Aliant, Tiscali, American Movil, iTSCOM and ZON -- are leveraging Sigma's products to automate the fulfillment of converged IP networks.

For more information about Sigma Systems, visit http://www.sigma-systems.com and follow the company on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sigmasystems.