Mediaset Group: Billing and Collection Solution

The move would make Mediaset the only European broadcaster to operate both free-to-air and pay-to-view TV channels. With help from Accenture to build and deploy a new billing and collection solution, Mediaset was able to launch its new services quickly and in a way that captured revenue—from the very first day of business.

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Because the pay-TV service at Mediaset had been offered through prepaid cards only, the broadcaster now needed robust billing and administrative capabilities to effectively manage the billing cycle for the expected thousands of pay-TV subscribers.

Findings from Accenture High Performance Business research shows that getting the fundamentals right, such as integrating billing and collections as part of the revenue-generation cycle, is a prerequisite for high-performance businesses and helps them to outpace competitors.

Beyond the basics of processing invoices, the new billing system would also be a critical factor for Mediaset in building customer loyalty and supporting new service launches.

Accenture collaborated with Mediaset to develop the Oracle-based billing and collection solution—from analysis through to development, deployment and postproduction support. Accenture organized a two-tier, near-shore delivery model to bring the depth, completeness and value needed for rapid creation and support of critical billing functions.

Following the implementation approach of the Accenture Delivery Methods for Oracle, the diverse team worked to implement flexible and scalable core capabilities, including:

• Billing and invoicing.
  
  
• Collections management.
  
  
• Advanced accounting general ledger processing.
  
  
• Tax and statutory reporting.
  
  
• Integration with business systems, such as customer relationship management, business intelligence, payment and enterprise resource planning.
  
  
• Invoice and general ledger data archiving.

The solution gave Mediaset the capability it needed to bill and collect account receivables with accuracy, speed and quality for the more than 280,000 customers who had subscribed to the service initially. Today, some 1.5 million Italian families subscribe to the Mediaset Premium package alone, resulting in a turnover of €400 million (US$591 million).

Mediaset now processes an average of 2,700 payment outcomes each day. The broadcaster expects 3 million subscribers by 2010. Thanks in part to the flexible and scalable billing solution developed by Accenture, Mediaset has laid the foundation for future growth, more competitive and broader provision of digital TV services and a more compelling customer experience, firmly placing it on its journey to high performance.