Mobile Operator: Outsourced Handset Capabilities

There is a growing need for handset testing to maintain the quality of services and products. To improve its testing processes, this mobile operator turned to Accenture.

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Promotional campaigns cannot be initiated until handsets have been fully tested for new mobile virtual network operator services and convergence services. Because marketing campaigns are often concentrated during specific times of the year, the testing workload is subject to significant peaks and troughs.

To stay on the path to high performance, carriers must find innovative means to counter these pressures. Outsourcing testing is providing a highly efficient and cost-effective way to ensure that products and services get to market fast and are working and reliable when they reach end-users.

Accenture helped manage 20 percent of the client’s overall testing activities over 6 months, and completed testing on 19 different handset models from seven different manufacturers. The following year, Accenture tested 50 different models from nine manufacturers, with up to four handsets being tested in parallel.

Test activities covered all UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Radio Bearer Testing, drive (field) and application testing areas with specific service responsibilities including:

• End-to-end verification of compliance with technical specifications for each handset.
  
  
• Test list design and execution.
  
  
• Support on defect management processes.
  
  
• Support for marketing launch decisions.

Accenture has added significant value to the client’s testing processes in the following ways:

• Fifty different handset models have been tested for standard handset verification of conformance to technical specifications.
  
  
• Full testing services, both radio and application tests were provided over the past two years on a baseline of two devices in parallel and an average rate of two new models every 10 days.
  
  
• An average of 2,000 test cases have been executed to date.

The company benefited in measurable ways, helping it to maintain its reputation as an innovative provider of quality handsets and applications. These benefits include:

• Cost Reduction—20 percent cost reductions in handset testing achieved in the first year alone.
  
  
• Increased Efficiency—The Accenture Network Testing Service model helped the company manage a variable-testing workload, resulting in lower inefficiencies due to periods of inactivity.
  
  
• Greater Flexibility—Additional handsets can be assigned for testing on as short a notice as 10 to15 days.