The Programme

Day One
08:30		Registration
09:00	Sameer Joshi Director of Consulting TELEONTO	Opening remarks from the Chair
DEFINING THE EXPANDING MARKET PLACE
09:10	Jawad Abbassi Founder and General Manager ARAB ADVISORS GROUP	The Arab cellular and internet markets: growth and usage trends Reviewing the main operators Establishing the levels of penetration and adoption throughout the Arab region Commenting on revenues and usage patterns Exploring the regulatory situation Looking towards the future
UNDERSTANDING AND MAXIMISING REVENUE ASSURANCE PROCESSES
09:50	Pedro Teixeira Account Manager for Middle East and Africa WEDO TECHNOLOGIES	Digital revenue assurance: controlling revenue in today’s multimedia world A trip down memory lane: voice to multimedia content Digital content assurance: yesterday’s news? Assuring payment in a multi channel environment: people, processes and solutions Managing tomorrow’s change
10:30		Morning refreshments
11:00	Abdulilah Al-Salami FM Analyst SABAFON	Recognising the importance of the revenue assurance function Understanding the significance of RA Outlining the broader scope of an RA strategy and identifying the key components Integrating the RA function into company strategy Demonstrating the benefits of RA tools to secure investment
11:40	Samië Âhmed Kazi Revenue Assurance, Risk and Fraud Management OMANTEL	The Omantel revenue assurance experience Omantel’s RA concept and how Omantel sold this concept internally The RA committee approach vs a full blown RA department No full-scale tools, yet several success stories A structured and planned approach addressing people, processes and prioritisation A small RA team – lean and mean – focusing on core RA issues Gradual move from “fire-fighting” to “prevention”
12:20		Lunch
13:40	Fazle Karim Head, Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management AKTEL BANGLADESH	Case study: in-house revenue assurance tool success for AKTEL, Bangladesh Prerequisite for an in-house RA tool development Pros and cons of a vendor product vs an in-house developed RA tool RA structure, manpower and their job functions RA scope of area and probable control points Success factors for RA in-house development How to run RA projects to drive you through your destination Projects successfully implemented and running in AKTEL, 2006 and 2007
14:20	Sameer Joshi Director of Consulting TELEONTO	Adaptability challenges for revenue assurance solutions
15:00	Chaired by Marc Vloebergh Head of Revenue Assurance BELGACOM Fazle Karim Head Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management AKTEL BANGLADESH Sameer Joshi Director of Consulting TELEONTO Kashif Jamil Revenue Assurance and Fraud ZAIN KUWAIT	Panel discussion: developing an active end-to-end revenue assurance strategy Exploring RA strategies: proactive or reactive? Establishing early detection systems to minimise leakage Reviewing the RA process in place to ensure all possibilities are covered Providing a watertight RA function
15:40		Afternoon refreshments
16:10	Murid Atassi MIS Director SYRIATEL	Effective revenue assurance management in high growth markets Building a single RA process Aligning the network, billing and finance departments Understanding the impact of efficient RA management in a high growth market
OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES OF MORE COMPLEX BILLING
16:50	Bareah Shankiti and Kashif Jamil Revenue Assurance and Fraud ZAIN KUWAIT	Ensuring interconnection charges are accurately billed Overcoming data inaccuracy to enable effective interconnection billing The management and challenges of billing reconciliation Combating billing discrepancies and minimising costs
17:30		Closing remarks from the Chair
17:40		End of day one

Day Two
08:30		Registration
09:00	Eric Priezkalns Director REVENUE PROTECT LIMITED	Opening remarks from the Chair
COMBATING THE CHALLENGES OF AN INCREASINGLY GLOBAL MARKET PLACE
09:10	Kaufeat Ghosh Vice President of Sales CONNECTIVA	Distributed revenue assurance: overcoming deployment and monitoring challenges at geographically dispersed locations
ASSESSING REVENUE ASSURANCE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES: LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE
09:50	Eric Priezkalns Director REVENUE PROTECT LIMITED	An overview of revenue assurance tools Defining the kinds of tools used for RA Tools for detecting leakages Managing workflows to resolution Selecting the right kind of tool for the job Key criteria for selecting the supplier The TM Forum's work on the selection process Challenges in future-proofing RA tools
10:30	Ismail Dhorat Fraud Specialist Revenue Assurance DU	Reviewing current and future trends in revenue management strategies Comparisons between Middle Eastern and African markets Challenges faced in revenue risk and fraud management, and credit and collections Opportunities to be taken The evolution and next steps of revenue management strategies
11:10		Morning refreshments
11:40	Stephan Baumann Head of Group Telco Excellence DETECON	Professional and easy leakage detection as a basis for RA process optimisation Operational efficiency as one major part of revenue assurance Challenges in identifying revenue leakage An alternative solution for professional and easy leakage detection Revenue assurance along optimised business processes
IMPLEMENTING AN END-TO-END FRAUD MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
12:20	Hassan Mitalane Revenue Assurance and Quality Director MEDITELECOM	Managing integrated fraud and revenue assurance functions Understanding the main risk areas through external consultancy The role of an internal risk management function and the risk of increased data Experiences and benefits gained from the implementation o f fraud and RA tools Managing people for the optimal RA functions synergy
13:00	Hayley Daniels Senior Consultant NEURAL TECHNOLOGIES	Effectively detecting, monitoring and managing internal fraud Managing internal fraud and the challenges it presents Examining the key concepts and aims of the COSO framework Applying the principles of COSO to reduce internal fraud within procurement and customer services
13:40		Lunch
14:45	Syed Thameem Revenue Assurance Manager CELTEL UGANDA	Managing fraud risk for new products and bundle services Developing a robust risk assessment on a new product Identifying the areas for potential fraudulent activity with the new service Managing RA functions for early detection of fraudulent behaviour
15:25	Ahmed Emam Fraud Management Team Leader ZAIN KUWAIT	Management strategies and procedures to detect fraud Identifying weaknesses which could lead to fraud Strategies to combat fraud across the service portfolio Best practice procedures to improve fraud detection
16:05		Afternoon refreshments
16:35	Najyb Al Maskari Manager Information Security THURAYA SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS	Evaluating systems and tools for combating roaming fraud and minimising revenue leakage Analysing key areas of weakness to reduce roaming fraud Reviewing preventative techniques Ensuring better roaming call visibility to enable effective fraud detection and improved RA Processes increasing operator profitability by reducing the potential revenue lost to roaming fraud
17:05	Gurcan Aladinli Billing Control, Fraud and Doc. MNG Director AVEA	Reviewing fraud trends and best practice methods for prevention A brief overview of Avea and the organisational structure of the Customer Care and Fraud teams Fraud trends in turkey Common fraud threats among operators Major fraud types Avea fraud detection and prevention methods Upcoming fraud trends and projects (3G, content fraud, m-commerce fraud, NRTRDE etc)
17:45		Closing remarks from the Chair
17:55		End of conference