Wireless service providers across the globe are looking at options to solve a long-term bedlam. While expanding the physical infrastructure becomes imperative for future growth, the cost involved and the social as well as environmental resistance comes across the plans. Sharing of passive infrastructure has been pointed out as an option to solve this issue in some of the markets. However, operators were a bit hesitant to adopt this option due to various reasons. Today, in the changing business as well as regulatory environment, service providers have started seriously pursuing the option of sharing infrastructure. The need for cost-effectiveness in operations, limited infrastructure availability, the burning need for quick expansion of services and regulatory pressures drive service providers towards this direction. ABI Research asserts that the combined OPEX and CAPEX savings from active infrastructure sharing in the next 5 years will be $60 bn worldwide.

Mobile Application Stores(MAS) are the latest trend in the mobile communications industry. Mobile service providers and handset providers across the globe are busy jumping into the MAS bandwagon. Gartner predicts $6.2 Billion sales through MAS in 2010, and that is an appealing number for the service providers. Consumers are vigorously exploring application download options available through MAS -- let it be mobile shopping, social networking, mobile utilities, or productivity tools.

With the advent of new technologies like 3G, 4G, WiMax and LTE, the mobile phone is slowly evolving from a portable telephone to a small, handheld device that is the converging point of all your communication needs -- work, personal and entertainment included! The technology advancements, especially the evolution of 3G over the past eight years, has been luring operators with the greater scope of high-margin, value-added services that they offer.

IMS technology, after spending a few years in its embryonic stage, has now moved to the growth stage of the product life. VisionGain believes that the technology is now gaining ground, and is in the process of being deployed in various forms by network operators across the globe. Several large cable and wireless operators in North America, Europe and Middle East are now in the process of adopting the IMS framework.

While operators are keen to jump on to the 3G bandwagon, they want to capitalize and churn revenues from these content services and also from emerging business models like SaaS and cloud computing. Interestingly, the capability of a BSS becomes the cornerstone for these services. No wonder that despite the sparks of recession, the billing market overall is predicted to grow at 4.4 per cent through 2013, according to Stratecast.