Release of 21.02.2013
Vienna, February 21, 2013 - The wholesale business in the Telco industry is characterized by high transfer volumes and very low margins. Providers are eager to save money by cutting costs and reducing unnecessary expenditures. However, many operators are hardly aware of SIM box fraudsters who grab away a relatively high percentage of their turnover.
“SIM box fraud is an increasing problem for network operators worldwide. We know from discussions with various operators that they lose a share up to 6% revenues - according to experienced data after testing SIM box fraud with customers in our subsidiaries - of their voice revenue unknowingly with SIM box fraudsters” says Stefan Amon, Director Wholesale at Telekom Austria Group. At the same time SIM box fraud also affects end customers, since the call quality decreases and customer complaints increase. To solve this problem Telekom Austria Group has developed its own active SIM Box Detection Service, which protects against all types of SIM box fraud with their own global testing infrastructure. Today, Telekom Austria Group has launched the service within its eight operating countries, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Republic of Serbia, Republic of Macedonia, Belarus and Liechtenstein.
What is SIM box fraud?SIM box fraud has a widespread and extensive impact on all operators, because SIM box fraudsters create a new unsafe route for calls that bypasses the operator’s regular interconnection. This means that the call is delivered through the SIM box and the operator loses the call's revenue without even noticing. The fraudsters on the other hand stay invisible since their SIM card traffic appears like the traffic of a normal end-customer. Besides the negative financial impact, SIM boxes have also bad influence on the image of any operator, resulting in end customers´ complaints and the decrease of customer satisfaction. This issue might result in a poor quality (e.g. long call set-up time), recall and voice mail functionalities might be jeopardized, the CLI (Calling Line Identification) might be wrong or missing at all.
Four types of SIM box fraud have been classified:
- International SIM box fraud, where international incoming voice traffic is illegally terminated by using a SIM Box located in the termination country with a national tariff.
- National SIM box fraud with national incoming voice traffic being illegally terminated by using a national SIM Box with a national tariff.
- International incoming voice traffic, generated by roaming end customers in a foreign country, is illegally terminated by using a SIM Box located in the end customer’s home country with a national tariff, leading to Roaming SIM box fraud.
- With the Transit SIM box fraud, international transit voice traffic is illegally forwarded by using a SIM Box located in the transit country with an international tariff.
Fighting SIM box fraud with the smartest SIM Box Detection Service“In order to detect SIM box fraud the Telekom Austria Group has more than 1,000 testing routes around the globe and uses different testing algorithms. Furthermore we have a specialized and well trained service team to fight systematic SIM box fraud in the customers’ networks. The service consists of customized testing, detecting and reporting. Detailed analysis and consulting services help to minimize the future risk of SIM box fraud”, explains Stefan Amon.
Telekom Austria Group’s SIM Box Detection Service has been developed based on its core competence of having experience with both retail and wholesale customers. Also the group’s local subsidiaries have been involved in the product development process, which granted a maximum in terms of know-how transfer. SIM Box Detection Service is able to identify different SIM box fraud types efficiently, due to the global testing infrastructure.
Please find pictures, logo and video under:Picture Stefan AmonPicture SIM Box DetectionVideo SIM Box Detection ServiceAbout Telekom Austria Group WholesaleThe Telekom Austria Group is Austria’s leading provider of telecommunication services. It is an integrated, convergent provider of intelligent information and communications services and a leader in CEE. The portfolio covers voice, data, IP services, global satellite communications and mobile solutions. The Group also provides longtime expert know-how, flexible and tailor-made solutions and prompt troubleshooting for Roaming, Signaling Solutions, GRX/IPX Service and Fraud Detection.
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wholesale.telekomaustria.comNotes to the EditorIndividuals or organizations purchase hundreds of SIM cards offering free or low cost calls to mobile numbers. These are being used to channel calls away from mobile network operators and have them as local calls on their networks, which means that mobile operators lose significant call revenues, up to 6% revenues. Fraudsters together with partners abroad, route international calls through the internet using VoIP and terminate those calls through a local phone number abroad to make it appear as if the call was a local call. These frauds directly harm mobile operators: instead of earning the regular price of an international incoming call, they only earn the price of a local call.