1、 International Telecommunication Union ITU-T D.195TELECOMMUNICATION STANDARDIZATION SECTOR OF ITU Supplement 3(05/2013) SERIES D: GENERAL TARIFF PRINCIPLES General tariff principles Service and privilege telecommunications Time-scale for settlement of accounts for international telecommunication ser
2、vices Prepayment guidelines Recommendation ITU-T D.195 Supplement 3 ITU-T D-SERIES RECOMMENDATIONS GENERAL TARIFF PRINCIPLES TERMS AND DEFINITIONS D.0 GENERAL TARIFF PRINCIPLES Private leased telecommunication facilities D.1D.9 Tariff principles applying to data communication services over dedicated
3、 public data networks D.10D.39 Charging and accounting in the international public telegram service D.40D.44 Charging and accounting in the international telemessage service D.45D.49 Principles applicable to GII-Internet D.50D.59 Charging and accounting in the international telex service D.60D.69 Ch
4、arging and accounting in the international facsimile service D.70D.75 Charging and accounting in the international videotex service D.76D.79 Charging and accounting in the international phototelegraph service D.80D.89 Charging and accounting in the mobile services D.90D.99 Charging and accounting in
5、 the international telephone service D.100D.159 Drawing up and exchange of international telephone and telex accounts D.160D.179 International sound- and television-programme transmissions D.180D.184 Charging and accounting for international satellite services D.185D.189 Transmission of monthly inte
6、rnational accounting information D.190D.191 Service and privilege telecommunications D.192D.195Settlement of international telecommunication balances of accounts D.196D.209 Charging and accounting principles for international telecommunication services provided over the ISDN D.210D.269 Charging and
7、accounting principles for next generation networks (NGN) D.270D.279 Charging and accounting principles for universal personal telecommunication D.280D.284 Charging and accounting principles for intelligent network supported services D.285D.299 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REGIONAL APPLICATION Recommendations
8、 applicable in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin D.300D.399 Recommendations applicable in Latin America D.400D.499 Recommendations applicable in Asia and Oceania D.500D.599 Recommendations applicable to the African Region D.600D.699 For further details, please refer to the list of ITU-T Recommendat
9、ions. Rec. ITU-T D.195/Suppl.3 (05/2013) i Recommendation ITU-T D.195 Time-scale for settlement of accounts for international telecommunication services Supplement 3 Prepayment guidelines Summary Supplement 3 to Recommendation ITU-T D.195 is intended to assist interested telecommunication operators
10、in developing prepayment guidelines. Since an operators decision to establish prepayment mechanisms is an internal commercial matter, the guidelines in the present supplement are voluntary and meant to be illustrative in nature. Their objective is to help operators formulate new (or update existing)
11、 prepayment guidelines according to their needs and to promote efficiency in account management. History Edition Recommendation Approval Study Group 1.0 ITU-T D.195 2003-11-21 3 2.0 ITU-T D.195 2006-06-27 3 3.0 ITU-T D.195 2008-04-04 3 4.0 ITU-T D.195 2011-04-01 3 5.0 ITU-T D.195 2012-11-20 3 5.1 IT
12、U-T D.195 Suppl. 1 2013-05-31 3 5.2 ITU-T D.195 Suppl. 2 2013-05-31 3 5.3 ITU-T D.195 Suppl. 3 2013-05-31 3 ii Rec. ITU-T D.195/Suppl.3 (05/2013) FOREWORD The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency in the field of telecommunications, information and comm
13、unication technologies (ICTs). The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is a permanent organ of ITU. ITU-T is responsible for studying technical, operating and tariff questions and issuing Recommendations on them with a view to standardizing telecommunications on a worldwide basis. T
14、he World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA), which meets every four years, establishes the topics for study by the ITU-T study groups which, in turn, produce Recommendations on these topics. The approval of ITU-T Recommendations is covered by the procedure laid down in WTSA Resolution
15、 1. In some areas of information technology which fall within ITU-Ts purview, the necessary standards are prepared on a collaborative basis with ISO and IEC. NOTE In this publication, the expression Administration is used for conciseness to indicate both a telecommunication administration and a reco
16、gnized operating agency. Compliance with this publication is voluntary. However, the publication may contain certain mandatory provisions (to ensure, e.g., interoperability or applicability) and compliance with the publication is achieved when all of these mandatory provisions are met. The words sha
17、ll or some other obligatory language such as must and the negative equivalents are used to express requirements. The use of such words does not suggest that compliance with the publication is required of any party. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ITU draws attention to the possibility that the practice
18、 or implementation of this publication may involve the use of a claimed Intellectual Property Right. ITU takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of claimed Intellectual Property Rights, whether asserted by ITU members or others outside of the publication development proc
19、ess. As of the date of approval of this publication, ITU had not received notice of intellectual property, protected by patents, which may be required to implement this publication. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information and are therefore strongly urge
20、d to consult the TSB patent database at http:/www.itu.int/ITU-T/ipr/. ITU 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the prior written permission of ITU. Rec. ITU-T D.195/Suppl.3 (05/2013) iii Table of Contents Page 1 Introduction 1 1.1
21、Objective and scope 1 1.2 Benefits of standardizing prepayment guidelines . 1 1.3 What is a prepayment option? 1 1.4 Key factors driving prepayment . 1 1.5 Key objectives of prepayment 1 1.6 Prepayment principles 2 1.7 Core activities and key responsibilities 2 1.8 Measurable goals 3 2 Prepayment gu
22、idelines 3 2.1 A well-defined credit policy . 3 2.2 Policy on credit extension 3 2.3 Various prepayment thresholds 3 2.4 Prepayment options 4 2.5 Background workings for daily monitoring . 4 2.6 Effective communication system . 5 2.7 Internal decision making 5 2.8 Continuous review of prepayment cus
23、tomers 5 2.9 Contents of the master agreement 6 2.10 Advantages of prepayment option 6 2.11 Disadvantages of prepayment option . 6 2.12 Best practices for accounts receivable (AR), credit and collections management 6 2.13 Other considerations . 8 3 A quick-step guide on prepayment . 8 Rec. ITU-T D.1
24、95/Suppl.3 (05/2013) 1 Recommendation ITU-T D.195 Time-scale for settlement of accounts for international telecommunication services Supplement 3 Prepayment guidelines 1 Introduction 1.1 Objective and scope The objective of this supplement is to assist interested telecommunication operators in devel
25、oping prepayment guidelines. These guidelines are voluntary and illustrative. An operators decision to establish prepayment mechanisms is an internal business matter, and the commercial terms between operators are mutually agreed. 1.2 Benefits of standardizing prepayment guidelines The guidelines ar
26、e envisioned to bring the following benefits to telecommunication operators: Help in formulating a set of guidelines (if none is yet in place) according to their needs, or in reviewing or enhancing their existing policy according to current prepayment policies; Ensuring efficiency in managing accoun
27、ts. 1.3 What is a prepayment option? Prepayment is an option to do business with a set of operators where the default risk is high and there is a huge opportunity for potential business. This option covers the activities undertaken by a seller in seeking prepayment for services to be provided to a c
28、ustomer, inclusive of restricting, suspending or disconnecting access to the service if the prepayment is exhausted and not replenished in time. 1.4 Key factors driving prepayment The key factors driving prepayment are, but not limited to, the following: Directly tapping the source of traffic, like
29、calling-card operators and/or traffic aggregators Risk appetite of the business owners Bargaining power of buyer and seller Tools and resources to handle prepayment customers Mutual support and cooperation between sales and settlements team Market intelligence. 1.5 Key objectives of prepayment The k
30、ey objectives of the prepayment option are, but not limited to, the following: Tapping the source of traffic and eliminating the middlemen Eliminating risk of default by small operators with potential business Maximizing sales and profits Trade-off in accounts receivable 2 Rec. ITU-T D.195/Suppl.3 (
31、05/2013) Reducing overall financial exposure in business Minimizing bad debt losses. 1.6 Prepayment principles Sound prepayment principles revolve around the following: Strong presales and supporting agreements All available sources of credit information must be tapped and utilized to obtain a prope
32、r estimation of the credit risk. Agreements should state clearly the agreed process of controlling utilization, such as threshold limits, escalations, etc. Estimation All variables related to estimating prepayment amounts should be worked out beforehand. Variables include (but are not limited to): e
33、ngineered capacity settlement rate peak daily offered load of generated traffic offered load of received traffic lead time to obtain the payment credits weekends, public and bank holidays number of access lines capacity per access line, e.g., 2 Mbit/s for E1 systems anticipated changes to engineered
34、 capacity (for the purpose of accurate prepayment estimation, possible future modification of the engineered capacity should be taken into consideration). Enforcement Providing customers with timely traffic and prepayment utilization reports as agreed Respecting the agreed threshold and escalations
35、levels Accurate calculations, account updating and daily monitoring Trending and mapping abnormal behaviours Communication timing and full control of communication channels. Cooperation between sales and settlements team Speedy and free-flowing communication between the teams Sensing customer behavi
36、our during follow-ups Ready to take quick decisions in full coordination Mutual understanding on response timings. 1.7 Core activities and key responsibilities Mapping prepayment terms in agreement with the customer Daily exposure monitoring Follow-up for further top-ups Periodical traffic declarati
37、ons Timely and real time account updating Rec. ITU-T D.195/Suppl.3 (05/2013) 3 Constant touch with customer on prepayment logistics Speedy resolution of billing disputes Market intelligence Management reporting (top management and internal customers within sales, billing and settlements, accounting,
38、 operations, etc.) Monitoring high value destinations. 1.8 Measurable goals Facility utilization by prepayment operators Incremental revenue Bad debt write-offs Number of days running without prepayment Accuracy in calculating daily usage and monitoring Market intelligence Days sales outstanding (DS
39、O) levels. 2 Prepayment guidelines 2.1 A well-defined credit policy A credit policy is a set of processes and procedures encompassing all the credit functions and activities of a business organization. 2.2 Policy on credit extension The amount of risk a carrier or seller is ready to take depends on
40、its market position. The market position should be the basis of the bargaining position. 2.3 Various prepayment thresholds Getting the prepayment thresholds right is the key to the success of the prepayment option. Depending on the risk capacity, the seller or service provider needs to clearly defin
41、e the following variables and their respective threshold: Engineered capacity activation: should be appropriate for the anticipated business; it is advised to avoid over-activation and under-utilization. Floor prepayment: should be defined on the basis of peak utilization per day/per E1. It should r
42、epresent the danger level for monitoring and blocking if the customer reaches this level of prepayment. Prepayment utilization: should have various threshold levels and clearly stated actions for when threshold levels are reached: for example, notifications at 70%, escalation at 80%, and blocking at
43、 95%. Lead time in payment credit: should be properly tested and defined to adapt to any payment-in-transit. Possibility of return traffic: the net utilization per day should be understood. Periodic declarations: should be properly agreed upon at the time of signing an agreement and adhered to for p
44、rovisional declarations and actual billing periods. Customer response time: gives the debtor administration a space to table any concerns from its side concerning such issues as short-time cash flow issues, unaddressed pending disputes, etc. 4 Rec. ITU-T D.195/Suppl.3 (05/2013) It is always advisabl
45、e that the various prepayment thresholds be clearly defined within the agreement so as to avoid any confusion at a later stage, stating the right to block with or without notice if utilization crosses 100% at any given point in time. 2.4 Prepayment options Prepayment can be exercised with various op
46、tions, depending on the buyers risk appetite, bargaining power, payment capacity and financial health. Options include the following: Prepayment model: prepayment stock is applied directly against invoices raised directly and topped up as per thresholds and agreement. Cash deposit: the customer pays
47、 a cash deposit, which is never applied to invoices raised. Payment is made by the buyer as a normal post-payment case within the payment period. Cash deposit is normally the function of the payment period and average net utilization per day. ESCROW accounts: US and European operators also work with
48、 ESCROW accounts as an option for dealing with prepayment operators. There are some other non-cash and less liquid options to work out on securitization, for example: Bank Guarantee: Instead of a cash deposit, a bank guarantee is furnished by the buyer from a banker acceptable to the service provide
49、r. Letter of Credit: It works in almost the same fashion as the bank guarantee. Combination: Depending on its financial situation, the service provider may dispose of different combinations of prepayment options and credit limits. It is always advisable that the agreed options be defined within the agreement to avoid any confusion at a later stage, with examples of calculations of the amount f
