Jorn Vercamert is vice president of communications solutions at BICS, an international communications enabler headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The company focuses on providing global mobile connectivity to more than 150 million devices, as well as seamless roaming experiences with 50% of the world’s data roaming traffic flowing over BICS’ network. BICS also provides fraud prevention and authentication, as well as other services, from global messaging to the Internet of Things (IoT).
Vercamert started his career at BICS in 1998 as a voice buying manager and, in 2004, was appointed as regional vice president in charge of business development in Southern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. After successfully growing BICS’ footprint in that region, he relocated to Switzerland in 2007 where he was appointed as managing director for BICS Switzerland, overseeing activities in Central and Eastern Europe. He moved back to BICS headquarters in 2011, at which time he took his current role in charge of operating and growing the BICS voice product portfolio.
With voice revenues declining and messaging under pressure from overthe-top (OTT) services, the traditional telecoms market is transforming to address new opportunities and to emphasise the value of its secure and trusted infrastructure. This is providing wholesale carriers with a new role and emphasis in the communications market, he tells Trending Tech managing editor George Malim
George Malim: How would you describe the stability of the voice market and what are the main issues and challenges currently impacting mobile operators?
Jorn Vercamert: It’s no secret that voice volumes have been declining and revenues have been decreasing over the years due to the competition from OTTs. Consequently, operators are taking an opportunity to really reflect on their strategies around international voice, looking at ways to recapture revenue and improve customer experience.
Increasing efficiency is one challenge that mobile operators need to focus on, however, they must never lose sight of another challenge which has been present in the telecoms industry for years: fraud. There are tools and technologies available to help mitigate fraud, and operators must ensure they continue to invest and work together to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.