Telecoms Cost Modelling & Accounting Conference in Hong Kong

I attended a conference in Hong Kong last month. We learned plenty of things from this seminar and it is something that you can’t find in any university textbooks. These sorts of literatures are usually in short supply as it is a highly specialized subject. I can say that those who gain the knowledge can consider themselves as a unique ‘community’. Telecoms cost accountant don’t usually belong to the mainstream accounting profession. The knowledge is not something that you can’t grasp in a short period and it requires a lot of industrial experience to be considered as an expert.

We had participants from all the continents and we shared issues from regulation to commercial practices. The main subject that we discussed was about building cost modeling capabilities for the Next Generation Network. By the end of the seminar, there were still arguments about what is the right approach in building the models. This is crucial as the models are usually used by the operators and the regulators either for service or product pricing. We argued about the right methodology and principles that should be applied when developing such model. Failing to adopt the right approach, the value that the industry should create cannot be achieved. We in Telsoft have our own methodology and one of the main reasons I went to this seminar is to see how the others are approaching this subject. Just to gauge how far the others are behind us! Hehehehe

Thank you Dr Jude for allowing us to attend this seminar. Pn Hairiah and Azhar from TM were there too and we made many new friends as well. I have a feeling that the next seminar will at least be attended by the same participants. Everyone is eager to learn from each other and many felt that the Telco industry in Malaysia is considered as advance. Competition is alive, technology proliferation is happening and Telco’s are announcing big profits on a quarterly basis. Many feel that this is healthy for the country. The question is, is it sustainable? If this is healthy, why then after more than 10 years of market liberalization, we are still stuck with the basic service of voice and sms’s? By this time, voice and sms should already be a complimentary revenue streams for Telcos and Data services should be Telco’s bread and butter. Hhmm….just hope things will change for the better.

This is what happens when you leave Mafiz 7 days in Hk!..hehehe

We had a great time in HK as HK was on sale last month. I’ve never had this shopping experience before. We didn’t get to see much of the tourist sites as we were very busy ‘touring’ the malls. HK is a very vibrant city. Everything moves fast including the escalators! Transportation in HK is very efficient and they serve different segment of the commuters. I thought the MRT in Singapore carries long carriages of passengers, but the one in HK by far, the longest I’ve seen so far. Prices of goods are expensive but their citizens can afford them as their GDP per capita is 3 to 4 times higher than Malaysia. HK is known to have the highest concentration of Rolls Royce car owners in the world. On the road, Merc and BMW brands are considered as their staple choice. Pastu keta dia semua berkilat saje! I saw many Mazda6 too! hehehe