Antel

CGI the Right Call for Uruguay’s Phone Company

When Uruguay’s state-owned phone company faced the possible opening of its market to competition, it knew it had to gear up quickly. With unpredictable delays for new lines, and a host of non-integrated systems, the phone company was concerned that it might start hearing about more nimble competitors. So they chose CGI to create an all-encompassing Customer Care and Billing system that is now one of the most modern in the world.

The Challenge
Uruguay’s national telephone company, Antel, offers a full range of telecommunications services, from basic local and long distance to cellular and Internet access.

Until the early 1990’s, Antel was like many other state monopolies: just a little sleepy. But Antel got a wakeup call in 1992, when a national referendum asked whether to deregulate the telecom sector. Although the question was defeated, the company knew that times had changed, and it had to make a commitment to modernize.

At the time, Antel’s customer service and billing was handled by a host of different systems that could not connect readily to one another. When a new customer ordered a phone line, the company couldn’t say exactly when the new line would be in service: it might be any time from a month to a year in the future. Market penetration of phone lines was low. Antel’s systems were not Y2K-compatible. And with deregulation on the horizon, Antel was vulnerable to any competitor who could provide faster, more responsive customer service.

The Strategy
To help integrate and modernize its customer care systems, Antel selected CGI. With CGI’s deep expertise in the telecom sector, it was a good call.

CGI suggested its Telelink “Telephone Company in a Box” to bring together Antel’s different systems. And CGI was willing to form joint development team and transfer knowledge to Antel’s technical staff, since the phone company was considering maintaining this application by itself.
Starting in 1994, a joint team of 80 Antel and CGI developers began to customize every part of Telelink to fit Antel’s requirements.

“This wasn’t just the replacement of an application one for one,” notes Pat McGoey, CGI’s Telelink Development Project Manager. “We brought in a fully-integrated customer care system that replaced many of Antel’s existing systems.”

Re-engineering Antel’s business processes, plus converting all its customer files to the new system, while keeping its operations working was a big challenge. But great rapport between the two partners and regular meetings to monitor progress kept communications clear as a bell.

The Technology

• Application: Telelink Customer Care and Billing System, completely customized to provide Customer Care, Service Orders, Inside/Outside Plant Assignment, Security and Work Force Management, Billing, Accounts Receivable, and Collections
• Architecture: Client/server system with IBM mainframe running MVS and DB2 supporting Windows NT or OS/2 workstations
• Development Tools: COBOL, SAS, DB2, Visual Basic
• Users: 600

The Results
Antel now has one of the most advanced customer care and billing systems in the world.

“With the implementation of CGI’s Telelink, Antel is in an excellent position to supply improved services and billing, and face any competition that comes along,” says Antel Project Coordinator, Carlos Garcia Montaner.

Supported by their new system, Antel’s business is booming. Lines are up from 400,000 in 1995 to more than 1 million today. Market penetration has dramatically increased, with 32 lines per 100 people, compared to less than 10 for Uruguay’s neighbours. And nearly every new line is installed promptly within 30 days.

“Uruguay has the best service indicators in Latin America today,” notes Claude Vendette, CGI’s VP, Business Development for the region. “But they could never have supported all this new business with the applications they had.”

Happy with their success, Antel has retained CGI to maintain the Telelink system. And if deregulation ever does hit their business, they are all ready for it.