In 2019, Mobile Vikings evolved from a Light MVNO to a Full MVNO. This transition implied a lot more data that needed to be managed. Vectr.Consulting supported this migration:

  • We built a scalable big data system that enables Mobile Vikings to extract value from their data.

  • We linked this system to a dashboard.

  • Analysts can request near real-time reports via this dashboard.

  • Stakeholders use the dashboard to request financial reports and to gain insights into the usage of roaming.

  • Trends, new use cases and innovation projects are detected and discovered from the data.

“We have to deal with a lot more data now that we’re a Full MVNO. Thanks to the cooperation with Vectr we are now able to extract, analyse and report valuable insights.”

— Nathalie Beckers, Telco Billing and Reporting lead at Mobile Vikings

Who is Mobile Vikings? Mobile Vikings nv is the subsidiary of DPG Media that manages the mobile operators Mobile Vikings and JIM Mobile. Until recently, Mobile Vikings only provided the business support of both telecom brands, for the actual network implementation it worked together with the BASE / Telenet group. It currently makes use of Orange Belgium’s network.

To answer the needs of its growing community, Mobile Vikings chose the path of freedom (e.g. in creating their offers and services, or by implementing a new CRM) and evolved into a Full MVNO. This transformation comprised many aspects, and also implied a lot more data that needs to be managed and processed.

  • “How can we develop a system that captures value from our data?”
  •  Our approach: from business understanding to building a big data architecture

1. business understanding: dive in the business case

A Light MVNO focuses on marketing, sales and customer care. Dealing with huge amounts of data is not a part of its daily routine. This in contrast to a Full MVNO, that deals with big data on a daily basis. Through its network, it registers millions of call detail records per day that need to be processed and analysed.

 To this end, Mobile Vikings needed a platform built from a big data perspective, providing the user with near real-time info. A near real-time indication of what’s happening on the network is crucial for analysts who want to optimize their services.

2. build the big data system

The main challenge in creating this big data system is the amount of data, its visualisation and the privacy challenges.

  • We set up a data architecture and developed an event-driven system capable of processing 240,000 cdr’s per second. This architecture is scalable for future needs and prepared to manage even bigger loads.

  • Data stream monitoring, financial reporting and dashboarding are some of the features that are linked  to the big data system.

  • In order to be compliant with privacy regulations, we developed and implemented a robust GDPR- architecture into our big data system.

3. A big data architecture stroking with the vision of Mobile Vikings.

“How does our system support Mobile Vikings as a Full MVNO?”

Analysts know what is happening on their network by analysing reports aggregated from the data. Some use cases are: gaining insights into roaming usage or being able to generate financial reports.

Mobile Vikings is able to anticipate future trends and be a pioneer for setting up innovate projects that really matter as they are data-driven, based on consumer behaviour and needs.

4. Technologies

Finally, let’s dive into our technology cocktail that made this project possible.