Zain Sudan Rebuilds Wireless Business in Record Time with CSG
Zain Sudan, a key player in the Middle East and North African wireless market, trusted CSG to recover its services after a recent data centre outage caused by ongoing conflict. Utilizing CSG's USSD Gateway solution, Zain Sudan managed to reestablish essential services within 21 days, enabling customers to manage plans and check balances promptly. This rapid response helped Zain Sudan maintain its market leadership, achieving 5.7 million balance enquiries and 4.7 million plan purchases daily. CSG's swift action minimized revenue loss and enhanced customer experience during a time of crisis.
- Zain Sudan restored services in less than 21 days after a major data centre outage.
- The company achieved 5.7 million daily balance enquiries and 4.7 million daily plan purchases post-recovery.
- CSG's USSD Gateway solution helped Zain Sudan quickly regain revenue.
- Customer experience was significantly improved despite the crisis.
- Zain Sudan maintained its market leadership in the region.
- The data centre outage caused by the ongoing conflict initially halted all services in Sudan.
- Dependence on USSD channels highlights potential vulnerabilities in data services availability.
- The crisis caused a temporary loss of revenue until services were restored.
Insights
Rebuilding a wireless network swiftly after a data center outage is no small feat. The implementation of CSG's USSD Gateway solution demonstrates impressive technical agility and robustness. The fact that Zain Sudan managed to process 5.7 million balance inquiries and 4.7 million plan purchases daily shortly after the outage underscores the system's capability.
Understanding Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) can be important here. USSD is a communication protocol used by GSM cellular telephones to communicate with the service provider's computers. It is particularly valuable in regions with limited internet access, as it doesn't require an active data connection. Thus, it was essential for Zain Sudan to restore this service immediately.
The speed and efficiency with which CSG deployed the USSD Gateway indicate that the technology infrastructure is resilient and scalable. This could set a new industry standard for disaster recovery in telecoms, especially in emerging markets.
From a financial perspective, the quick recovery of Zain Sudan's wireless business is noteworthy. The outage posed a significant risk of revenue loss, given the halt in B2C and B2B transactions. However, the prompt action by CSG to restore the USSD gateway likely mitigated substantial financial impacts.
For investors, the ability to bounce back in less than 21 days signals operational resilience and effective crisis management. It likely saved Zain Sudan from extended revenue losses and potential customer churn. The reported statistics of daily balance inquiries and plan purchases suggest that customer engagement levels returned to normal swiftly, meaning revenue streams were quickly restored.
Moreover, CSG’s demonstrated capability could encourage further business from other telecom operators in similar regions, potentially boosting CSG's market position and financial performance as well.
The successful collaboration between Zain Sudan and CSG holds broader implications for the telecom industry. In markets like Sudan, where internet penetration is still growing, USSD remains a critical tool for customer engagement. This incident highlights the importance of having robust disaster recovery strategies and partner ecosystems in place.
For market analysts, the incident underscores the demand for resilient and agile tech solutions in emerging markets. It also suggests a growing reliance on global tech partners who can deliver rapid solutions during crises. This not only helps maintain service continuity but also protects customer trust and market share.
In the long term, this could influence market dynamics, where telecom operators might prioritize partnerships with tech firms known for quick and effective disaster recovery capabilities. This incident might also catalyze tech firms to innovate and enhance their offerings to meet these critical needs.
Re-connects the people of
“The USSD channel is crucial for Zain Sudan customers to stay connected. When our data centre went down, we needed to quickly reestablish this channel to minimise disruption for our customers,” said Emad Elsheikh, CTO, Zain Sudan. “The way CSG helped us overcome this outage set a new standard for collaboration and trust. From the challenges we faced re-engaging with customers to delivering the uninterrupted services we’re known for, the CSG team surpassed our expectations of what was possible. Within a few days of launching CSG's USSD Gateway solution, we were back on our feet, receiving 5.7 million balance enquiries and 4.7 million plan purchases daily. This wouldn’t have been possible without CSG."
In emerging markets, like
“Managing a large-scale subscriber base during times of conflict is a tough task for any operator,” said Mayoor Mahendra, VP of Networks Solutions, CSG. “After Zain Sudan’s data centre went down, CSG jumped into action to configure Zain’s essential services onto our USSD gateway. The speed and agility with which our team responded is what it means to be customer obsessed. By putting our customer first, CSG helped Zain Sudan minimise revenue loss and boost the customer experience.”
Get the facts on CSG USSD Gateway’s capabilities and how the solution can help reduce churn.
About CSG
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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240610710054/en/
Kristine Østergaard
Public Relations
+44 (0)79 2047 7204
kristine.ostergaard@csgi.com
John Rea
Investor Relations
+1 (210) 687-4409
john.rea@csgi.com
Source: CSG
FAQ
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