Global Voice Group Receives the Frost & Sullivan 2014 Best Practice Award for Its Innovative Governance Technologies Aimed at Telecom and Revenue Authorities in Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, February 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Global Voice Group has received the 2014 Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Award for its outstanding track record as a developer and provider of innovative telecom management and supervision technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents its Best Practices Award to the company that has demonstrated uniqueness in developing and leveraging new technologies, which significantly impacts both the functionality and the customer value of the new products and applications.

Based on the above-mentioned criteria, Frost & Sullivan has found in GVG the most deserving recipient for its 2014 Award for Telecommunications Management and Supervision Technology Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, GVG has developed unique management and supervision technologies specifically aimed at telecommunications regulators and revenue authorities. Unlike other monitoring solutions offered by IT providers who also - and most of the time primarily - market their products to industry players, GVG's have been designed for regulatory purposes only. The company's clientele is exclusively made of governments and regulatory bodies. This exclusivity is important since the solutions are precisely intended to independently audit and monitor the industry, without any potential conflict of interest.

For governments in emerging and developing countries, regulating the telecoms sector becomes increasingly difficult as the technological gap between the industry and the regulator is constantly increasing. In most cases, the sector is almost developing out of governments' sight and control, forcing the authorities to rely solely on the good will of all stakeholders and their self-declarations when it comes to revenue auditing, tax compliance, quality of service, fraudulent activities and other key issues. As the CEO of GVG, Mr. Patrice Baker, pointed out: "This lack of visibility has erected a wall between the regulator and the regulated. A huge wall with only a little slot through which partial and/or questionable info are passed to the regulator from time to time.  With its monitoring solutions, GVG cuts large windows into this wall, allowing the governments to see by themselves what is really going on out there."

The group's solutions are based on real-time data collection and mining. Since 1998, GVG has developed a unique expertise in the application of cutting-edge data network technologies to the regulation of the telecommunications sector, including mobile, fixed and IP-based voice and messaging services, data services and mobile money platforms.

Through its Electronic Fiscal Solution Division, the group has also extended its unique expertise to revenue authorities that need monitoring technologies to gather and process tax-related data in real-time. Their innovative approach addresses the issues that adversely impact on VAT and other tax revenue in Africa, such as the high cost of collection, the low level of compliance, and the prevalence of tax avoidance and evasion.

In both cases, GVG's solutions allow governments bodies to make a smooth transition from a paper-based approach to an electronic one, much more efficient, effective and reliable.

Frost & Sullivan's analysis also revealed the importance of customization in GVG's solutions. "Acknowledging that each country and its telecommunications regulatory authority has different needs, the company develops and designs customised technology to suit the specific regulatory requirements of each country," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Naila Govan-Vassen. "In addition to developing software, GVG also provides customers with industry-standard hardware and telecoms equipment to implement its service offerings."

GVG's innovative technologies have been implemented in many countries in Africa, including Tanzania, Rwanda, Liberia, Togo, Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea, Ghana, and the Central African Republic.

"Overall, GVG's solutions and tools enable both the operators and the regulatory authorities to optimise the revenues from the telecommunications industry," noted Mrs. Govan-Vassen. "They guarantee transparency and efficiency in international gateway monitoring; reduce fraud on international calls, and control network quality and integrity."

About Global Voice Group

Founded in 1998 and member of the International Telecommunications Union, GVG operates in many emerging and developing countries. A true pioneer and world leader in revenue assurance solutions, GVG provides regulatory authorities and tax administrations with cutting-edge systems to dramatically improve their performance in terms of revenue auditing, tax collection, quality of service monitoring, fraud management and other key areas.