Dave explains how UK telcos could use the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and why other nations are adopting similar laws.

Rene explains his goals for the TM Forum RA team and calls on the TMF to focus on the needs of practitioners.

Telcos execute test calls for many reasons, but RA splits between those who make many test calls, and those making none. We grilled SIGOS about how to get good value from RA TCGs.

The Chair of the Risk & Assurance Group discusses why the event is growing in popularity and how to take it further.

For podcast #23, Shankar Palaniandy of FRS Labs told us why his fraud solution learns from experience, instead of following rules.

In episode 22 of the podcast, Jan Vervloet of LATRO explains why fraudsters increasingly use SIM servers and why telcos should analyze network protocol signatures.

Jan Dingenouts, international fraud expert, explains how telcos can cooperate to reduce fraud.

Stephen Ornadel of iconectiv discusses the extent of fraud involving international calls, and how this can be tackled with improved management of number ranges.

Mike Willett turns the tables on Eric Priezkalns, asking Eric about his career in telecoms and why he started blogging.

I was very impressed by the quality of the presentations given at the Subex User Conference. There was a lot of straight talk from Subex's customers, identifying and explaining how their assurance teams were analysing data in ways that move beyond the traditional aims of revenue assurance and fraud management. In that vein, a top-notch panel discussed the potential of what is variously called asset management, or asset assurance. Put simply, the idea is to enhance and exploit data about network assets, in order to reduce costs and improve returns on investment. It was my privilege to moderate the panel, which included:

James Lester, Finance Director of Telstra Global;

Steve Cotton, Director of Business Assurance Programs for the TM Forum; and

John Brooks, Leader of the TM Forum's Asset Management Team, and Vice President responsible for Product Management at Subex.

As James pointed out, the value added by improved asset management is very significant, making it a must-do activity for any telco wanting to boost profitability. Even if your company has not previously considered the benefits of assuring the use network assets, I recommend you listen to our discussion, which the participants kindly agreed to share with talkRA. You can play the recording via your browser, or download the mp3 file from here.

Also, it is worth taking a look at the work being done by the TM Forum's Asset Management community. They are in the process of writing guidelines for asset policies, and the tracking of assets.

And if you want to be sure that you will never miss a talkRA podcast, you can always subscribe to the talkRA podcast via iTunes.