TeleSign Acquisition Drives BICS’ Shift to Digital, Tackles Low ARPUs, Fraud and Cultural Gaps

BICS Extends into the Digital Realm with TeleSign Deal

Telecom operators, and even their parent companies, must diversify beyond shrinking voice revenues. According to Jeremy Cowan, this shift is no longer a surprise—it’s a critical evolution that presents complex challenges.

IoT Now spoke with Daniel Kurgan, CEO of BICS, and Stacy Stubblefield, co‑founder of TeleSign, to understand how the carrier is navigating this transformation. The acquisition, announced in April, is set to close in Q4 2017 and is worth US$230 million.

BICS is part of the €1.4 billion turnover Proximus group and is jointly owned by Swisscom and MTN. The privately held company operates a global network with 130 points of presence, carrying international traffic for operators worldwide.

“In 2012 we had to innovate beyond core transport to stay relevant,” says Kurgan. He explains that leveraging data flowing through the network allowed BICS to create services such as business intelligence, fraud prevention and analytics. Voice messaging is on the decline, so the company focused on expanding its customer base, product range, and geographic reach—especially in the United States.

Maintaining cash flow above €100 million annually is a significant achievement in today’s climate. Kurgan notes that BICS is focused on “selling reach,” being connected to more than 50 operators worldwide, while also pushing into the digital economy.

TeleSign, founded in California in 2005, pioneered 2‑factor authentication (2FA). It now claims to secure accounts for 20 of the world’s top 25 websites. Stubblefield highlights that the company offers more than SMS, including phone‑number risk assessment. They developed a phone‑identification score that flags whether a number is mobile, fixed, or VoIP, helping clients prevent fraud.

IoT Opens New Opportunities for Fraudsters

Stubblefield says that while customers seek new communication channels, IoT presents a growing threat from fraudsters. “We’ll always be in a catch‑up phase with fraudsters,” she notes, emphasizing the limited cross‑industry knowledge that creates exploitable gaps.

Before the acquisition, BICS was a TeleSign partner. Now they are assessing which global partners to continue working with, acknowledging that no single provider dominates all regions.

The first joint product, a voice‑communications tool enabling anonymous calls between two users—such as a taxi driver and passenger—is slated for release in Q4 2017.

Can Security Be Added to Data‑Driven Services?

IoT Now asked how to secure IoT services that were originally built for internal, more secure environments. Stubblefield answered that enterprises exposing services on the web must independently safeguard data, and that GDPR will enforce stricter compliance across Europe by May 2018.

Kurgan added that the TeleSign acquisition brings 500 digital platforms into BICS’s ecosystem, prompting the company to enhance API capabilities and strengthen its MVNE offering for MVNO clients, while maintaining its core telco DNA.

Regulated vs. Risk‑Averse: Cultural Collisions

Stubblefield explains that telcos are heavily regulated and risk‑averse, whereas West Coast web companies prioritize rapid deployment. Each side believes it adds greater value, but their approaches differ markedly.

When asked about restructuring for low ARPUs in IoT, Kurgan said the model is usage‑based: customers pay for data consumption, anticipating higher volume to offset low per‑user revenue.

(Also see: Increased concerns about online security have led to the adoption of two‑factor authentication and the growth of A2P SMS.)

Jeremy Cowan (pictured left), editorial director of VanillaPlus and IoT Now, interviewed Daniel Kurgan of BICS and Stacy Stubblefield of TeleSign.