This IDC study analyzes the role of billing mediation. It provides an overview of convergent billing and the EU data retention directive to describe where mediation fits for today's service providers. Emerging efforts to collect network data for use in information management systems are also discussed. "As service providers and their partners work to transform infrastructures and business processes, there are many issues emerging around data management. Convergent mediation is relevant to both billing strategies and data management strategies," said Elisabeth Rainge, director, NGN Operations.