Welcome to the third edition of Telco 2.0™ Update, the newsletter of the global Telco 2.0™ Initiative:
- 60% of Operators Have Sub-Optimal Strategies, Says Telco 2.0™ Survey
- Interoperable Services: Expensive, Fragmented and Limited?
- 'Abundance-Pricing' vs Value-Based Pricing
- Licensed Spectrum Weakening as a Barrier to Entry
- BT Diversifies into Financial Services
- Interest Mounts in Telco 2.0™ Industry Brainstorm, 27-29 March, London
60% of Operators Have Sub-Optimal Strategies, Says Telco 2.0™ Survey
Over 550 people from around the world took part in the Telco 2.0 Trends Survey in November. We will be releasing detailed results via 'Telco 2.0 Insider' in January. As part of the survey we asked respondents to review 5 strategies that operators could adopt to succeed in an IP-based world. Only 37% of operators were perceived to have a ‘strong’ strategy... (Read More)
Interoperable Services: Expensive, Fragmented and Limited?
The GSM Association has recently conducted research on which services end-users most value. It is clear that content continues to NOT be king. 3GPP2 are trying to define new IM and real-time services, and features like multimedia ringback tones. Operators will deploy these, some successfully, but the standards effort seems disproportionate to the rewards. The real opportunity, we feel, lies in creating ‘networks of compatibility’ rather than ‘networks of connectivity’. (Read More)
'Abundance-Pricing' vs Value-Based Pricing
If there’s one thing telcos are indisputably king-of-the-hill at doing, it’s value-based pricing and tariff obfuscation. Even the airlines with their sophisticated yield management systems and variable pricing don’t come close. Telco bundles are deliberately fiendish to compare and the services are diverse. Unfortunately, we believe this skill will decline in importance in a Telco 2.0 world, where abundance, flat-rates and low internal costs of sales, billing and support are key themes... (Read More)
Licensed Spectrum Weakening as a Barrier to Entry
A common view held by the mobile industry is that ownership of licensed spectrum gives mobile operators an unassailable advantage over internet players. This is clearly true to a degree — and certainly from a historical perspective – but our belief is that whilst licensed spectrum remains a barrier to entry, it is increasingly wrong to assume that this is going to result in strong shareholder returns. (Read More)
BT Diversifies into Financial Services
At the last Telco 2.0 Industry Brainstorm in October Gordon Smillie, in charge of the Portfolio Strategy at BT Group, told us about the challenges in planning diversification strategies. So it’s nice to see BT’s entry into the consumer Financial Services market with a new credit card offering. (Read More)
Interest Mounts in Telco 2.0™ Industry Brainstorm, 27-29 March, London
We’re delighted that Operators, Media Companies and Vendors are queuing up to take part in next Telco 2.0™ Industry Brainstorm in March. As our survey shows, we need some new thinking on business models, service portfolio planning and NGN architecture. We need to start considering our role in end-user markets much more creatively. And we need a forum that allows an open and focused interactive debate, not more ‘Death By Powerpoint’. (Read More) |
