Nilay Akdemir, Senior Director of Simon-Kucher & Partners Middle East talks about the evolving trends that are going to influence the telecom sector and highlights three areas for telecom operators needs to focus
Global mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, vendors, and content owners have converged at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC). With over 1,500 exhibitors and attendees from 150 countries attending this year, it’s the largest and most influential connectivity event in the world.
The telecommunications industry is undergoing dramatic changes. Customer pain points with speed and ease of access are being met with rapidly transformative digitized experiences and services, with a great focus on artificial intelligence (AI). The important trends, topics and ground-breaking products and technologies disclosed at MWC Barcelona are bound to set the benchmark of future connectivity.
We evaluated the following three areas for telecom operators to focus on in order to implement long-term strategies whilst remaining open to further trend shifts.
1. Creating Digital and Personalized Experiences
In today’s digital economy, new trends like digitization and artificial intelligence are becoming prerequisites for success. It’s expected that AI in telecom companies will be generating close to 11 billion dollars by 2025, and telecom operators will inevitably need to rethink their customer engagement and operating model so it’s fit for the digital and AI-driven era.
In the Middle East alone, smartphone penetration holds at 90%, with an estimation of the region reaching 95% by the end of this decade. 5G technology is an effective way for telecom operators to boost smartphone penetration and high-speed internet connections.
The opportunities telecom operators can grasp through digital engagement are boundless. In addition to digitizing products and services, introducing gamified experiences, new loyalty eco-systems to encourage customer adoption of digital channels, creating personalized experiences for customers with data insights, and so much more can be explored.
2. Improving the Quality of Networks and Services
The progression of the pandemic has proved customers to value good service and network quality over the price in their purchasing decisions. The global Customer Base Management Study conducted by strategy and marketing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners shows that in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), 73 per cent of customers state they value a fast internet connection the most. To uphold this clear demand, telecom operators must increase investment in the quality of their networks and services, or risk losing customers to competitors and becoming less attractive to prospective customers.
3. Investing in New Revenue Streams
This isn’t the first time telecom operators have seen their average revenue per user (ARPU) competition change. It happened when the market shifted from voice to data ten years ago, and it will probably happen again as new digital services dominate the market in the future. According to Global Mobile Trends, services outside of the core market already make up 20% of total revenues for the top telecom operators, including pay-TV, media, advertising, IoT, cloud, security, financial services, lifestyle products, and vertical industry solutions.
Ultimately, experimentation with implementing new ideas and technologies shouldn’t be shied away from in 2022. Now is the time for telecom operators to act and adapt based on their iterative findings. Doing so will only serve as a productive contribution to arriving at their north star. So why not trailblaze a bolder path?
