Since the digital revolution and the Cloud, telecom operators are facing new demands from consumers. In response, key topics are emerging such as OTT, Big Data and Business Intelligence.
How can these new challenges be tackled? We provide you with some answers.
The new challenges of telecoms
For a few years now, the environment in which telecom operators operate has profoundly changed and continues this trend. The digitalization of the economy has brought new modes of consumption.
Telecoms must strengthen their efforts, on one hand to be high-speed connection providers, and on the other hand to offer real support to their users. To achieve these objectives, operators must rely on a strategy of diversification and offer services adapted to meet market demand.
Telecom operators must now focus on the following issues:
- Offer a quality network (4G, 5G, ...) at a price defying all competition
- Leverage data while respecting confidentiality constraints to improve the customer experience
- Provide new services by positioning itself on the OTT (Over The Top) market
- Improve customer knowledge to offer the most appropriate solution at the right time (anticipation of churn, up-sell, cross-sell)
- Optimize operational efficiency (such as call center costs)
Conquering the 5G
Since the end of September 2020, the auction for the 5G frequency allocation has been closed.
During this last round, Bouygues Telecom requested 2 blocks, Free Mobile positioned itself on 2, Orange 4 blocks, and finally SFR requested 3 blocks. Thus, the four candidates have committed to pay a total of 2.786 billion euros for the 310 MHz to be allocated.
The stakes are tremendous for the major French telecommunications groups: the debit war goes along with new uses. In this respect, 5G should enable users of the mobile telephony network to access new services thanks to the ultra-fast transfer of large amounts of data.
It will also enable them to benefit from very high speed broadband, since it will be 10 times faster than 4G. The same goes for the data sending time or the simultaneous connection of several devices, which will be more efficient and faster. Among the uses that the 5G will revolutionize are :
- Access to streaming video services will be much easier with connections in a wider variety of locations (transportation, airplane...) and with better image quality.
- Networked video games via the cloud will be more easily accessible.
- The more precise geolocation will also allow GPS to offer improved services.
- Connected objects, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI) should be impacted by this new era.
We are also thinking about the use of virtual reality headsets with much better image resolutions (4K minimum) for an enriched user experience.
The importance of Data
To meet the data challenges and anticipate market demands, operators are turning to Big Data and Business Intelligence solutions, which have become fairly standardized but have only recently been used in the telecoms industry.
Collecting and analyzing customer data and decision support tools are the watchwords to remain innovative and improve the customer experience.
To provide a powerful solution to its users, an operator must have a global vision of the customer journey in terms of web browsing, downloads, missed calls, but also on line congestion and network performance.
Above all, it is a question of identifying the most relevant information about user behavior in order to offer a quality service. Analytical solutions have a real impact on retention and churn and therefore on operator’s revenue.
By positioning themselves on these solutions, telecom operators will benefit from technologies that can be quickly adjusted to the needs of information collection, processing and analysis.
Voice assistants, a precious help
In addition to creating their own voice assistants, Free, Orange and SFR recently decided to integrate the one created by Jeff Bezos. After associating her mailbox with her Amazon account, Alexa can control the connected devices in the house, play music or check the weather.
By combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) and centralized decision making with intelligent automation, telecom operators have the ability to analyze data from all channels. This enables them to understand and anticipate what customers really want, then apply this information in real time to personalize the service and add value to every interaction.
As you can see, in order to meet the challenge of rising customer expectations, optimizing experiences is a key element to stand out from the crowd.
OTT to capture a new audience
The historic "triple play" formulas which include Internet, fixed telephony and the TV channel package, are today competing with the OTT mastodons who broadcast thousands of video contents: films, series, cartoons, TV programs, etc. on demand.
Operators are reacting by revamping "double play" packages that exclude the TV bouquet and/or developing their own OTT video-on-demand service with their own catalog.
To do this, "operators are looking to play both sides of the fence by offering their traditional services to content owners and OTT players, while seeking to become content owners and aggregators in their own name," as George Malim points out in an article for the IBC How telcos are pushing into content.
Launching its VOD service with a remuneration model in SVOD, TVOD or AVOD, allows you to reach a new audience thanks to exclusive content, viewable on demand and on any type of media.
To stay in the race, operators, for whom digital transformation has become the norm, need flexible platforms that can support current systems and adapt to new features.
As a result, more and more operators are complementing their offering with an experience-centric OTT video service using new business intelligence and data analysis tools.
These functionalities enable the collection of viewing and sales statistical data: best sellers, directors, categories or even tracking subscriptions, orders, turnover... All this information and much more, allows the user to make the best decisions for his business both in terms of marketing and content strategy.
In conclusion
The challenge for operators today is centered on offering new, high value-added services, promoting an improved user experience to retain their subscriber base and win over new generations. Generations that will become their customers of tomorrow in this new on-demand economy.
If you too need to reinvent yourself and complement an existing service, our modular solution can meet your needs. Do not hesitate to contact us.