Time to wake a sleeping asset: Mobile operators missing revenue potential of corporate sector warns SmartTrust
Announcement posted by SmartTrust 14 Jan 2003
A slow-down in voice revenues and a lack of targeted data services is limiting revenue growth. Value added services for corporate customers fall far short of those offered to the consumer market.
Mobile operators are under-exploiting one of the industry's most profitable user groups. That's the warning from mobile software infrastructure provider, SmartTrust, following research that shows a large proportion of mobile operators have been unable to exploit the revenue generating potential of the corporate market.
Whilst accounting for just 20 per cent of the subscriber base, corporate users generate over 50 per cent of all service revenues1. Of this figure, corporate value added services account for just 3 per cent of an operator's ARPU (average revenue per user) and 20 per cent of data traffic. These figures suggest huge growth potential,however, value added services for corporate customers have fallen far short of those offered to the consumer market, limiting opportunities for growing data traffic.
Mobile operators have actively launched value added services such as news, infotainment and banking as a means of attracting new consumer users and increasing revenues beyond basic voice traffic. However, in the corporate market this has largely been unexploited with corporate customers generally targeted with simple discount / call rate incentives. With ARPU from voice traffic falling, operators need to address the issue now by offering tailored services that will stimulate an immediate growth in data traffic.
"Service differentiation for the corporate market is predominantly fought over price and discounted calls. The consumer market, however, has shown that users are genuinely attracted to services that add real value. For corporate customers, many operators have been unable to successfully address the opportunities," explains Fred Molenaar, commercial director at SmartTrust. "When you combine the sector churn rate with the fact that subscriber acquisition costs are more than double that of a prepaid consumer you begin to realise the importance of the sector."
Research from SmartTrust shows that corporate users are looking not only for better call control and service management but services that will allow them to integrate mobile devices with existing enterprise data and applications, allowing remote workers access to live data from the handset.
In its research, SmartTrust identified three fundamental problems that have so far limited operators' ability to fully leverage the sector:
Market segmentation: The Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) market requires a significantly different approach to the Large Enterprise (LE) market. There is a sizeable difference in the level of user and system sophistication and the need for integration with backend IT systems.
Buying behaviour: SMEs are particularly price sensitive. The high complexity and cost of deploying value added services such as an integrated mobile data solution have, to date, restricted market growth. Enhanced management: Many operators have not had the means to offer flexible solutions that enable their corporate customers to manage and control individual user phone costs and usage patterns.
Danish operator SONOFON has been quick to recognise the potential for developing corporate data revenues and is targeting corporate customers with SmartTrust's Corporate Provisioning solution. Using the technology, corporate customers are offered tools that provide web-based administrative interfaces for individual or group-wide handset and SIM management. Offering two distinct solutions, for both the SME and LE markets, SmartTrust addresses the individual needs of the sectors, delivering simple tools to effortlessly migrate corporate data to mobile devices and enable the integration of the mobile device into existing systems and processes. Corporations are also provided with superior tools to manage the cost and usage of each individual phone.
"Corporate Provisioning provides a perfect means for introducing new areas of service to our corporate customers," explains Steen Hgh, Market Director at SONOFON. "Corporations can now have tailored services that are always available, accurate data from internal applications and a far superior method of managing costs internally."
-ends-
Sources:
1. Strategy Analytics: Western European Cellular User Forecast (2002-2007). June 2002
About SmartTrust
SmartTrust is a leading developer of infrastructure solutions designed to provide mobile subscribers with easy to use and secure personalized services. Using SmartTrust's solutions, mobile operators are able to mange and optimize both handsets and GSM/3G (U)SIM cards to deploy revenue-generating Value Added Services (VAS). Operators that have implemented SmartTrust's solutions have significantly reduced churn and increased ARPU.
More than 85 SmartTrust systems have been deployed with leading operators around the world. Customers include Vodafone UK, Vodafone D2, Telenor, SONOFON, Cosmote, MTN, T-Mobil, Cingular Wireless, China Mobile, Airtel/Bharti Cellular, Virgin Mobile, M1 and Satelindo. The SmartTrust CertifiedTM Partner Program includes all major SIM vendors that have licensed its technology for implementation within their cards. Over 30 million WIB-enabled SIM cards are now in circulation with SIM vendor partnerships covering 95% of the SIM card industry.
The company is headquartered in Sweden with a regional presence in Finland, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and the United States.
Additional information and news on SmartTrust can be found at www.smarttrust.com.
Whilst accounting for just 20 per cent of the subscriber base, corporate users generate over 50 per cent of all service revenues1. Of this figure, corporate value added services account for just 3 per cent of an operator's ARPU (average revenue per user) and 20 per cent of data traffic. These figures suggest huge growth potential,however, value added services for corporate customers have fallen far short of those offered to the consumer market, limiting opportunities for growing data traffic.
Mobile operators have actively launched value added services such as news, infotainment and banking as a means of attracting new consumer users and increasing revenues beyond basic voice traffic. However, in the corporate market this has largely been unexploited with corporate customers generally targeted with simple discount / call rate incentives. With ARPU from voice traffic falling, operators need to address the issue now by offering tailored services that will stimulate an immediate growth in data traffic.
"Service differentiation for the corporate market is predominantly fought over price and discounted calls. The consumer market, however, has shown that users are genuinely attracted to services that add real value. For corporate customers, many operators have been unable to successfully address the opportunities," explains Fred Molenaar, commercial director at SmartTrust. "When you combine the sector churn rate with the fact that subscriber acquisition costs are more than double that of a prepaid consumer you begin to realise the importance of the sector."
Research from SmartTrust shows that corporate users are looking not only for better call control and service management but services that will allow them to integrate mobile devices with existing enterprise data and applications, allowing remote workers access to live data from the handset.
In its research, SmartTrust identified three fundamental problems that have so far limited operators' ability to fully leverage the sector:
Market segmentation: The Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) market requires a significantly different approach to the Large Enterprise (LE) market. There is a sizeable difference in the level of user and system sophistication and the need for integration with backend IT systems.
Buying behaviour: SMEs are particularly price sensitive. The high complexity and cost of deploying value added services such as an integrated mobile data solution have, to date, restricted market growth. Enhanced management: Many operators have not had the means to offer flexible solutions that enable their corporate customers to manage and control individual user phone costs and usage patterns.
Danish operator SONOFON has been quick to recognise the potential for developing corporate data revenues and is targeting corporate customers with SmartTrust's Corporate Provisioning solution. Using the technology, corporate customers are offered tools that provide web-based administrative interfaces for individual or group-wide handset and SIM management. Offering two distinct solutions, for both the SME and LE markets, SmartTrust addresses the individual needs of the sectors, delivering simple tools to effortlessly migrate corporate data to mobile devices and enable the integration of the mobile device into existing systems and processes. Corporations are also provided with superior tools to manage the cost and usage of each individual phone.
"Corporate Provisioning provides a perfect means for introducing new areas of service to our corporate customers," explains Steen Hgh, Market Director at SONOFON. "Corporations can now have tailored services that are always available, accurate data from internal applications and a far superior method of managing costs internally."
-ends-
Sources:
1. Strategy Analytics: Western European Cellular User Forecast (2002-2007). June 2002
About SmartTrust
SmartTrust is a leading developer of infrastructure solutions designed to provide mobile subscribers with easy to use and secure personalized services. Using SmartTrust's solutions, mobile operators are able to mange and optimize both handsets and GSM/3G (U)SIM cards to deploy revenue-generating Value Added Services (VAS). Operators that have implemented SmartTrust's solutions have significantly reduced churn and increased ARPU.
More than 85 SmartTrust systems have been deployed with leading operators around the world. Customers include Vodafone UK, Vodafone D2, Telenor, SONOFON, Cosmote, MTN, T-Mobil, Cingular Wireless, China Mobile, Airtel/Bharti Cellular, Virgin Mobile, M1 and Satelindo. The SmartTrust CertifiedTM Partner Program includes all major SIM vendors that have licensed its technology for implementation within their cards. Over 30 million WIB-enabled SIM cards are now in circulation with SIM vendor partnerships covering 95% of the SIM card industry.
The company is headquartered in Sweden with a regional presence in Finland, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and the United States.
Additional information and news on SmartTrust can be found at www.smarttrust.com.