|
|
 |
|
  
September 19, 2011
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, incumbent operators enjoyed healthy margins from their core service offerings of voice and data and were untroubled by the rebel forces of competition and onerous regulation thanks to their infrastructure, size and positioning within their markets. Fast forward to more recent times and the European marketplace, and those same characteristics were seen as the cause of former incumbents’ inability to adapt, change and grow their business models in the face of changing competitive, regulatory and end-user trends.
This brave new world requires bold new strategies, and we are beginning to see just that from former incumbents as they look to both strike back against the disruptors and to benefit from new revenue streams and market opportunities. Telefónica’s recent creation of a new business unit, consisting of around 2,500 employees, shows the importance of new products and services to this telco giant. Telefónica Digital will group products and services such as e-health, financial services, VoIP and M2M under a single structure to better position the company for future growth. In a similar vein, Telenor also announced this week that it too would create a business unit to focus on digital services — such as Comoyo, the one-stop shop for consumers on all devices, which it believes will signal the future of how we interact with and consume services. Not to be outdone, France Telecom plans to launch its own digital mobile brand, Sosh, later this month to target the always-on 18-35 generation with a range of products and services to augment their existing interactions whether at home or on the move.
Exhibit: Providers and their multiscreen offerings
FT aims to attract 500,000 subscribers to the Sosh service by the end of this year, but can incumbents really take advantage of these new opportunities or is it all too late? Our analysis of the content arena in our latest European Insider, The Multiscreen Opportunity Makes for Great Viewing for Traditional Telcos in Europe, highlights that traditional telcos can not only adapt but can also thrive in new segments, providing a clear indication of how they can approach other adjacent areas to their core businesses. We pinpoint why traditional telcos are having notable success in the provision of multiscreen offerings, with factors such as connected device proliferation, clarity on regulation and the billing relationship combining to provide a platform for growth in this segment. Even the potential obstacle of not being recognized as a provider of next-generation services and content can be overcome through the use of existing assets, such as retail outlets, and collaborations with credible content partners, providing traditional telcos with the opportunity to engage and deepen relationships with both new and existing customers.
With numerous commercial examples of these projects across Europe, including the ones listed above, we expect many more chapters in the battle for market share and revenue growth.
— Julian Morrison, Research Manager
Related resources:
Global Mobile Data Forecast
Forecasts published quarterly
Updated on a quarterly basis, this Mobile Data Forecast product provides a complete picture of demand trends for the global market. The Excel output includes five years of historical data and five years of market projections for metrics such as penetration, mobile subscriptions (by type of package, by operator or MVNO and by network technology), users of specific data services (SMS, music, etc.), MOU, ARPS (by operator, by subscription type, by service, by application) and revenue (by messaging and non-messaging applications). The Forecast is based on extensive field research and uses a consistent methodology, aiming to capture the total spending on mobile data services on an aggregate global level. Data from these Forecasts is available online for subscribers to our DataTracker service.
Operators Take Mobile Banking to the Masses, with 65% Annual Growth Expected until 2015
Telecom Insider published May 2011
With mobile penetration in Latin America close to 100% and voice services barely showing organic growth, mobile operators are now open to mobile financial services. Pyramid Research believes that Latin America has achieved the right conditions to smoothly increase the uptake of mobile financial services, including banking and payments. Currently, around 18m users in Latin America use financial services from their mobile devices and this number may rise to more than 140m by 2015.
NFC-Enabled Smartphones to Account for 28% of Global Market by 2015
Telecom Insider published April 2011
Near-field communication is clearly one of the hottest topics in the telecom industry this year. Many of largest handset manufacturers are launching new NFC-enabled smartphones or are, at least, stating their intent to include the technology in their future models. At the same time, hoping to seize the potential opportunity captured by NFC technology, mobile operators are creating regional and global partnerships. We believe that this elevated interest and sizable new investments in NFC-enabled devices and services will eventually result in the rise of a healthy NFC ecosystem and trigger high demand for NFC-enabled handsets. In the medium to long term, as NFC-based services become ubiquitous, consistent and secure, the sales of NFC-enabled devices, including handsets, will continue to grow, at that point driven by the growing demand for NFC services on behalf of end users and retailers. Over 250m mobile handsets sold to end users in 2015 will be NFC-enabled.
|
|
Pyramid Points
