Going green

Energy consumption used to be an unavoidable cost when operating a mobile network. E-Plus teamed up with Nokia Siemens Networks to change that.

NSN built a base station for the operator that relies on solar and wind energy instead of the German electricity grid, and it supplied advanced remote-management capabilities, all part of E-Plus’s grand design to become the most efficient network in Germany.

“ABI Research has found that 86 percent of the energy needed by an operator is consumed by its networks, and we are always committed to innovation that enables energy conservation for the communications service provider,” said Rohit Kumar, head of energy solutions at NSN.

Personalization

When it came to defining its own modus operandi for disruption, C Spire, like Telmore, looked outside the telecom industry for answers. What it found was Neolane, a “conversational marketing technology” company with customers like Sephora, IKEA, Continental Airlines, and Sony Music. Neolane enabled C Spire to triple the number of marketing campaigns it was running and make personalization the bedrock of its business strategy.

“Neolane is helping C Spire to fulfill its promise of delivering personalized wireless,” said Justin Croft, marketing and promotions manager at C Spire. “We’re able to sustain more meaningful, relevant conversations across all touchpoints, which has not only improved the customer experience but [also] business results.”

For C Spire this personalization extends beyond the consumer base and into its business customer base, another mark of innovation. The operator has combined its personalized approach to activation and service with proactive customer support to become a trusted partner for businesses of all sizes.

Sexy phones are sticky phones

Offering high-end devices can be a winning strategy, especially for prepaid brands that may face a higher potential for customer churn: in its third-quarter 2012 financial report, Leap Wireless described how high-end Android devices and iPhones contributed to longer account activations (Fig. 2). In other words, sexy phones are sticky phones.

Fig. 2: Subscribers still active after three months of service (source: Leap Wireless)

Magic Lessons

Not every mobile operator can move as quickly as the CSPs covered in this article, but there are many lessons that can be applied either in whole or in part. They include:

• look outside of telecommunications for innovative business strategies;
• establish a prepaid, or contract-free, offering;
• create a plan to harness the power of Wi-Fi;
• explore the latest OSS/BSS offerings for increased efficiency and cost reduction;
• utilize social media and personalization to improve the customer experience;
• find new ways to benefit from the automation offered by internet- and cloud-based sales and service portals;
• lower the total cost of business by reducing energy needs;
• offer mobile devices that are sticky.

Using strategies like these, Free Mobile snared 1.5 million customers from its French rivals in its first 30 days of operation. It might seem like magic, but it’s not — the tools are available to any service provider willing to seize the day.