Tarifica Announces Major Findings From Latest Research

A recent survey by Tarifica of both SMBs and Enterprises in the U.S. found that a great majority plan to use hybrid services to transition from premises-based telephony (“CPE”), contact center and Unified Communications to similar services in the Cloud over the next three years. Only about a quarter of companies surveyed did not plan to use hybrid services for telephony or UC, while a slightly higher percentage did not plan to use hybrid contact center services. Of those planning to use hybrid services the majority expect to phase out their use of CPE-based applications over time in favor of total cloud solutions. 

“The high level of planned adoption of hybrid solutions found in the research was somewhat surprising,” said Ken Dolsky, Tarifica Program Director, “but it makes sense as a risk management approach. Customers are sold on many cloud benefits and are looking for ways to try it with non-mission critical applications before moving more important applications.” 

The study analyzed the differences in needs between SMBs and Enterprises regarding successful hybrid solutions. It also determined the current level of satisfaction with different hybrid application implementations. One key finding is that customers report being far more satisfied with cloud-based telephony implementations than those for UC and contact center (see chart ). The major issues with the two latter applications are based on poor performance on the part of service providers both in the planning/implementation process and in ongoing service support. However, less than half of the customers were satisfied with telephony hybrid solutions, showing that operators have their work cut out for them. “In many countries operator market shares are fairly static. The transition to cloud via hybrid solutions is extremely strategic as it provides operators the opportunity to change the market share dynamics in their countries. Those who can satisfy their customers could dominate this market for some time to come,” stated Richard Dorfman, Managing Director at Tarifica.  

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile, fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

2degrees Partners with Google

Subscribers of New Zealand’s mobile operator 2degrees who have Android devices are now able to purchase Android apps from the Google Play store and pay for them via the operator. The cost of the app is deducted from prepaid customers’ credit balances or is added, on an itemized list, to the monthly phone bill for Pay Monthly customers. Pay Monthly subscribers are also able to use 2degrees’ Spend Control service to set limits on the amount of their Google Play purchases.

We have written many times about mobile money services provided by operators. However, perhaps due to the lack of high tech processing, such as NFC mobile payments, direct carrier billing is just beginning to be adopted by operators. Nonetheless, according to a report from research firm Analysys Mason, direct carrier billing will provide telecoms around the world with more than US $12 billion in revenue in 2022.

Through direct carrier billing, operators are offering a convenience factor to their subscribers for various types of purchases. In its partnership with Google, 2degrees stands to encourage app purchases. Considering that mobile phone users are purchasing fewer apps for their phones in general, we are not surprised that since April 2014 Google has chosen to partner with many mobile operators worldwide for direct carrier billing services. Currently, direct carrier billing is being used for app purchases such as those from Google or other digital content such as games, music or movies, but it is predicted that it will go beyond that into real-world uses such as parking or event tickets. Since it appears to be a legitimate way to drive revenue, mobile operators would be wise to partner with any type of business for which they can provide this service as the “charge it to my phone” mentality is just beginning to take off for consumers.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx

Notable Regional Developments in Telecommunications

Asia/Pacific

New Zealand mobile operator 2degrees is fostering competition in trans-Tasman roaming rates by offering a new plan to all its Pay Monthly and Business customers who are roaming in Australia. Customers who activate the operator’s 10/10/10 tariff will be charged AUD 0.10 (US $0.09) per minute for calls from Australia to New Zealand, AUD 0.10 per SMS and AUD 0.10 per MB of data. In addition, later this month 2degrees will be launching Australian 7-day data roaming packs for all 2degrees customers. Packs include 300 MB of data at a cost of AUD 10.00 (US $9.40) and 500 MB of data at a cost of AUD 15.00 (US $14.10).

Europe

Customers of the Dutch utilities group Essent can now use WhatsApp to contact the utility company’s customer service department. While this is a pilot program, Essent is the first large business in the Netherlands to use the popular messaging service. According to a recent report, WhatsApp has 9.5 million users in the Netherlands, and this exploratory program may be seen as another area in which OTT services will be used to facilitate communication.

Latin America

Android phone users with NFC-enabled phones can use their devices to recharge Single Ticket contactless smartcards used to pay fares on São Paulo, Brazil’s SPTrans transportation system. Users can put all types of credits—monthly, student, Valley Transportation and Common—on the Single Ticket option. Passengers need to download the Single Ticket mobile phone app and place their mobile phones near their smartcards to top up or check the balances on their smartcards. This mobile payment method should reduce congestion at physical recharge points, especially during peak periods.

Middle East/Africa

Namibian operator MTC is partnering with the University of Namibia (Unam) to enable students enrolled at Unam campuses across the country to access the internet via Wi-Fi. Students will be charged an annual fee of NAD 500.00 (US $46.77) for a SIM card with an internet access code. The unlimited service is available to students for 24 months and can be accessed from their homes as well as college campuses. The country’s Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Joel Kaapanda, says this partnership is to be commended for meeting the government’s objective of promoting e-learning in institutions of higher learning.

North America

The CEOs of several major America companies, including Adobe, Facebook, Intuit, Wells Fargo and Dropbox, have sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of its chairman, Tom Wheeler’s proposal for E-rate modernization. The letter’s contents is also supported by the EducationSuperHighway (a non-profit organization that is working to enable high-speed internet access in every classroom across America), bipartisan groups of politicians including governors, senators, congressmen and mayors and education technology innovators. E-rate modernization is a movement calling for upgrades to outdated broadband systems in schools across the country with high-speed connectivity, and the proposal will be voted on at the FCC’s 11 July meeting.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx