Airtel Nigeria Doubles Data on Infinix, Tecno and Itel Smartphones

Mobile operator Airtel Nigeria has announced a strategic partnership with Chinese device manufacturers Infinix, Tecno and Itel. Under the partnership, customers who purchase a new Infinix, Tecno or Itel smartphone will enjoy an exclusive Airtel Double Data Offer for a six-month period. The offer allows customers to enjoy twice the value of any data plan they purchase on their newly-acquired smartphones. For instance, if customers buy the NGN 1,000.00 (US $2.76) monthly data plan on any of the participating smartphones, they get 3 GB instead of 1.5 GB of data. The offer is available to both new and existing customers of Airtel.
 
Budget smartphones, often manufactured in China, have made very significant inroads into the global smartphone market, especially in developing economies but by no means limited to those. In any market, it is often worth an operator’s while (and investment) to get smartphones into the hands of as many subscribers as possible, on the grounds that once they have the devices, those customers will use them to consumer ever-increasing amounts of mobile data.
 
In developed markets where most users already have smart devices, such concerns are less pressing than in developing ones where data consumption is the province of a small minority of mobile customers. As of May 2018, Nigeria had a smartphone penetration of 18.5 percent, so the market has a long way to go before it reaches the saturation point. Giving current feature-phone subscribers and non-subscribers an incentive to purchase a cheap smartphone will pay dividends by driving data revenue to the mobile operator that does so.
 
Other than ensuring that the price of the device is sufficiently low, an operator can incentivize users by discounting data. A two-for-the-price-of-one data deal could be an effective incentive, considering that it is directly targeted at the functionality of the device in question, and given that it will cost the operator relatively little. So in that sense, Airtel’s Double Data Offer could well have the desired effect of converting more mobile users to data users. The fact that this is a partnership not with one device manufacturer, as is usual, but with three makes it even more persuasive, as giving consumers the choice they increasingly demand.
 
However, since at least a good number of the people Airtel is targeting with this offer are currently not using any data at all, and are therefore newcomers to the whole concept of mobile data, a double data offer may be less attractive that it would be to users who already know the value of a megabyte.

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 and 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.  

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Demand for Mobile Data Plan Customization is High

A survey of over 500 mobile phone users in each of six markets—China, France, Germany, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S.—indicates that consumers want more options to control and personalize the pricing of their data services. Sixty percent of mobile users want to be able to customize their plans, and 50 percent are interested in the ability to purchase more data directly from their devices, in real time.  Interest in plan customization is particularly strong in China (where 74 percent reported that they want it), the U.S. (67 percent) and the U.K. (58 percent). In China, interest in plan options for unlimited access to social media is especially high at 62 percent. In France, the number of users who are willing to accept continued use at lower speeds after data limits are reached is twice the number of those who would want to buy additional data. In Germany, over a quarter of mobile phone users see the appeal of buying an additional bucket of data beyond the original data cap. In Spain, mobile users are notably willing to accept continued use at lower speeds when they reach their data limit, with over half selecting throttling and only a fifth prepared to buy an additional data bucket. Forty-five percent express an interest in plans based on selecting how many minutes of browsing, video and music they use, rather than in a bucket of data.  As sophisticated markets reach saturation and mobile service becomes more and more of a commodity, competition among mobile operators is intensifying. As a result of that, consumers have more leverage than ever to demand what they want. As this study shows, what they want, by and large, is more control over their spending on data. The one-size-fits-all approach that derives revenue from charging users for data they do not use is likely a thing of the past. In the more affluent or aggressively growing economies such as the U.S., the U.K., Germany and China, the desire is more for flexibility, with users reporting that they would like the ability to add more data at will. In France and Spain, where budget-mindedness seems prevalent, users are more willing to accept throttling. In any case, in order to remain maximally competitive, MNOs are going to have to acknowledge these consumer needs and offer more customization across the board.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of Tarifica's "The Story of The Week", a weekly report that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. For past issues or to learn more about The Story of The Week :  http://www.tarifica.com/storyoftheweek.aspx

Airtel Equips Youth with Knowledge in Mobile Phone Repairs.

Airtel Nigeria has introduced an empowerment initiative directed at equipping young people with practical knowledge in mobile phone repairs. The Basic Mobile Phone Repair Module (BMPRM) is a two-week certificate course that supplies participants with the fundamentals at no cost. The BMPRM will be conducted by experts to enable participants to start small businesses of their own. Once the training is complete, the participants will be set up in positions such as APRP (Adaptive Pattern Recognition Processing) operators, workers at SIM selling outlets.

Airtel Nigeria holds the second-largest market share, 21 percent, behind MTN, with 45 percent, and leading Globacom by just 1 percent. Currently, no operators offer phone repair services. However, in December 2013 Globacom introduced a limited-time opportunity for customers of any operator to bring their mobile phones to a Globacom shop and have their phones repaired free of charge. Even though this mobile repair service was effective only for a short period, Globacom got the attention of Nigerian consumers.

Airtel Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Segun Ogunsanya said, “This training is part of our plans to start building a crop of SME [Small and Medium Enterprises] businesses that will spin off our core business and also bring Airtel closer to our customers.” That could mean that Airtel hopes to partner with phone repair shops that graduates of the course may establish in the future. Such partnerships could help the operator gain competitive advantage through better customer service. Still, this approach is not likely to come to fruition quickly, since Airtel began with only 40 participants and is now preparing for another 100. Furthermore, it is not clear whether the BMPRM instruction covers smartphones or only feature phones.

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

Mobile Money Poised to Reach Critical Mass

 Three recent developments signal that mobile money may be on the verge of crossing the size-and-scale threshold where it can provide both increased convenience and security from theft to the unbanked around the world and distinct and significant revenue streams for operators.

First, Bharti Airtel and MTN announced a deal allowing convenient and affordable money transfer between their customers in Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. This is the first cross-border mobile-to-mobile remittance service in West Africa. MTN spokesman Pieter Verkade stated, “MTN has reached a great level of adoption of Mobile Money in Ivory Coast, and Airtel has done the same in Burkina Faso. With a sizable community of Bukinable  working in Ivory Coast and sending money back to their home country, the partnership will greatly enhance the Mobile Money service for both countries.” Global remittance payments—an area where mobile money has yet to take off—are estimated at US $534 billion per year; if mobile operators can tap into even a moderate proportion of that, it could prove a significant new source of revenue.

Second, French multinational operator Orange announced that its mobile money network had received its 10 millionth customer. Orange rolled out its mobile money service in 2008, and since then it has become available in 13 African and Middle Eastern countries. In 2013, over US $3 billion passed through the service. While it is not the largest mobile money network (MTN has 14.8 million users in 14 countries), this news demonstrates that mobile money is a focus point for large global operators, which have the ability to make it a truly functional payment form, in the way that users of VISA, MasterCard, or American Express have come to expect.

Third, Qatari operator Ooredoo announced that it joined the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association’s (GSMA) Mobile Money Interoperability program. This program focuses on helping operators launch and scale interoperable mobile money services through the sharing of best practices and provides regulatory support. Its members represent 582 million mobile connections across 48 Middle Eastern and African countries and include Bharti Airtel, Etisalat, Millicom, MTN, Orange, STC, Vodafone and Zain.

While none of these items by itself represents a major leap forward for mobile money, collectively they are signs that the platform is picking up the backers and scale needed to reach launch velocity in emerging markets—that is, the point at which it becomes so widespread that the conveniences of having and using mobile money outweigh any difficulties associated with it. There are still many challenges to the adoption and success of mobile money, but it appears to have momentum on its side.

 

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