Vivo and Generali Launch Pay-as-You-Drive Auto Insurance

Brazilian operator Vivo has partnered with Generali Brasil Seguros to market a personalized and flexible monthly car insurance product, called Smart Auto. Through an app, Smart Auto evaluates the customer’s driving style and generates a discount for the contracting of car insurance. A good driver can be rewarded with a discount of up to 30 percent on the price of their insurance.

Vivo customers who take out the insurance have an exclusive benefit: an additional 5 percent discount that is cumulative with the discount earned on driving style. The app also gives driving tips and shares with the insured guidance on how to improve their driving, contributing to safer traffic.

With the rise of the connected-car sector and the general proliferation of the IoT, there are many opportunities for mobile operators to get involved and discover new revenue streams. This offer from Vivo, in partnership with a Brazilian insurer, creatively utilizes driver data to provide a tailored auto insurance product, with discounts for those users with safe driving habits.

Smart Auto makes good use of new technology and a partnership with an appropriate financial institution to launch a value-added service that stands to make the operator more relevant to its customers’ lives. The operator will be providing something that many of its customers genuinely need, a product that is made possible by the use of mobile technology, not merely tacked on to the traditional services.

However, we feel that there is some danger here with regard to privacy concerns. As cars become rolling computers, they constantly collect data on their drivers and transmit it over mobile networks to third parties. While this is intended to help the auto manufacturers improve their products, and to some extent to help the drivers (as in this case), it has the potential to punish drivers for so-called unsafe driving. That could include higher insurance rates or other impediments and penalties, based on data that is not refined enough. For example, the frequency of sharp braking could be taken as an index of unsafe vehicle operation, but the causes of this behavior will not likely be recorded and taken into consideration.

Vivo is offering a service that could help drivers save money and increase their peace of mind. However, the data collected must be sufficiently detailed, and it must be protected so that it goes only to the places that the drivers and the operator agree upon. Users are understandably worried about privacy, so in order to make this offer work, the operator must guarantee the privacy of its customers’ data. Even if it does that, though, larger concerns about the use of driver data and its implications exist and may not be easy to dispel.

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KT Loses Over 1,600 Customers in Three Days After Outage

The number of mobile phone subscribers at South Korean operator KT sharply declined for three days in a row after a fire at one of the company’s facilities in the capital city of Seoul  and led to disruptions in internet and phone service, according to reports. The fire broke out at a building in western Seoul on 24 November and paralyzed the fixed line, mobile and internet networks for individuals and businesses using KT in Seoul’s western wards of Mapo, Seodaemun and Eunpyeong, as well as some parts of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul.

According to the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association, the number of KT subscribers decreased by a total of 1,666 between 24 November and 26 November. The report also indicates that the number of users subscribing to competitors SK Telecom and LG Uplus increased by 224 and 1,442, respectively, during those three days.

This incident in South Korea gives an especially dramatic illustration of just how fragile subscriber loyalty can be in the face of major service interruptions. The KT outage in Seoul was due to a fire, which could be construed as an unfortunate accident and not the result of sloppy management and maintenance. Nonetheless, over 1600 customers chose to walk away from KT (the country’s second-ranked operator by subscribers, out of three) and sign up with its competitors. It is noteworthy that many more went over to LG Uplus, the third-ranked operator, rather than to market leader SK Telecom. Recently LG has been rapidly gaining market share in the country.

Operators should take this as a cautionary tale of the potentially unforgiving nature of their customer bases when it comes to disruption of service. Mobile connectivity has become so essential, indeed the lifeblood of the economy and society itself, that even a short-term lack of availability can be perceived as a deal-breaker. Taking the threat of loss of business seriously means getting out in front of a disaster such as this one. In order to ward off subscriber loss, an operator could immediately, during the first day, promise generous compensatory offers to its subscribers, including service credits, bonus data, or even free devices. A bold move is required to convince irate users. Waiting to offer compensation until the issue is resolved could be waiting far too long.

In addition, full transparency and effective, rapid communication are key elements in a strategy to retain as many customers as possible after a catastrophic service outage.

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.  

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

Finnish Youth Are the Biggest Mobile Data Users in the World

Finns aged 18–25 lead the world when it comes to mobile data consumption, according to Telia Finland, the country’s largest mobile operator. This demographic uses about 30 GB of data per month, approximately three times what the average Finn uses per month. Their number of calls and text messages does not differ significantly from the rest of the population, it said.
 
Young people in Finland speak for an average of 180 minutes per month, only 10 minutes less than the rest of the population, according to Telia business manager Petri Lindqvist. They send about 18 SMS, compared with about 35 SMS per month for the average Finn.
 
In December 2017, the most popular phone among Telia subscribers aged 18–25 was the Apple iPhone X, followed by the Huawei Honor 9, the Samsung Galaxy S8, with the iPhone 8 taking fourth place and the iPhone 8 Plus taking fifth.
 
 
We have written frequently about the distinctive mobile usage habits of the youth demographic in many markets, and the value of this slice of the population to mobile operators. Now this result from Finland, one of the most highly developed mobile markets in the world, assigns a dramatic number to the question: Young adults use three times as much data as the rest of the population.
 
While this statistic is an outlier, given that Finnish youth are literally number one in the entire world, it is still very indicative of the stark disparity between the youth market and everyone else. It contains a clear directive to operators to continue to cultivate this group of users and cater to their needs, not only for present revenue but to build something for the future. Because it is virtually certain that these customers will not suddenly reduce their data consumption as soon as they turn 26. The usage habits of the youth demographic are a forecast of the usage habits of the whole population in the years to come.
 
In Finland, an affluent society that is particularly addicted to mobile technology (the home of Nokia is, after all, one of the places that made the mobile world we now all live in), youth may not have to be heavily incentivized to consume a lot of data. The preference of youth there for expensive high-end phones such as the iPhone X indicates that they have plenty of disposable cash. In other markets, however, getting the most out of youth customers may require discounting data and devices in the hope of cultivating habits that will persist once their income levels go up.
 
Finally, one interesting takeaway from this report is that while the voice and SMS usage patterns of Finnish youth are not distinctive in the way that their data usage is, at least where voice is concerned, they have not abandoned traditional services. (The lower quantity of SMS among youth is likely due to their greater use of OTT messaging services.) Operators in developed markets will probably be able to count on continued support for voice even from those who are on the cutting edge of exploiting everything that high-speed data can do.

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.  

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

FreenetMobile Launches Entry-Level Smartphone Plans

FreenetMobile, part of German MVNO Freenet’s brand Klarmobil, launched three new entry-level smartphone plans starting at €3.95 (US $4.60) per month with a 24-month contract.

The FreeSmart 400 plan, which runs on Deutsche Telekom’s network, includes 400 MB of mobile data at speeds of up to 21 Mbps as well as 100 minutes, and costs €3.95 (US $4.60) with a contract or €5.95 (US $6.93) without a contract. FreeSmart 1000, on Vodafone’s network, includes 1 GB of mobile data at up to 21.6 Mbps as well as 100 minutes and 100 texts, and costs €5.95 (US $6.93) with a contract or €7.95 (US $9.26) without a contract, including a discount.

Finally, FreeSmart 2000, also on the Vodafone network, offers 2 GB of mobile data at speeds of up to 42.2 Mbps as well as 100 minutes and 100 texts, and costs €7.95 (US $9.26) with or €9.95 (US $11.60) without a contract, including a discount.

The connection charge is a one-off fee of €9.95 (US $11.60) under the 24-month contracts, or €19.95 (US $23.24) if the plans are taken out on a rolling monthly basis. Roaming is blocked for the first six weeks, and then activated automatically.


FreenetMobile, which runs on two different MNOs’ networks, is offering some boldly priced packages in an aggressive grab for German MVNO market share. The prices are about as low as they go, which should prove attractive to members of the heavily-courted youth demographic. And given the preference of young users for data over voice, the various plans all offer relatively large amounts of data and quite small amounts of included voice minutes. The rather meager texting offerings should pose little problem to customers, considering that most of them are likely to prefer messaging services, such as WhatsApp, that use data instead.

The operator is wise, also, to offer lowered rates if customers subscribe to 24-month contracts and higher data speed in the higher-end FreeSmart 2000 options. Since many of FreenetMobile's competitors publish much higher advertised speeds, the questions for users, though, will have to be whether the real-world data speeds are fast enough for their needs, which will certainly include data-hungry streaming services, and whether the coverage is good enough. If the answer is yes on both scores, FreenetMobile will doubtless be able to garner a sizable number of new budget-minded customers with its FreeSmart plans.

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. 

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

Fjordkraft Launches MVNO Via Telenor With Discounts for Power Clients

Norwegian electricity provider Fjordkraft has begun offering mobile communication services on Telenor’s network. Fjordkraft, which is owned by network companies BKK and Skagerak as well as by the power producer Statkraft, has approximately 1 million residential electricity customers. They will be able to get mobile services at discounted rates.

Each Fjordkraft Mobil subscription includes unlimited voice calls, SMS and MMS. The data allotments can also be used when roaming in the EU and EAA. The pricing is as follows: A subscription with 1 GB of mobile internet costs NOK 199.00 (US $23.28) per month, or NOK 119.00 (US $13.92) to power customers. The 3 GB subscription costs NOK 279.00 (US $32.63) per month, or NOK 199.00 to power customers. The 5 GB service costs NOK 339.00 (US $39.65), or NOK 279.00 to power customers. The 10 GB is priced at NOK 439.00 (US $51.35), or NOK 339.00 for power customers. The 20 GB service costs NOK 539.00 (US $63.04), or NOK 439.00 to power customers. Unused mobile internet allowances can be rolled over, and there is no contractual commitment.

For companies whose core business is outside the mobile telecom sphere to offer mobile services can be a very sound strategy to bring in revenue. In addition to free-standing MVNOs and MVNOs offered by MNOs, we have seen numerous examples of virtual operators started by retail and other entities. In such cases, it is important to have a pre-existing client base that would be receptive to an offering of mobile services (at the right price, of course), in this case from Norway we see a synergy that makes sense.

Fjordkraft has a large number of customers for home electricity, and considering that—for better or worse—many customers conceive of mobile services as an essential utility akin to electricity, we can certainly envision many of Fjordkraft’s customers being amenable to signing up for mobile packages from a company that they already depend on daily and trust.

The offerings are well-designed, in our view, in that they include unlimited voice and texts as well as a tiered slate of data offerings to cater to the varying needs of Norwegian consumers. We have written recently about the increasing demand for flexibility with regard to plan features among consumers across a wide variety of markets. The pricing of the packages is relatively low to begin with, and the significant discounts across the board makes them even more appealing to Fjordkraft’s electricity clients. From the company’s standpoint, it also holds out the possibility of attracting new electricity clients who are eager to avail themselves of discounted MVNO connectivity.

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.

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