3 Italia Halves Price of Prepaid Plans in Holiday Offer

Italian operator 3 Italia has kicked off the season of festive offers by halving the price of its All-In prepaid plans. All-In 400, with 400 minutes of calls, 400 SMS and 4 GB of data, is now available for €5.00 (US $5.31) per month instead of €10.00 (US $10.62), while All-In Unlimited will be available for €10.00 per month instead of €20.00 (US $21.25) and comes with unlimited minutes and 8 GB of data. Finally, the operator’s All-In VIP Smart plan has been reduced to €15.00 (US $15.94) from €30.00 (US $31.88) per month for unlimited minutes, 300 SMS and up to 30 GB of data. During the end-of-the-year holidays, customers are eager for discounts to celebrate the spirit of the season—and to compensate somewhat for the large amounts they need to spend on gift-giving. Mobile operators tend to make this a time for offering generous promotions to stimulate uptake, data use, and customer acquisition. 3 Italia’s festive offer this year is particularly generous, cutting prices on several prepaid options by half. We think these dramatic discounts will likely pay off for the operator, by attracting significant new business. In time, such customers can in many cases be upsold or even transition to postpaid, so the short-term financial impact of a 50 percent discount can in the long run be considered as an investment.

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

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

Free International Roaming in Asia

Malaysian mobile operator U Mobile has launched free international roaming services for postpaid consumers traveling across Asia. Travelers to Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan will receive a 50 MB international roaming data allowance free of charge. Usage beyond this limit will be charged at pay-as-you-go rates, with a maximum of MYR 30.00 (US $9.33) per day. Travelers will have to manually select the partnering mobile networks, which are CamGSM (Cambodia), PCCW (Hong Kong), Telkomsel (Indonesia), Globe (Philippines), StarHub (Singapore), Taiwan Mobile (Taiwan) and True (Thailand). This promotional offer is valid until 30 November 2014.

As free international roaming offers go, this one is limited in scope. It  provides an allowance of 50 MB per day of roaming data in select countries, on select partner networks only. In addition, at a pay-as-you-go rate of MYR 7.50 (US $2.33) per megabyte (which applies to all of the countries where roaming services are provided, except Vietnam), the roaming cap means an excess data allowance of 4 MB per day, which is very small.

However, this offer must be examined in light of other factors. It is the first free international roaming data offer to be launched in Malaysia. Market leader Maxis offers a data roaming plan for 100 countries with a cap of MYR 38.00 (US $11.82) per day. This offer is meant to promote U Mobile’s Unlimited 50 and Unlimited 80 plans, which were launched in January 2014, a month after U Mobile became the second operator to launch 4G services in Malaysia. These plans, priced at MYR 50.00 (US $15.55) and MYR 80.00 (US $24.88), respectively, provide unlimited on-net calls, unlimited data with a throttling threshold of 2 GB and 3 GB, respectively and allow sharing of minutes and data between up to three SIMs with a charge of MYR 10.00 (US $3.11) for each additional SIM. While 4G services are currently limited to small portions of the country, U Mobile’s 3G radio access network sharing agreement with Maxis is enabling it to provide 3G speeds across the country. This latest promotion, though limited in nature, adds some value to a competitive offer and indicates an aggressive strategy on the part of U Mobile, which aims to increase its market share from its current level of 10 percent to between 15 and 20 percent in the next five years.

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

Econet Wireless Diversifies Into Road Construction

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, a mobile and fixed telephony services provider, said it is diversifying into road construction in a bid to improve communication channels and to support the community. CEO Douglas Mboweni said that many communities are hard to reach because of poor roads and that diversification into road construction would increase the size of the company’s footprint, help the development of social infrastructure and support the country’s economic plan, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Social Transformation (ZimAsset). Mboweni added that the group has already begun the process of upgrading roads and that it will intensify its efforts, particularly in rural areas.   As we have been reporting, many operators around the world are diversifying, mainly due to diminishing ARPU from traditional telephony services in an era of saturation. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, telephony is still on the rise, and providers are in a position of advantage. In fact, mobile services in particular are taking on some of the roles that in other markets are played by other kinds of entities, such as banks. In the case of Econet in Zimbabwe, diversification appears to be a strategy aimed at promoting fixed and mobile services themselves. Strengthening physical infrastructure, the operator believes, will help strengthen telecommunications infrastructure—presumably by making it easier for cable to be laid and cell towers constructed in relatively remote areas, and we think this belief is most likely well-founded.  In addition, by extending its presence throughout the country by way of construction projects, Econet can gain the good will of the rural populace and raise its profile generally, which could result in an increase in its customer base. It should be noted that diversification is nothing new to Econet, which in 2012 and late 2013 acquired a controlling share of Steward Bank, a Zimbabwean retail bank, which is now a subsidiary of the operator and handles Econet’s m-payment system, Ecocash.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of Tarifica's "The Story of The Week", a weekly report that analyzes two 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

Etisalat to Sell West African Assets to Maroc Telecom

UAE-based MNO Etisalat has reported that it will sell its operations in West Africa to Moroccan MNO Maroc Telecom for a sum of US $650 million. The deal will include the sale of Atlantique Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of Etisalat with operations under the Moov brand in Benin, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Niger and Togo. It also includes Ivory Coast-based Prestige Telecom, which provides IT services to Etisalat’s operations in all of these countries. The operator’s subsidiary in Nigeria will not be part of the transaction, which requires competition and regulatory approvals in the six West African countries. The deal has been contingent on Etisalat’s planned acquisition of Vivendi’s 53 percent stake in Maroc Telecom for €4.2 billion (US $5.7 billion), which was completed on 14 May 2014.

Vivendi, which is the parent company of French MNO SFR, has been in exclusive talks with Etisalat since July 2013 about the sale of its stake in Maroc Telecom after other bidders, including Qatar’s Ooredoo, dropped out. This sale is part of a larger move by Vivendi to focus on its more profitable media assets and has been viewed as a means to raise enough cash to write down its debts and sell SFR.

The deal has several positives for Etisalat. While the operator has a presence in 15 markets across the Middle East, Asia and Africa, its main source of revenue (at 66 percent of group revenues in Q1 2014) continues to be its home market. The UAE is a highly saturated market, which ranks highest in the world in terms of smartphone penetration (over 72 percent as of 2013). Competition is intensifying in the wake of the regulator’s elimination of the tariff approval requirement and introduction of mobile number portability in 2013. Saudi Arabia, the other Middle Eastern market in which Etisalat operates, has nearly as high a rate of mobile penetration and also will see the entry of three MVNOs. Therefore, diversification away from the Middle East makes sense.

However, some of Etisalat’s biggest international markets in terms of revenue generation, Egypt and Pakistan, have been affected by issues such as political instability and currency devaluation. Through the acquisition of Maroc Telecom, Etisalat not only gets an entry into Morocco with the leading market share of 47 percent (totaling 18.3 million subscribers), it also adds four other African countries (Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali and Mauritania) to its portfolio and can leverage synergies that exist between operations in that region. Furthermore, placing its West African operations under the management of a successful regional operator may prove beneficial to Etisalat. 

However, it is worth noting that Maroc Telecom’s profitability in its home market has been hit by soft consumer spending and increasing competition. Bringing innovative offers to the market by leveraging the strengths of the two operators will be key to Etisalat’s future success with this acquisition.

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

New York City Seeks to Replace Payphones with Free WiFi

New York City’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) has issued a request for proposals to build a citywide network of free WiFi hotspots. The public communication points will provide free calls to the emergency number 911 and the city information number 311. The winner will install, operate and maintain up to 10,000 public communication points distributed across the city’s five boroughs. These structures will replace and supplement the roughly 7,300 current public payphone installations. The hotspots must be set up within the next four years and will be funded mainly through digital advertising. The plan is projected to bring in US $17.5 million in guaranteed annual revenue for the City of New York through June 2026.

In terms of usage patterns and functionality, WiFi hotspots are the natural successor to the old-fashioned public phone, so this plan makes sense on that level. What is interesting here, though, is that they will be funded through advertising, unlike payphones, which are funded by direct payment from the user. The City of New York is taking a page from the public WiFi solutions being offered to commercial establishments such as malls and restaurants, which are ad-funded. Of course free access to 911 is a public good. Beyond that, though, it remains to be seen whether the city will allow data sharing to benefit businesses that want to target potential customers based on their usage patterns.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of Tarifica's "The Story of The Week", a weekly report that analyzes two 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

Maroc Telecom Launches Free Hotspot Service

Moroccan fixed and mobile operator Maroc Telecom has launched an internet-access solution called WifiPub that allows users to access the internet at various hot-spots located in public places such as hotels and restaurants. Connection is free, but users must watch an advertisement lasting about 10 seconds before the internet session can begin. The service also offers data-mining applications for advertisers, giving them the ability to locate users, determine purchasing profiles and obtain real-time reports on the whereabouts and number of visitors. 

With interactive ad revenues on the rise worldwide, funding internet access through ads makes a great deal of sense. In addition, public WiFi has a value-added aspect for advertisers, namely the data-mining capacity which allows them to more effectively target potential customers. Again, free access to data can be a very effective driver of internet-based commerce and a boon to both operators and their partners in terms of eventual revenue.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of Tarifica's "The Story of The Week", a weekly report that analyzes two 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

Amazon’s Smartphone Likely to Come with AT&T Sponsored Data

The high-end smartphone that internet giant Amazon plans to launch later this spring will likely come with sponsored LTE data from U.S. operator AT&T, according to reports. While few details have been released, the plan, which will be called Amazon Prime Data, would allow AT&T customers to stream Amazon’s content—TV, movies and music—over their Amazon smartphones, without it counting against their LTE data allotments. While Amazon’s upcoming smartphone is rumored to have many game-changing advanced features such as a 3-D effects and gesture-based interface options, the real draw for users may well be the free data for access to Amazon’s high-data-consumption branded entertainment offerings. Amazon has followed this strategy before: It has always offered free 3G data for its Kindle readers, and in 2012 it offered 250 MB of LTE data per month for the Kindle Fire HD device for an annual fee of $50. In short, the company realizes that access to data is what the its content business hinges on, and it is willing to do a deal with a major mobile operator to get it. Providing consumers with data opens the door for Amazon—and other similar internet-based entities—to charge consumers for the actual content. From the point of view of mobile operators, this development, if it actually goes through and proves successful, would constitute yet another piece of evidence that partnering with large entities like Amazon will be an increasingly attractive option for revenue generation. And considering that the FCC, a U.S. regulatory agency, is expected to soften its net neutrality restrictions in the new rules that will be announced on 15 May, the climate is likely favorable to the proliferation of special-access data arrangements between operators and content providers.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of Tarifica's "The Story of The Week", a weekly report that analyzes two 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