Telefonica to Increase Minutes and Data

Telefonica will increase the volume of data and voice minutes included in its Spanish prepaid mobile bundles, starting in mid-September, according to a report. The company operates in Spain under the Movistar brand.

From 15 September, the cheapest Movistar monthly tariff of €10.00 (US $11.76) will offer 40 minutes of calls and 7 GB of data, up from 20 minutes and 4 GB. The intermediate tariff of €15.00 ($17.63) will offer 100 minutes of calls and 15 GB of data, up from 40 minutes and 7 GB. The top monthly bundle of €20.00 (US $23.51) will offer 150 minutes of calls and 25 GB of data, up from 80 minutes and 15 GB.

Telefonica, which last month launched a €5.00 (US $5.88) a month youth-oriented prepaid tariff, had 1.01 million prepaid lines as of 30 June, down 19.5 percent from a year earlier, compared to 15.28 million postpaid clients. 

In Spain, which was severely affected by Covid-19 this past spring, has experienced vigorous growth in the budget-oriented segment of the mobile market. Prepaid tariffs, having lower cost and less commitment, tend to appeal to budget-minded consumers.

Telefonica (Movistar) primarily operates in the postpaid market in that country, but its prepaid business has seen a fairly steep decline (almost 20 percent) compared to this time last year, measured in terms of number of lines in use. The pandemic has actually increased demand for prepaid service, due to the heavy economic impact and its effect on customers’ budgets. So, the fact that Telefonica has slipped in this sector is almost certainly due to the presence of effective competition from rival operators, including MVNOs.

So, Telefonica’s move to double or nearly double its allowance of voice and data on its existing prepaid plans is a significant attempt to meet this competition head-on and claim a bigger proportion of the growing budget-oriented market. These offers should prove effective to some extent, but there are still better deals available in Spain. For example, the low-cost MVNO Lycamobile offers 150 minutes (plus an extra 150 on-net minutes) and 40 GB of data for €20.00 month; for the same price Movistar offers 150 minutes and only 25 GB of data. The increases in allowances plus the new youth plan should help Telefonica be more competitive in the Spanish market as it now is, but the operator may have to offer even more to narrow the gap.

Tarifica is a global SaaS company and a market leader in the real-time collection, analysis and delivery of telecom plan and pricing data worldwide. Through a mix of AI, modeling and market expertise, Tarifica tracks hundreds of thousands of plan and pricing data points daily. No other company tracks more. Tarifica's mission is to continuously convert data into the dynamic intelligence that fuels opportunities for its clients, the world's leading operators, regulators and consultants.
Learn more about Tarifica at www.tarifica.com.

Vodafone Spain Introduces All-you-can-eat data

Vodafone Spain has announced a significant reduction on the price of its mobile plans with all-you-can-eat data, one day after Movistar Spain (owned by Telefónica) launched its first unlimited consumer data offers. Movistar reduced the price on its new Contrato Infinito unlimited data plan from €39.95 (US $43.40) a month to €24.95 a month for 12 months, and Vodafone then cut the price of its premium Ilimitada Total plan to €24.95 (US $27.11) a month from the standard price of €49.95 (US $54.27). 

Both plans come with unlimited calls and SMS plus data at the highest possible download speeds, including 5G where available. However, after the 12-month period is over, Vodafone’s plan will cost €49.95 a month, compared to €39.95 for Movistar’s.

Over the past two years, all-you-can-eat data offers for consumers have proliferated in the Spanish market. The first to enter, in 2018, was Yoigo, the country’s fourth-largest MNO, owned by Másmóvil. That was followed by unlimited-data plans from Vodafone Spain (2019) and Orange Spain (2020). Movistar, the first-ranked Spanish operator, introduced an unlimited offer for business customers only, in late January of 2020. Contrato Infinito, the consumer unlimited plan that it launched on 20 April, marks its entry into the field.

Vodafone, Spain’s third-largest operator, has responded with great rapidity to Movistar’s move, countering one day later, on 21 April, with a comparable offer, called Ilimitada Total. The standard price of Contrato Infinito is €49.95 a month, but Movistar is offering a promotional price of €24.95 a month to customers who switch to the operator’s postpaid service from prepaid or port their number from another operator by 30 April.

The counter-offer from Vodafone is certainly competitive in the sense that—at least on paper—it provides the same unlimited data plus unlimited calls and SMS, as well as 5G access wherever available. As a way to keep existing customers in its ecosystem by removing the temptation to migrate to Movistar, it seems like quite a good idea. Of course, undercutting Movistar on price rather than matching its price would be even more effective in attracting new subscribers, and offering some plan features or add-ons that add distinction would also be more powerful and persuasive. Nonetheless, quickly matching a competitor’s offer is a legitimate strategy.

However, the fact that the eventual cost of Vodafone’s plan will be €10.00 a month higher than Movistar’s is a potential concern. The operator can perhaps count on the fact that subscribers will be thinking more about the immediate cost savings than about what will happen in 12 months’ time, but especially now, with the global pandemic going on, consumer spending habits are likely to be more conservative. Ultimately, of course, when it comes to unlimited data offers, much depends on the real-world performance of the networks. 

Tarifica is a global SaaS company and a market leader in the real-time collection, analysis and delivery of telecom plan and pricing data worldwide. Through a mix of AI, modeling and market expertise, Tarifica tracks hundreds of thousands of plan and pricing data points daily. No other company tracks more. Tarifica's mission is to continuously convert data into the dynamic intelligence that fuels opportunities for its clients, the world's leading operators, regulators and consultants. 

Learn more about Tarifica at www.tarifica.com.

Movistar Chile Launches Apple Carrier Billing

Movistar Chile has begun offering carrier billing for purchases from Apple. The operator’s postpaid mobile customers who have Apple devices will be able to pay via their mobile bill for purchases in the App Store and from Apple Music, iTunes and Apple Books.

The operator said that this is a first in South America. The service is expected to ease purchases for customers who do not have a credit card.

Carrier billing is an old concept that has proved beneficial to operators. Generally speaking, it promotes entertainment content purchasing and app purchasing, which in turns encourages more data use on the part of customers, which in turn generates revenue for the operator. It can also improve customer retention (because users come to depend on the operator for their interaction with their device company and its products) and promote better relations between customer and operator.

In this case in Chile, however, the operator’s claim that the carrier billing is aimed at those who do not have credit cards aligns this arrangement more with mobile money. Mobile money, which allows the unbanked to pay for goods and services through their mobile bills, has of course played a huge role in emerging economies. But for carrier billing to be positioned not just as a convenience for relatively affluent users of high-end devices like the iPhone and so on but as a form of targeted mobile money is indeed different. Movistar says this is a first in South America; if it has correctly identified a significant demographic of users who favor Apple products but lack credit card accounts, the carrier billing should lead to rewards for both operator and users. And even if not, it can certainly benefit any kind of Movistar customer who uses Apple devices.

 Tarifica’s products and services are powered by large-scale data from the global telecom industry and a deep level of expertise gained from our singular focus. We leverage these core attributes to help our clients understand their markets and answer their most challenging questions. Our team of analysts, software engineers and data scientists deliver real-time dynamic solutions for the telecom industry. Our software and state of the art data extraction techniques enable our clients to make smart decisions in real-time based on insightful, actionable data.

We are the telecom plan & pricing experts.

 If you have any questions about this article, feel free to contact our Editor-in-chief John Dorfman at jdorfman@tarifica.com

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

Movistar Mexico Launches American Football App

Movistar Mexico, owned by Spain-based Telefónica, has signed an agreement with the U.S.-based National Football League (NFL) to launch the Movistar NFL MX app. This app gives all the operator’s mobile customers access to all U.S. football games of the upcoming season, as well as other exclusive NFL content. Customers will also be given the opportunity to win tickets for games such as the Los Angeles Rams vs. Kansas City Chiefs, to be held on 19 November in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca. The app will be available to iOS and Android users at a one-off cost of MXN 99.00 (US $5.13), starting on 17 September.
 
Amid the U.S. government’s increasingly strident stance with regard to Mexican immigration and the concomitant strain in relations, mobile operators are clearly trying to increase and strengthen ties between the two countries. U.S. giant AT&T—after acquiring Nextel Mexico and Iusacell in 2014 and 2015—established a Mexican subsidiary, AT&T Mexico, with a cross-border North American mobile service area in which roaming does not apply.
 
Given the close connections—by culture and population—between the U.S. and Mexico, and given that those have apparently grown to include American football, it makes sense for a the U.S.-Mexican operator to use the time-tested strategy of offering exclusive access to sports content in a way that itself crosses the border. And the NFL itself has taken this approach, having announced plans to hold a small number of regular-season games in Mexico in 2018 through 2021, with the Rams-Chiefs matchup as the inaugural event. Offering Mexican customers of AT&T not only the opportunity to win tickets to that game but also exclusive access via an app with a low one-time fee to televised viewing of all NFL games is an excellent way for the operator to leverage and monetize this current cultural phenomenon.

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 

Mexican MVNO Simplii Launches Roam Like Home

Mexican operator Simplii has become the first MVNO in the country to offer expanded national roaming and international roaming at no extra cost. The company began operations on Telefónica’s Movistar network seven months ago, promising “more data for less money.” It has now extended its coverage to areas of Mexico outside Movistar’s network, due to the national roaming agreement Telefónica reached with Telcel (America Móvil) in 2016. In a statement, the MVNO also announced that subscribers to its 10 GB and 15 GB packages will be able to roam like home when visiting the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.
 
The bundles cost MXN 499.00 (US $26.51) and MXN 749.00 (US $39.80), respectively, and come with unlimited calls and SMS within Mexico as well as zero-rated data for the use of WhatsApp. Calls, SMS and data in North America will also be included in the plans, although calls and SMS from Mexico to international destinations are still subject to extra roaming fees.

Consumer impatience with roaming surcharges is spreading across markets worldwide, inspired, in part, by the recent regulation in the European Union against the fees. Roam like home is becoming an expectation, and even budget MVNOs are getting into the game. Simplii’s bold plan, building on its access to two mobile networks rather than just one, offers national and some international roaming free of surcharges, and with it, the MVNO achieves first-mover advantage in the Mexican market.
 
The surcharge-free calls, SMS and data in North America should be very attractive to Mexican subscribers, considering the frequency of travel between Mexico and the U.S. Canada and Puerto Rico are also included, although that appears to be the extent of the international roaming. Still, for an MVNO it is an innovative and generous offering that should gain the operator significant traction.

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 

Telefónica Mexico Chooses Tutela for Mobile Network Analysis

Canadian mobile analytics company Tutela Technologies has announced an agreement to help Telefónica Mexico improve its network quality. The partnership will give Telefónica Mexico access to quality crowd-sourced network data from over 150,000 Mexican mobile phone users, including details of signal strength and quality, device usage and download speed patterns.
 
The insights will enable the operator to analyze the experience of its own and rival networks, identify opportunities for improvement and troubleshoot performance problems as they arise, according to Tutela, which said that it collects over 10 billion mobile quality data points every day globally, with over 100 million data points per day in Mexico alone.
 
Spain-based multinational Telefónica, operating in Mexico under the Movistar brand, has experienced a difficult time in Mexico since entering the market over a decade and a half ago. While Movistar is number two in the market in terms of subscribers, it lags far behind the leader, América Móvil -owned Telcel, with 25 million subscribers to Telcel’s 75 million as of the first quarter of 2017. Furthermore, Movistar is facing a major challenge from new entrant AT&T, which has over 12 million subscribers and is growing fast. Telcel has also become a more aggressive competitor lately, ever since national regulators imposed measures to reduce its market dominance. As for Movistar, it has seen revenues drop more than 16 percent year-over-year, with subscriber numbers flat.
 
In Open Signal’s March 2017 tests of Mexican mobile networks, Movistar came in last of the top three operators, with Telcel leading in 4G/LTE and AT&T taking the lead for combined 3G and 4G quality. Movistar won in no categories. With these facts in mind, it seems that boosting network quality would be a very good strategic move for Movistar.
 
By partnering with Tutela, Telefónica Mexico will be engaging the services of a well-reputed firm with the ability to garner the high-quality, meaningful data that the operator will need in order to chart a course forward for its network. Granular data that pinpoints exactly where and how the network is not delivering what customers want will be essential, and comparative data about rival operators’ networks will likewise be indispensible.
 
While rumors have gone around in the media to the effect that Telefónica has been considering exiting the Mexican market in the wake of AT&T’s advent, the effort to seriously address its network concerns is an indicator that, at least for now, Telefónica is staying put.


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 

Orange Spain Poised to Enter Home Security Market

Orange Spain is teaming up with specialist manufacturer Tyco to launch a home security service with 24-hour monitoring and emergency response for €29.95 (US $32.82) a month plus a €99.00 (US $108.47) one-time installation fee, according to a report. The service, which becomes available on 24 May, can be set up with a smartphone app and comes with sensor-controlled wireless video surveillance equipment that continues working even during a power outage. Only eight percent of Orange customers currently have a security system in their home, the company says, adding that it will be the first unit in the Orange group to launch such a system.
 
The launch of Orange’s home security service comes nearly two years after Telefónica joined forces with IoT network company Sigfox, insurer Securitas Direct and home alarm provider Verisure to launch a similar service in Spain for Movistar users.
 
Home security systems enabled by the internet are increasingly popular across a broad swath of markets, and mobile operators have made various kinds of efforts to profit from the trend.
 
The most basic, least risky approach is simply to derive revenue from the connectivity needed to run the systems. While this is all upside, there is not a great deal of revenue to earn, because most of the time, security systems do not consume a great deal of data. A more aggressive tactic is to co-brand with existing security systems currently on the market, offer special deals to subscribers that incentivize them to sign up for the service.
 
Orange Spain is going one step further by taking a “soup-to-nuts” approach and creating its own security system, available exclusively to Orange subscribers. Given that only 8 percent of those subscribers now have a home security system, the field is wide open for Orange, and the pre-existing customer base is relatively easy to pitch to. Buying such a service from an already-trusted provider, for many people, is preferable to initiating a relationship with a new company. The exclusivity is likely to make the offer more palatable, and if the price point is right, we imagine that Orange could do quite well with it. The operator is, of course, late to the game, two years behind competitor Movistar. However, the market may be more mature now than it was then.

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 

Vodafone Ranks First in Spain for Network Quality

Spanish operator Vodafone has ranked first in the country for network quality, according to P3 Communications’ 2016 mobile benchmark tests. Vodafone received 865 points out of 1000, versus 836 for Movistar, 822 for Orange and 631 for Yoigo. Vodafone led in both the voice and data categories, and in 3G and 4G service alike. While all four major operators showed improvement over 2015’s results, Vodafone maintained the lead it had last year.

 
 

Despite ranking first in network quality, Vodafone ranks second in Spain in terms of subscriber base. We think the operator would do well to take these test results and use them aggressively to promote itself. Consumer satisfaction and quality of service are key factors in customer acquisition (and, of course, retention), and Vodafone should leverage the findings of this impartial, independent research entity to convince Spanish consumers to switch to its network.

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 

Tuenti Ecuador Launches Referral Offer

Spain-based international operator Telefónica has announced the launch of a friends’ referral scheme to help boost uptake of its Tuenti Movil MVNO service in Ecuador. Under the offer, any Tuenti prepaid customer can access their account online and send an invitation to friends via email, Facebook or Twitter. The friend who sets up a Tuenti account and as the friend who made the referral each receives US $5.00 in promotional credit. Tuenti Ecuador offers a series of data-focused prepaid plans, ranging from a 7-day bundle with 100 MB of data, 15 minutes of calls and 15 SMS for US $5.00 to a 30-day bundle with 400 MB of data, 60 minutes of calls and 60 SMS for US $15.00.

  

The MVNO market in Ecuador is in its infancy; when Telefónica, which operates under the brand name of Movistar there, launched Tuenti there in June 2015, it was the first MVNO in the country. There are currently no independent MVNOs in Ecuador. So while Tuenti has no direct competitors, it still needs to establish itself in a marketplace that is unused to such offerings. In order to distinguish itself from Movistar’s other offerings, as well as from those of competitor MNOs, Tuenti has emphasized the social media angle with unlimited zero-rated WhatsApp and Facebook usage. This brand identity harmonizes well with a socially driven promotion campaign such as this friends’ referral scheme, which operates via social media, as well as email. We believe that it is particularly persuasive, in that the amounts of credit received for a referral is quite large in the context of Tuenti’s prepaid tariffs, since it is equivalent to a week’s worth of services. In addition, the fact that both the referred friend and the one making the referral get a credit makes the offer even more attractive.

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

Chile’s WOM Launches Its First 4G plans, Offers 100 GB of Free Data

Chilean mobile operator WOM has launched its first 4G plans, which will initially available to customers in the cities of Santiago and Vina del Mar. The service runs on the AWS band (1.7–2.1 GHz). Postpaid customers can subscribe to plans starting from 1.5 GB of mobile data per month for CLP 9900 (US $16.56), while prepaid customers will have access to 2 GB of data per month for a minimum top-up of CLP 3000 (US $5.02) per month. In addition, new and existing postpaid customers will be given 10 GB per month over a 10-month period (100 GB in total) on top of their contracted plans. At the launch event in Playa de las Salinas in Vina del March, the operator’s CEO, Chris Bannister, said the operator would continue revolutionizing the local mobile telecom market by rolling out the 4G service throughout the country by the end of the year. WOM has topped Chile’s porting figures since it launched in July, recording the largest monthly net customer gain in the country for the third consecutive month in September. Ever since it debuted in July 2015, WOM has waged an aggressive campaign to acquire market share in Chile, an effort that has so far proved very successful. WOM has used clever advertising (its name is an acronym that stands for “Word of Mouth”) and cultivated a youth-oriented image. Most importantly, though, it has been offering enticing data packages, a smart approach in this increasingly data-hungry market. In many ways WOM’s strategy and image resemble those of T-Mobile US, whose “Uncarrier” campaign relies on attention-getting marketing and aggressive offers. In the case of WOM, the result has been attracting subscribers away from rival operators: In September, for the third month in a row, the operator largest net monthly customer gain, adding almost 32,871 new users, up from almost 31,992 in August. Competitor Virgin Mobile, by contrast, attracted only 11,193 users in September, while Entel, Movistar and Falabella showed net losses of customers. Adding 4G/LTE is the next step for WOM, a step it must take in order to be fully competitive, so rolling out the service in the capital city and in one other market makes perfect sense. In line with its policy to date, the operator is giving away a huge amount of free 4G data—10 GB per month for 10 months—which should have the effect of jump-starting the high-speed service in terms of uptake. In addition, the included data in the plans is competitively priced. WOM has strength in its network holdings, inherited from predecessor company Nextel Chile, and is clearly bent on using it. We believe the current 4G/LTE strategy is a very good one.

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

Telefónica, Telesites Said to Be Negotiating Mexico Tower Deal

Telefónica—operating in Mexico as Movistar—is discussing the possibility of renting mobile phone towers from Telesites, the recently spun-off towers business of América Móvil, according to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg. Its aim in doing so would be to gain access to Mexico’s most widespread network of around 10,800 towers, enabling it to offer faster services and lowering the costs of improving coverage, according to the sources. Telefónica’s chief operating officer, Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, recently said the company was prepared to reach network sharing deals with rivals such as AT&T (which owns Iusacell and Nextel) and América Móvil in order to boost its performance in Mexico. Last year, América Móvil, having been declared “dominant” by the Mexican regulator, agreed to sell off assets in order to bring its share of the mobile market under 50 percent. Spinning off its tower business into a new entity, Telesites, will not in and of itself accomplish the goal of reducing dominance. In April, CEO Daniel Hajj said, “We are interested in divesting and reducing our market share but we do not know exactly how we want to do it.” In the meantime, renting out some of its very substantial infrastructure is a way for América Móvil to drive revenue while waiting to see how the rapidly changing Mexican market will shake out. As for Telefónica, Alvarez-Pallete said last week, “We can’t intend to grow in Mexico without having a good network and we are light-years away from it. So, what has to be expected from us in Mexico is strong investments, and potentially agreements to access towers or for combined creation of infrastructure.” Sharing of network resources among rival operators has often been shown to be a win-win situation, and in the Mexican market, where there is a great to need to improve coverage over vast areas, sharing is particularly desirable. AT&T, in its quest to become the first cross-border service provider in North America, is also reportedly working on an agreement to rent towers from Telesites.

Tarifica has been the leading provider of telecom pricing information for close to four decades. It maintains the most robust, in-depth and up-to-date pricing database in the industry, which includes mobile and fixed line rates from over 400 operators in 85 countries, as well as historical data going back to 1997. Tarifica also produces reports, surveys, publications and custom analyses.Its clients include carriers, regulators, enterprises and consultants in every region of the globe.For more information, please visit www.tarifica.com. Tarifica also maintains a presence on the following social media platforms: