Orange Spain Wins Big Data Contract for Transportation

Orange Spain and Madrid-based Kineo Mobility Analytics have won a contract to provide the country’s public works and transport ministry with Big Data analysis of user movements to aid the construction of new rail and road routes. The partners stated that the contract requires them to use anonymous data collected by mobile-phone antennas to study user movement patterns pertaining to road, rail, sea and air travel with a view to aiding the ministry’s decision-making process when it comes to rolling out new infrastructure.
 
Under the terms of the €158,000 (US $193,360) contract, Orange and Kineo will report back within four months with their findings.
 
This project provides a good illustration of two salient points about today’s mobile telecom business. One is that operators continue to look for ways to branch out and make themselves more relevant as traditional services face commodity status. One very good way to do this is to leverage customer data, which operators, by their very nature, possess in extremely large quantities. Orange’s network has 16 million users on it, with a further 3 million via MVNOs that run on the operator’s network.
 
Since one major trend in today’s marketplace is the expansion of data analytics in the public and private spheres alike, Big Data applications are a fertile field for mobile operators. 
 
In this case, Orange Spain is partnering with a data analytics firm to provide the country’s government with material that it can use to improve planning and logistics for transportation infrastructure. While this harvesting such data is not the core mission of an MNO, the data exists and can serve a purpose that was originally not foreseen. While the dollar amount of this contract is not very high, relatively speaking, it is essentially all upside because Orange is monetizing a pre-existing asset.
 
The second point to make is that with the increasing concerns about privacy, operators need to be careful about the uses to which they put the data they collect about their subscribers. Even with data being anonymized, knowledge that it has been shared can potentially sit ill with customers—particularly now, in the wake of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. Sharing data with commercial and mobile advertising entities to sell products is much more likely to raise concerns than a public-spirited application such as helping a national government to improve transportation, which is likely to benefit everyone with no apparent downside. In the emerging era of Big Data, it is a good idea to be on the right side of history, and with this partnership, it seems that Orange Spain is doing just that. In addition to the revenue generated, the operator stands to burnish its public image and strengthen its brand.

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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Orange Spain Launches Direct Carrier Billing for Apple

Orange Spain has announced the launch of direct carrier billing for Apple services. All prepaid and postpaid customers can now purchase content from the Apple’s App Store, iTunes, iBooks and Apple Music via their phone bills. To access the service, Orange customers with a new or existing Apple ID must select “mobile telephone” as a payment method in their account settings for the App Store, Apple Music, iBooks and iTunes. The new payment option will be configured automatically and immediately allows for one-tap purchasing from all the user’s Apple devices, including Apple TV and the Apple Watch.
 
Direct carrier billing has proved a lucrative strategy both for operators than provide it and for the third-party entities whose services are billed that way. In the case of Apple, with its plethora of services and devices, the arrangement is especially beneficial—and especially appropriate.
 
Given the dominance of the iPhone among users in developed markets like that of Spain, the demand for services and products offered via the App Store, iTunes, etc., is high, and therefore there is synergy between the operator that provides the connectivity for the phone and the phone itself with its attendant options. The seamlessness of paying for one’s Apple services and phone bill without having to use two accounts is bound to be attractive, and it will likely be a strong force to keep Apple users within the Orange ecosystem. So in addition to driving revenue to the operator, it will also aid in retention.

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 

Asia-Pacific OTT TV and Video Revenues to Triple by 2021

OTT TV and video revenues in the Asia-Pacific region will jump to US $18.39 billion in 2021, from US $5.74 billion in 2015 and US $707 million in 2010, according to a report from Digital TV Research. China is expected to overtake Japan in 2016 to become the market leader in OTT TV and video services. The report also forecasts that smartphone users will continue to drive OTT TV and video audiences. Advertising on OTT sites is expected to remain the primary source of revenue, bringing in US $8.74 billion by 2021, up from US $2.6 billion in 2015. China will supply US $4.91 billion of the 2021 total, with Japan providing a further US $1.47 billion. The forecast’s impressive figures give a clear indication that OTT services beyond VoIP calling and messaging will be ever-greater sources of revenue in the near future in one well-developed world region, fulfilling the ever-growing consumer demand for data-rich entertainment content. They also make it clear that mobile devices will be the primary conduits for this consumption. Content providers and mobile advertising providers will benefit tremendously from this trend. Asia-Pacific mobile operators should think carefully about how they, too, can profit from it, beyond simply the data-use revenues involved. Partnerships, exclusive if possible, with content providers represent one avenue for operators to pursue. Deals with advertising providers are another.

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 Launches Campaign for 4G Phone Upgrades

 

Mobile operator Orange Spain has launched a summer promotion to encourage its customers to upgrade to 4G/LTE-enabled phones. Under the offer, called Plan Estrena 4G, customers who trade in an old device will receive double its usual value as credit toward a new 4G device. For example, trading in an iPhone 4s will be worth a €100.00 (US $110.00) credit toward an iPhone 6, instead of the usual €50.00 (US $55.00). The credit for the old phone can be either in the form of a discount coupon for use in Orange shops or a bank transfer. The offer is valid for all customers who buy a 4G phone with a postpaid plan by 31 August. According to Orange, over 3 million customers already use its 4G network in Spain.

 

 

Over the past several months, Orange has announced that it will invest tens of millions to over a hundred million euros in each of several Spanish regions—including Madrid, Valencia, Asturias, Seville, and La Mancha—for the promotion and development of 4G networks over the next three years. If the operator is going to spend this kind of money, it is going to need to take other steps to ensure return on the investments—specifically, it will need to incentivize customers to fully utilize the new high-speed service. Putting the right devices in their hands is an essential part of this effort—along with advertising that promotes the capabilities of 4G and the offering of value-added services that leverage 4G—and this doubling of credit seems to us generous enough to accomplish the goal. And since the most data-hungry customers, those who would benefit the most from 4G and use it the most, tend to be on postpaid plans, it is logical that the credit offer is targeted to that sector.

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. Click here to contact a Tarifica Analyst.

Orange Spain Bundles Wearables With Devices and Plans

Mobile operator Orange Spain has started bundling a range of smart watches with the purchase of specific smartphones. The operator announced the following bundles, all of which require a subscription to the Whale plan, its largest (unlimited voice minutes and 5 GB of data), which costs €39.95 (US $49.56) per month: Customers who purchase the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 can purchase the Galaxy Gear S for €6.00 (US $7.44); the Sony SmartWatch 3 is available at no cost to customers who purchase a Sony Xperia Z3; and the Motorola Moto 360 and LG G Watch R are also free with the purchase of an LG G3 smartphone.

Although Spain has one of the largest mobile markets in Europe, the number of mobile subscribers there has been declining since 2011, due to the economic crisis. According to recent reports, Orange is the second-largest operator by a small margin over Vodafone—11.53 million subscribers versus 11.5 million. As we have written before, in such a competitive market operators need to be innovative and aggressive in order to maintain or increase their subscriber base. With these new bundled offerings, Orange has chosen to push its high-end plan by including a wearable device in the package rather than by reducing the plan’s cost. The launch of this offer, to coincide with the upcoming Christmas holiday, is well-timed. A report presented in November 2014 by the Center for Retail Research stated that 2014 will be the first year that wearable devices will have a significant economic impact on the European market, with Spain ranked the third country in terms of sales. According to the report, the upcoming holiday season will drive yearly revenue produced from the country’s wearable sector to €199 million (US $246.9 million). By being the first of Spain’s operators to bundle wearables in its contract plans, Orange will lead in capturing revenue these devices can generate through data use and connectivity.

 

“Operators providing services in markets that are experiencing economic turmoil—such as several countries in southern Europe—need to create plans to meet their subscribers’ current expectations. In many cases these target specific user groups, and as long as those offers are innovative, they can become a good source of revenue. Spanish MVNO Happy Movil, for example, offers a wide variety of low-cost plans. At the other end of the spectrum, Orange Spain is bundling wearable devices with its highest-end plan. With this approach, operators are targeting specific customer groups that will at least create some more revenue, if not the larger amounts that would be generated in better economic times.”

Edyta Krzton, Senior Analyst at Tarifica

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 or to speak with the research team: http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx