Vodacom South Africa Launches Reverse-Billed Data for Businesses

Vodacom South Africa has launched reverse-billed data for its business customers. It allows businesses to offer clients and staff free access to their websites, online content, apps and data services without affecting their own data bundles. Businesses can thereby expand their reach, increase website traffic and improve engagement, because clients do not need to worry about the cost of data. 

Vodacom Business offers a tiered billing model with subscription fees and usage based on a sliding scale, charged to the sponsoring company. For reverse-billed data, businesses will subscribe to a service where their specified URLs will be charged according to usage. 

Vodacom Business’ reverse-billed data is an interesting and innovative concept, in some ways reminiscent of zero-rating in the consumer market. In zero-rating, an operator makes data available free for certain apps, usually popular ones such as streaming entertainment or OTT messaging. This is done for several reasons—to inculcate high-data-consumption habits in customers, to promote a service partnership and to gain a competitive advantage over rival operators.

In this case, the target audience is not consumers in general but clients of a specific company to whom that company would like to offer complimentary access to sites, apps and related services. Vodacom is selling its business customers the reverse-billed data service, making it possible for them, in turn, to provide what is essentially zero-rated data to their customers. If that allows businesses to increase their client base and by extension their revenue, the uptake of the reverse-billed data service will not only bring in revenue for Vodacom but also increase acquisition and retention of customers for the operator.

The tiered, sliding-scale billing structure appears to be a sound idea, as it would make it possible for all sizes of business customers, enterprises and SMEs, to subscribe to the service. The fact that the data that is reverse-billed is charged according to usage as opposed to flat-rate should be appealing to business customers because it gives them the security of knowing that they are only paying for data actually used.

The one question looming over this offering is whether the data charges that ordinarily would be accrued by corporate clients accessing the sites and apps of businesses are prohibitive in any way. If companies really hold back from using data in these ways because of charges, to the point where they would significantly increase their usage if the data were reverse-billed, then the offering should succeed. But it is also possible that the analogy between consumers using zero-rated data and businesses using reverse-billed data is inexact.

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.
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Italian Music Journalists Create “High Fidelity” Playlists for TIMmusic

TIM (Telecom Italia) has launched a new series of videos, podcasts and playlists on its TIMmusic streaming service to mark the 25th anniversary of British author Nick Hornby’s hit novel “High Fidelity.” Under the initiative, an Italian music journalist come up with a playlist every week for the next seven weeks, accompanied by a podcast and video on “the top five tips to impress with your playlist.” The “Alta Fedelta” videos are available on TIMmusic’s social channels on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, while the podcasts and playlists are available on the TIMmusic app.

TIMmusic comes with a catalogue of over 30 million songs and is available to customers of all mobile operators, although TIM users with an active data offer get zero-rated access in Italy.

Given the importance of music streaming services to the business models of mobile operator today, it makes sense for operators to put a great deal of thought into how those services are promoted, and to what the tastes of the target audience are. In this case, relying on well-known pop-music journalists to come up with playlists that will appeal to subscribers is a way for TIM to distinguish its TIMmusic streaming service within the Italian marketplace. Presumably these journalists are knowledgeable about the tastes of the listeners, and their taste, being influential, will also be able to draw in more listeners.

The 1995 novel, which has to do with record-store workers devising playlists that demonstrate their musical knowledge, remains popular (a 2000 U.S. film adaptation helped spread its popularity), so it is an appropriate hook for playlist offering. It is an excellent idea for TIM to make its TIMmusic catalogue available to subscribers of all operators, because not only can it expand its base for generating revenue that way, but the streaming service will also promote TIM and possible attract new customers to switch over to TIM. Even more persuasive in terms of customer acquisition is the zero-rating of data for the music streaming service, which is available only to TIM subscribers. 

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.

Telecom Italia Launches Offer Targeting MVNO Customers

Telecom Italia has launched a new offer called TIM Supreme 50 Giga, with 50 GB of 4G/LTE data at speeds of up to 150 Mbps, plus unlimited calls, for €5.99 (US $6.61) a month, according to a report. The offer is available at TIM-affiliated stores for users who switch to the operator’s service from a range of MVNOs including Iliad, Fastweb Mobile, PosteMobile and CoopVoce. Customers of LycaMobile, Vodafone’s Ho.Mobile and TIM’s own MVNO brand Kena Mobile are not eligible. A new SIM card costs €10.00 (US $11.04) and the activation fee is €12.00 (US $13.25).

TIM’s Supreme 50 Giga package is an aggressively low-priced offer that clearly takes aim at Italy’s MVNOs. A generous serving of high-speed data on a proven-quantity network, with unlimited voice calls, is certainly a bargain at €5.99 a month, and this is definitely a valid strategy with which a major MNO could reclaim some market share from small budget-minded competitors. Whether it ends up being a true MVNO-killer, however, may depend on several factors other than price and quality of service.

For one thing, MVNO customers are likely to be averse to contracts. If the Supreme 50 Giga requires a commitment of any kind, that could be off-putting for some of these users. The fact that it is postpaid rather than prepaid, as appears to be the case, could also be an impediment, although if there is no long-term commitment, that could make it more palatable for those who are used to pay-as-you-go.

It should be noted that in addition to not cannibalizing its own MVNO brand, Kena, TIM is also keeping its hands off its rival among the major MNOs, Vodafone, as well as LycaMobile, a massive worldwide MVNO brand. The operator is not trying to declare war, only to launch a salvo against some local targets that it feels are vulnerable. 

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TIM Launches Prepaid Plan for Youth

Italian operator TIM (Telecom Italia) has launched a new prepaid plan for mobile users aged 8 to 30 years of age, according to a report. Called TIM Young Senza Limiti Top Edition, it has been available since on 25 March at a cost of €14.99 (US $16.95) a month plus activation fees of €9.00 (US $10.18) when tied to a current account or €12.00 (US $13.57) with a monthly top-up.

The plan comes with for 30 GB of data and unlimited calls to all mobile and fixed line numbers, plus zero-rated data for most messaging apps, social networks and music streaming platforms. Through 30 September, users will also get free access to 25 million songs, without ads, through the streaming service TimMusic.  

As we have noted quite frequently, apropos of many different kinds of telecom markets, the youth demographic is key and targeting it has lasting value for operators. Under age 30 is an impressionable time in terms of brand loyalty and usage habits; therefore gaining subscribers at that life stage is a reliable way of ensuring that they will stay with the operator long-term.

One feature of youth plans is that they are budget-oriented, which is important given the relative lack of spending power of customers in their teens and 20s. In keeping with the low prices (and frequently prepaid basis), these plans tend to be modest in features. On the other hand, TIM Young Senza Limiti Top Edition appears quite generous, with a large quantum of data, unlimited minutes to all networks and zero-rated data for OTT messaging apps, social media apps and operator-proprietary streaming music. This generosity, coupled with low pricing, may cause the offering to be a “loss leader” for the operator—costly in the short run but beneficial in the long run in terms of customer retention and eventual upselling.

Give that data consumption levels among the youth demographic tend to be high, offers such as this may be the wave of the future when it comes to cultivating this market sector. It is also notable, in this case, that the age range begins at 8 rather than 18; habits of mobile device use are being formed at younger ages than ever before.

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

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Vodafone Italia Appears Set to Launch Budget MVNO

Vodafone Italia is preparing to launch a low-cost MVNO brand later this year to compete with Telecom Italia’s recent debut of its Kena Mobile MVNO and the imminent entry of France’s Iliad as the country’s fourth mobile network operator, according to a news report. Back on 8 March, Vodafone created a company called Vei SRL and informed competitors that it holds a general license for full MVNO activities.
 
The new entity would serve as the vehicle for the new MVNO brand, which could begin providing mobile number portability services as early as this September, said the report. While Vodafone sources indicated to journalists that no final decision has been taken and that the company is still evaluating its options, the creation of a new brand and the existence of a detailed roadmap point to the imminent launch of a budget service.
 
Italy’s MVNO war looks set to heat up, with some help from a foreign power, so to speak. Two months ago, TIM (Telecom Italia) began offering Kena Mobile MVNO plans. In addition, French operator Iliad (which provides mobile service under the brand Free) plans to launch as an MNO in Italy sometime between November 2017 and January 2018.
 
In this market climate, it makes a great deal of sense for Vodafone Italia to take decisive action and create its own budget-minded service to compete. The famously disruptive Iliad is known for its aggressive offers and says it is planning to grab 10 percent of the Italian mobile market quickly. Vodafone sees the need to respond in kind. At an industry conference last November, Vittorio Colao, the CEO of Vodafone, when asked about Free’s launch in Italy, said, “When you have a big warship and the pirates are approaching, it makes sense to send out the commandos in the speed boats,” referring to tactics such as price cuts and more generous data bundles.
 
Now that the time to deploy the commandos has arrived, the operator has apparently chosen the MVNO type of speed boat. The logic of that seems to be that by breaking out its budget service into a separate brand, Vodafone can more effectively and directly market itself as an alternative to Free (as well as to TIM’s MVNO), both to existing and prospective customers.
 
As for TIM, its new Kena Mobile MVNO is offering the choice of a voice-only bundle of 1,000 minutes or a bundle of 4 GB of 3G data for €3.99 (US $4.45) per month, with the cost rising to €9.99 (US $11.14) per month for 600 voice minutes, 100 SMS and 6 GB of data. We would expect Vodafone’s prospective MVNO, if it indeed comes to the market, to at least equal that.

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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3 Italia's Teen-Oriented Mobile Offering

Italian operator 3 Italia launched a time-limited mobile offering during the Easter season, targeted at teenage users. The operator’s All-In Teen Limited Edition bundle came with 10 GB of data, 1,000 minutes of calls and 100 SMS for €5.00 (US $5.32) a month. There was a one-off activation fee of  €9.00 (US $9.57), and the offer was only available to users who port their numbers from TIM or MVNOs by 19 April.
 
We have written on several occasions about the strength of the youth market and the importance for mobile operators to cultivate it. We generally understand “youth” to refer to young adults, who are digital natives and are still forming their spending habits and brand loyalties. But we should be aware that the age at which people become users of mobile technology is getting lower and lower, especially in affluent markets. As a result of this trend, operators can benefit from getting hold of potential long-term customers as early as possible.
 
Pushing the definition of the mobile youth market downward in terms of age is going to be increasingly prevalent, we believe. 3 Italia’s move, although a short-term promotional one with limited eligibility, is indicative of the direction in which MNOs might choose to go. The All-In Teen Limited Edition bundle seems appropriately designed, in that it includes a fairly generous data allotment to accommodate teens’ desire for streaming entertainment content and games, as well as a good number of voice minutes but not many SMS, reflecting young users’ preference for OTT messaging apps.
 
The extremely low monthly rate is also a thought-provoking idea, in that it suggests that the teens are be paying for this plan themselves, rather than their parents. What this means is that the operator clearly wants the teens to be making brand choice, so that they can be cultivated for future, and indeed long-term, loyalty. For MNOs, the argument that the earlier you can get them, the longer you can keep them is likely to be increasingly persuasive.

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 Global Telecommunication Developments

Asia/Pacific

Indian mobile operator Tata DoCoMo has launched SimplySwap, a handset protection service for its postpaid customers. New and existing subscribers who purchase a handset from the operator can enroll in the program, which will allow them to swap their devices for the same brand and model twice each year. All swapped handsets include a new six-month warranty. The SimplySwap service charge includes a monthly fee, which is included in customers’ bills as a well as a fee when the device exchange is completed. These charges depend on the type of device and start at INR 89.00 (US $1.46) for the monthly service fee and INR 400.00 (US $6.57) for the corresponding swap fee.

Europe

U.K. mobile operator Vodafone will launch a mobile wallet service next month. In a partnership with Visa, the MNO has developed services that will work with a SIM card that is embedded with NFC technology, which will enable mobile devices to be used for contactless payments. The Vodafone wallet, which will be available for Android phones, will allow users to pay for travel on the London Underground and to make person-to-person payments.

Latin America

Three of the four major operators in Brazil have requested a stop or changes to the upcoming 30 September auction for 4G services of the 700 MHz band. Operators Vivo, Claro and TIM Brasil have all said that they disagree with certain parts of the 700 Mhz auction rules and want them changed. The carriers are complaining that although the rules set a minimum on how much the operators would need to pay TV companies for the cleanup of

spectrum, they do not set a cap on those payments. The operators also oppose the extra payment that is being imposed on telecom service providers that currently own 4G licenses—basically the major MNOs. The regulator, Anatel, has indicated that the auction will not be postponed; however, it will judge all appeals against various aspects of the 700 MHz band auction at a meeting on 18 September.

Middle East/Africa

South Sudan’s largest mobile operator, Zain, has partnered with Huawei, a global technology solutions provider, and the United Nation’s peace and security promoting organization, UNESCO, to provide internet access to schools in the country. Zain’s base stations will be used to power the project, and the first phase of this initiative will bring internet access to more than 3,000 school children.

North America

Verizon Enterprise Solutions, the business and government solution provider of U.S. mobile operator Verizon Wireless, has announced that Verizon Auto Share, a secure platform that will enable drivers to rent, drive and return cars and other vehicles, will be available before the end of 2014. The Scan & Go feature of the service’s app, which is available for smartphones and tablets, will provide drivers with access to their chosen vehicle and with the ability to start and drive it through a key fob that appears on the app. The app targets customers of rental car companies and auto dealers.

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

TIM Italia Introduces Data Package for Students

Italian mobile operator TIM has begun offering the TIM College Pack, targeted at middle school and high school students. The package includes the Huawei Mediapad Link+ 10” tablet with 3G connectivity, 2 GB of mobile data, a 12-month-long language course (choice of English, French, Spanish or German), dictionaries of Italian and English, 20 preloaded educational e-books (Italian literature classics) three manuals for music, drawing and memory tricks from the website Scuolabook.it and a €150.00 (US $200.46) voucher for the purchase of digital textbooks from the same website. The tablet will also come preloaded with Oilproject, an e-learning platform that provides online video courses on various subjects. The operator is also offering the online security service TIMProtect free of charge for the first month. This offer is available until 30 September 2014.

 

The Italian government has been making efforts to integrate digital learning into schools. TIM’s parent company and fixed line incumbent Telecom Italia signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research for measures to support the digital school plan. However, while these measures are being implemented, Italy still lags behind several EU countries in terms of the incorporation of digital learning. Therefore, a service that enables e-learning is likely to be well received.

TIM’s first offering targeted at students’ needs is well-structured. The cost of the plan is €20.00 (US $26.73) per month, except for Telecom Italia landline customers, who instead pay €10.00 (US $13.36) per month. The contract term is 30 months, and a once-off activation fee of €49.00 (US $65.48) applies. Therefore, the total cost to Telecom Italia customers is €349.00 (US $466.41), while for others it is €649.00 (US $867.33). The tablet is currently available for €269.90 (US $360.70) without a plan from the same operator. Furthermore, the content provided is from popular e-learning sources and is relevant for students. There is also sufficient time to activate the content (the last date is 30 June 2015). The fact that no excess usage fees apply to this plan (speed is throttled to 32 Kbps after the data allowance is reached) is another advantage for parents looking for cost control. Finally, the free trial of the TIMProtect service is a benefit that may be attractive to consumers. After the first month, it is being offered at the rate of €2.90 (US $3.87) per month for the duration of the contract. All in all, TIM’s College Pack seems to meet the needs of the target customer segment.

 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