3 Denmark Raises Data Allowances and Roaming Fair Use Without Raising Prices

Mobile operator 3 Denmark said that it is improving certain subscription plans, such as expanding data allowances by 40 percent to 67 percent for its Fri Tale packages, without raising prices. It is also increasing the roaming fair usage policy for customers on its 3LikeHome tariffs from 10 GB to 20 GB.
 
The subscription change went into effect on 27 March for new customers and goes into effect on 16 April—the beginning of a new billing period—for existing subscribers. For customers on legacy 3LikeHome subscriptions, the upgrades do not go into effect until 23 April.
 
The 3 Denmark Plus subscription will now provide 15 hours of talk time instead of 10, and the price remains DKK 80.00 (US $13.30). Fri Tale (unlimited voice) 5 GB subscriptions with 3LikeHome will now supply 40 percent more mobile internet at 7 GB, with the price staying at DKK 130.00 (US $21.65). Fri Tale 10 GB contracts will change to 15 GB ones, at DKK 150.00 (US $25.00). The 20 GB version will now provide 30 GB for DKK 200.00 (US $33.30). The 40 GB Fri Tale subscription will now provide 60 GB, at the unchanged price of DKK 230.00 (US $38.30). The 60 GB Fri Tale service will now provide 100 GB, with the price remaining at DKK 270.00 (US $45.00).
 
As for its mobile broadband subscriptions, 3 Denmark said the 200 GB package will expand to 250 GB for the same price of DKK 250.00 (US $41.65). The 350 GB mobile broadband package will deliver 500 GB at DKK 300.00 (US $50.00).
 
According to Denmark’s Energy Authority, Danish internet use rose by 50 percent in the first half of 2017. This is a very noteworthy statistic, and one that points out the path ahead for mobile operators. With such a dramatic change in usage habits, operators—even in affluent markets such as Denmark—will have difficulty if they plan to continue charging for data at the same rates. Once prices become unaffordable, rather than reducing their usage, customers will be easy prey for competitors willing to undercut on prices. Keeping prices down, as much as possible, as usage expands may cause some pain for an operator in the short run, but it is a sure way to keep customer confidence in the long run.
 
Eventually, 3 Denmark may choose to raise prices to some extent on these plans, but for now, offering more data and higher fair-use limits for roaming data at the old prices will have a positive effect on subscribers and make increases down the road more palatable. In any case, with data demand rising so sharply, it is not likely that increasing prices in strict accordance with consumption will be a good policy for the future.
 
In any case, plan changes like these at 3 Denmark reinforce the idea, which we have frequently referred to, that the best opportunities for operators to increase revenue lie not in traditional services but in new services and functionalities. Among these are IoT applications, mobile money, mobile advertising, and content partnerships.

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 

UMS Launches New High-Data Packages

Uzbekistan mobile operator UMS has launched two new offers, called Optimal and Optimal+. For a monthly subscription of UZS 33,000 (US $4.00), Optimal gives users a 1 GB data bundle, 600 minutes of on-net calls and 600 SMS to all networks within Uzbekistan.
 
The Optimal+ package is aimed at the most active internet users. For UZS 33,000 per month, they receive 1.6 GB of data, 200 minutes of on-net calls and 200 SMS to all networks within Uzbekistan.
 
With its new Optimal options, UMS (Uzbekistan Mobile Services, formerly branded as MTS) is responding appropriately to market trends in the direction of greater mobile data consumption and greater customer demand for flexibility.
 
Even in an economy like that of Uzbekistan, which is not at the stage of development of, say, the U.S. or Western European markets, more and more mobile customers are using quantities of data each month that can be measured in gigabytes rather than megabytes. This pattern is driven by increasing participation in entertainment streaming, gaming, and the sharing of videos and photos. By responding to the needs of these high-level users with generous data offerings at reasonable prices, UMS will be positioning itself well to garner new subscribers and good retention rates in a market with four other operators and no great disparities in pricing.
 
The flexibility issue is dealt with by offering two versions of Optimal for the same monthly price, with the services being spread differently across data versus voice/SMS. Weighting the “plus” version toward data with 1.6 GB instead of 1 GB and offering less voice and data should meet the needs of those who privilege internet use and OTT messaging over voice and SMS, while the basic Optimal will satisfy those who still need significant quantities of voice and SMS service but who can by no means be considered light or moderate data users.

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 

Verizon Debuts Platform for Connected Vehicles

U.S. operator Verizon has launched Verizon Connect, a platform that allows enterprises to manage their connected vehicles and mobile workers. Verizon Connect represents the complete integration of the company’s existing connected-vehicle division with two recently acquired fleet and mobile workforce management software companies under a single brand—Verizon Telematics, Fleetmatics and Telogis have been rebranded as Verizon Connect. The new platform is the culmination of more than US $5 billion in investments, the company said.
 
Verizon Connect provides the connectivity and data analysis to enable its customers to be better informed as to vehicle and worker location, efficiency, safety, productivity and compliance. The Verizon Connect portfolio of products and services includes fleet and mobile workforce management software platforms, embedded OEM hardware, and Hum by Verizon, a connected-vehicle device that is intended to enhance the driving experience for consumers.
 
The connected-car market is experiencing rapid growth, with private consumers as the dominant demographic. However, the applications for enterprise use are important and potentially very lucrative. Verizon’s idea of integrating its connected-vehicle platform with the fleet and workforce management software companies it has acquired is a very good one. For consumers, connected cars may be simply a convenience; for large corporations managing many vehicle for their workers, a system such as Verizon Connect could dramatically streamline and enhance a plethora of day-to-day operations.
 
For a telecom operator, owning, integrating and providing all aspects of this service is an inspired move, one that will endow it with relevance going forward in a way that goes well beyond traditional mobile services while still being firmly anchored in them. With Verizon Connect, Verizon is leveraging two decades’ worth of research and experience to move itself forward in the ever-expanding universe of connected devices.

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 

Rwanda and Gabon Launch One Area Network

Rwanda and Gabon have introduced One Area Network, an initiative under which the two central African nations will get rid of roaming charges, allowing their citizens to enjoy reduced calling rates, according to a news report. The initiative is being launched by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Gabonese counterpart, Ali Bongo. Kagame said the development will serve to integrate the continent and enable citizens of the two countries to communicate cheaply. Kagame also said that the digital integration will serve to achieve the goal of having a single digital market. In order to achieve affordable and accessible internet, it is important to involve the private sector, Kagame noted, adding that wide access to broadband is difficult to achieve without public-private partnerships. In the European Union, as we have written on several occasions recently, extra roaming fees attracted strong opposition from many policymakers and members of the public and as a result are being phased out. In other markets, operators are making significant revenue from roaming surcharges and there is no move afoot from state regulators or industry consortiums to eliminate them. This initiative from Africa is interesting because shows that, at least in the opinion of decision-makers in that region, eliminating roaming can be a stimulus to MNO revenues and to the regional mobile economy generally. An initiative similar to the present one was implemented in the Northern Corridor region, which covers Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya; it increased mobile traffic in the region by about 800 percent and thereby increased profits for operators in the region. Kagame intends the One Area Network to be the first step toward the goal of achieving a single digital market for Africa. In that sense, his agreement with Ali Bongo is noteworthy, in that the two countries do not share a border; the digital unification of a region can transcend traditional geographic concepts.

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

Be-Bound Offers Web Access Without Data Service

French startup Be-Bound says it has found a way to allow smartphone owners to continue using their internet and connected apps where there is no 3G or 4G/LTE coverage. The company states that it offers “the first solution that allows users to stay connected anywhere there is a working phone signal. We use the SMS network as an alternative transport layer to bring users a true app experience when there is no internet network and reach even the most remote regions.” Be-Bound has developed a patented compression algorithm to reduce the data traffic generated by its apps. “Even when our e-mail app is working with 3G/4G, users consume up to 5 times less data than when using standard e-mail,” the company’s website states, adding that the start-up is opening its technology to mobile app and IoT developers who want to reach wider populations.    Solutions to allow internet access to non-3G/4G users and even to feature-phone users are nothing particularly new. Be-Bound’s technology, however, promises a rich experience akin to true smartphone high-speed data. While other solutions have been marketed mainly to customers in developing markets who do not yet have smartphones and data plans but still wish to connect to Facebook and surf the web—with the hope of encouraging them to eventually adopt data use—Be-Bound’s system seems targeted to smartphone and data users who experience spotty access to high-speed signals, a problem that occurs in many areas, developed and developing alike. Whether or not its technology delivers these impressive results, of course, remains to be seen, but the promised increase in data efficiency, if fulfilled, could resound beyond the current specific application.

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

Australia Considers Balloons to Extend Mobile Coverage

Aerostats All Australia (AAA), a private company is proposing to extend mobile coverage to the 70 percent of Australia’s land mass not currently covered by cellular networks. The AAA solution uses tethered aerostats (lighter-than-air balloons) permanently anchored by a tether to an existing mobile base station where fiber-optic backhaul exists. An aerostat—essentially a floating mobile tower—at an altitude of 1,200 meters extends typical cell site coverage by a factor of 160, from 300 square kilometers to 48,000 square kilometers. The cost to deploy aerostats is an order of magnitude less than that of building new base station infrastructure, the company claims. As mobile technology advances with exponential rapidity, it is easy to overlook the facts that (1) many portions of the globe are being left out of this advancement for no other reason than geographic remoteness and (2) relatively low-tech solutions can potentially close the gap. This proposal from Australia is a good illustration of these facts. Isolated, low-population areas may not seem like massive revenue opportunities to operators, so spreading service there may not be attractive. However, achieving full coverage across a country can have an impact disproportionate to population size, and therefore a low-cost solution such as this one—if it works—is well worth the relatively small 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, 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 

Verizon Expects VoLTE Interoperability With AT&T in 2016

U.S. operator Verizon Wireless expects VoLTE interoperability with AT&T Mobility to become commercially available this year, according to Verizon’s vice president of network planning and technology, Adam Koeppe. Speaking at a FierceWireless panel called “The Path to 5G” at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Koeppe said that trials of the service with AT&T were progressing well. The companies said in November 2014 that they expected to offer VoLTE calling between the two networks by the end of 2015. In December AT&T said that it had achieved the first VoLTE exchange between its customers and Verizon customers in select areas. Currently, customers of each operator who have VoLTE-enabled phones can only call other VoLTE phones on the same network.

VoLTE technology has the potential to revivify an aspect of mobile service that has been suffering lately—voice telephony. The rise of data, including OTT messaging, has caused voice to recede in terms of proportion of use. VoLTE, due to its higher quality, promises to deliver greater customer satisfaction and therefore to boost the use of voice calling. Increased traffic over operators’ LTE networks due to VoLTE stands to increase revenue and also maximize capacity on those networks. However, VoLTE will not be appealing to customers if it remains only within one network. The average customer has too many friends and contacts who use the services of different operators to make it worth their while to buy a new, VoLTE-enabled device for on-net use only. Furthermore, full off-net calling is needed to fully utilize network capacity. Therefore, interoperability is essential if VoLTE is to be viable and live up to its promise.

The recent trials show that AT&T and Verizon, the two biggest operators in the U.S., have established interoperability as a practical possibility; all that remains is for them to implement it across their national footprints. Finally, uptake of VoLTE-enabled smartphones will be driven only by wide availability of VoLTE across operator networks, so device manufacturers will be watching AT&T and Verizon’s progress with interest. Fully-realized VoLTE has been a long time coming in the U.S. Now it seems be arriving at last. We expect that T-Mobile and Sprint will be working hard to connect their own VoLTE services with those of the two market leaders. 

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, 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 

Tarifica Global Insights Series

The pace of change in the mobile services industry is constantly accelerating. This means new opportunities will arrive faster than ever before and are likely to play out more quickly as well. Operators must watch carefully for these ‘waves of opportunities’ and quickly take advantage of them before they either become mainstream (and no longer have special value) or become obsolete as new disruptions impact the market.

The Tarifica Global Insights Series analyzes and reports on innovative practices in the development and marketing of consumer mobile plans. Each report describes a significant opportunity in mobile plan development and how operators are creating new plans in response to that opportunity. The series provides comprehensive, in-depth information that identifies best practices across more than 25 countries representing every region in the world, and enables operators to quickly and successfully take advantage of new strategies in plan development and marketing. The reports include case studies in multiple regions that describe best plan implementation and marketing practices that have enabled operators to quickly and successfully take advantage of new opportunities through innovative mobile plan development and marketing.

This series of reports is an important resource for operators that are searching for new and better ways to increase revenue and profits, desire to be perceived as leading edge ‘first movers,’ or need to defend their market share against disruptive offers from competitors. These reports enable operators to take advantage of Tarifica’s unique global vantage point to more quickly bring leading edge offers to market that capture new revenue opportunities.

The Tarifica Global Insights Series is an annual program comprised of four quarterly reports as shown below.

2016 Report Series 

QUARTER 1 (FEBRUARY 2016): Designed for Success – Developing Plans for the Youth and Student Demographic
 Globally, over half the world’s population is under the age of 30. While this percentage varies from country to country, the youth/student market segment has unique needs that must be understood in order to take advantage of this revenue opportunity. Moreover, when young people transition into adulthood and begin to make independent financial decisions, incumbency presents a unique opportunity for mobile operators to win long-term customers. This report will focus on the plans, promotions and other initiatives undertaken by operators to win and hold this key demographic.

QUARTER 2 (MAY 2016): Adapting to Changing Expectations – New Strategies for Pricing Smartphones and Pairing Them with Mobile Plans 
The practice of offering heavily subsidized devices tied to long-term plans no longer meets users’ needs for faster upgrades and shorter or more flexible contracts. As a result, operators are experimenting with numerous other models for selling high-end smartphones to their subscribers. This report will examine financing options, new phone replacement programs and other strategies aimed at helping consumers obtain smartphones and ramping up customers’ monthly mobile spend.

QUARTER 3 (AUGUST 2016): New Frontiers of Mobile Offerings –Partnerships with Streaming Audio and Video Services 
Operators around the world are exploring new revenue sources beyond mobile data. One approach is to partner with streaming media companies such as Spotify and Netflix. Mobile operators are increasingly offering plans with these services included or available as add-ons. This report will focus on the demographics and unique needs of this target market and their impact on plan structures, promotions, marketing practices and pricing. It will also analyze the differences among the various streaming services in terms of consumer perceptions.

QUARTER 4 (NOVEMBER 2016): Avoiding the ‘Dumb Pipe’ Trap – Innovative Approaches to Packaging and Pricing Data 
The decline in calling and messaging revenue has made many operators ever more dependent on data. This has made it difficult for operators to differentiate their offerings without lowering their per-GB price. Many mobile operators have been experimenting with new pricing models for their data to overcome this challenge. Among the many initiatives employed are offering time-limited data, having zero rated or dedicated data allowances for specific services/apps, offering rollover data, etc. This report will identify and analyze all of these tactics, with particular focus on their impact on consumer satisfaction, churn reduction and ARPU.

Analyst Support 

Every subscription comes with five hours of analyst support. Subscribers also receive one-on-one briefing sessions with Tarifica’s Analysts each quarter. Sessions, which include a Q&A format, are designed to help subscribers gain a further understanding of the strategies, innovations, trends and opportunities occurring worldwide in mobile plan development. A subscriber’s colleagues are welcome to attend these briefings.

Subscriber Benefits

The Tarifica Global Insights Series provides subscribers with two distinct layers of analysis:

First, the reports analyze how each service/strategy was deployed, branded and marketed. The reports dive deeply into every element of these plans (their included service volumes, one-time costs, recurring charges, restrictions, marketing campaigns, and more) to provide a comprehensive look at precisely how these plans are being designed and launched. This level of specificity is critical for operators seeking to create successful programs in their own market.

Second, these reports bring to bear worldwide examples and case studies analyzing the factors behind the success or failure of these new strategies. Subscribers to The Tarifica Global Insights Series will be able to learn from operators at the forefront of innovative practices and strategies. Subscribers will be able to view and compare many different versions of these strategies and understand the regional factors involved.

The Tarifica Global Insights Series provides meaningful business intelligence that can be used to design plans that decrease churn and win new customers. Each report evaluates the success/failure of strategies based on key performance indicators, assesses the ease/difficulty of replicating each approach and provides detailed sets of best practices for adapting the program to other markets.

The Tarifica Global Insights Series will facilitate subscribers’ efforts to increase revenue and profitability, gain market share, demonstrate innovative leadership and rapidly take advantage of new market opportunities.

Subscription Fee
The price for an annual subscription that includes all four quarterly reports, five hours of enquiry support and quarterly one-on-one briefings is US $15,000. The subscription fee will be reduced to US $10,000 for orders placed by 15 February 2016, representing a 33% early purchase discount.

About Tarifica
Tarifica is uniquely qualified to provide this series based on its singular focus on researching and analyzing mobile plans around the world. In maintaining the Tarifica Mobile Database, Tarifica’s research team tracks and catalogs every mobile plan, rate and offer from over 250 MNOs and MVNOs in 66 countries in every region of the globe. This effort enables Tarifica’s analysts to gain a broad understanding of the latest innovations in plan development occurring worldwide. With this new report series, Tarifica leverages this focus to highlight and analyze the most impactful strategies on a global level.

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