When should an MVNO invest in technology Whitepaper Preview

When should an MVNO invest in technology?

Whitepaper Agenda:

When should an MVNO invest in technology

Types of MVNO entrepreneurs

Level of marketing knowledge

Level of technology knowledge

Technology/Marketing knowledge matrix

The Rookie

The Market expert

The technologist

The Sophisticated

Conclusion

WHEN SHOULD AN MVNO INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY?

CUSTOMER PROFILE

PLDT Global Corporation (PGC), offers mobile services in the Philippines and other countries through points of presence in US, Hong Kong, and Singapore

MVNO is a risky business. It requires knowledge about the telecom architectures as well as an excellent marketing strategy in order to successfully address a specific segment. More than 50% of the MVNOs around the world fail in the first year from the launch. This may sound discouraging, however, the number of new MVNO initiatives and the number of users subscribing to MVNO services increase every year. The business model can work out very well, there are plenty of examples of successful and flourishing MVNOs, but this is heavily dependent on the investment in technology, marketing and operational support. This white paper is for aspiring or existing MVNOs and it is meant to share our recommended approach when MVNOs are considering investing in technology.

LEVEL OF MARKETING KNOWLEDGE

Usually there are no extremes; the level of marketing knowledge can be at any point between low and high. This can be assessed by the MVNO itself by simple questions such as:

• How large is our target market?

• What is the realistic…

• Which is the most …

• What are the…

• Is our target audience…

• How can we…

• Who will…

• How much…

We, at Computaris, are often approached by various organizations being interested in starting an MVNO business or already running MVNOs that look at further investments in technology. Many are asking directly about the technical capabilities and pricing. We translate such requests in two scenarios: either they are in the learning phase or they are so advanced in their business case implementation that the only need is to select a technology and then kick off. As average, most of them are very early in the learning phase.

We usually assess the MVNO customers interested to acquire technology from two perspectives: Marketing and Technology. We do this because based on such assessment, we know that they will need a different type of approach in the pre-implementation phase and we can help them differently. (…)

LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE

Under Technology knowledge we should capture on one hand architectures with systems, interfaces, redundancy etc and business processes on another hand. A person may excel in either architectures or in processes. Excelling in both may require an entire team focusing on technology.

We believe that technology is important but it is less important than….

A clear marketing strategy could help you evaluate from the beginning if high flexibility is more than just a “nice to have” expectation that could materialize in significantly increased initial cost, without a real need in terms of future service offering to backup such investment. (…)

• What basic …

• Which …

• Will it be a loose…

• Do we have skilled…

• Does our product…

• What other non-standard…

• How flexible should …

TECHNOLOGY/MARKETING KNOWLEDGE MATRIX

Depending on the levels of knowledge on Technology or Marketing the MVNOs need various types of help. We created some categories based on

MVNOs level of knowledge in marketing and technology. Depending on these categories the MVNO should have different priorities.

CONCLUSIONS

Obtaining market intelligence and shaping a strong marketing strategy should have the highest priority for any MVNO. This is necessary for the sake of your business successful future but also because the marketing strategy will impact the choice of technology. A too wide offering of products and services needs a wider technology platform, therefore a more expensive one. (…)

Depending on the category to which an MVNO belongs to according to this paper, the MVNO will have some priorities before choosing a suitable technology platform. Obtaining market intelligence and shaping a strong marketing strategy should have the highest priority for any MVNO. MVNOs should have a vision in regards to this market evolution and marketing is responsible for defining the MVNO’s needs in terms of technology platform flexibility.

KEY TAKE AWAYSPrioritize. Marketing first, operational efficiency second, technology third. Make sure they all go hand in hand

Double-check if any technology platform is open enough to allow variations and adapt to your business evolution

(….)

CONCLUSIONS

Consideration The RookieThe Market

ExpertThe

TechnologistThe

Sophisticated

Already running MVNO?

NO. Most probably… …. PROBABLY. Not …. YES. On MVNE …

How to deploy MVNO Become …. On …. Own Platform …. Own Platform

Main Priority Acquire ….. Assess ….Acquire Market knowledge

Improve the ….

How a technology vendor can help

Technical …Technical education and budgetary offer

Compliance matrix ….

Compliance matrix …

Budgetary offer’s accuracy

Factor: … Factor: … Factor: … Factor: ….

Main Technical impact on budgetary quotation

Network Elements,…Network Elements, Integration with MNO

Value Added Services…

Traffic estimation…

Main factors to consider for decision to invest in technology

Acquire …More cost effective…

No fun … Current platform’s …

We have extensive experience in MVNO/MVNE solutions implementations and provide a complete range of services from technical consultancy, MVNO systems integration into MNO’s network, technical consultancy and design for the MNO through to E2E projects (from business requirements to acceptance testing and project governance), professional services and testing. Furthermore we also offer our own MVNO/E suite which anticipates the need for convergent, flexible and high-performance pricing and rating for new emerging services such as VoIP, IPTV, mobile data and on-demand services; Our MVNO core is implemented in diverse networks worldwide, providing a convergent, carrier-grade pricing, rating, charging and billing solution.

In the last 6 years we have been involved in a broad range of MVNO and MVNE projects on all continents, from brand MVNOs to heavy MVNE projects involving development of core network elements. In total, our expert team has been involved in 10+ MVNO/MVNE related projects. Recently we fully replaced the legacy infrastructure of a large MVNO customer in 6 months, delivering various different systems and migrating all customers to a unified, more advanced platform. The delivery included IN-SCP, Diameter Signaling Platform, Rating & Charging , Voucher Management System, Integration Layer, CRM and Provisioning, Self Care, IVR, Reporting, Loyalty and Churn Management, Network Monitoring System and SMSC..

COMPUTARIS IN THE MVNO/MVNE CONTEXT

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bogdan Danila is responsible for the Consultancy and System Integration Business Unit for Computaris Group. He joined Computaris in 2002 as a Senior Consultant, where he led telecom related projects and got involved in the company’s management at various levels.

Bogdan is a graduate of Automation and Computer Science at Bucharest Polytechnic University and has started in telecoms in 1998. First at Ericsson, then at Computaris, he built his technical background in numerous telecom software development projects. He held various positions from Software Engineer to Head of Development and was involved in tailoring the process for software project delivery for multinational projects. Bogdan holds an MBA with finance specialization from Bucharest School of Management and Ottawa University and a diploma in Company Direction from the UK Institute of Directors.

BOGDAN DANILA, COMPUTARIS CTOContact: [email protected]