From September 14-15 the Telecoms World Middle East (TWME) in Dubai hosted four conferences under one roof, addressing the following topics:
- Planning, deployment and optimization for next generation connectivity
- Providing phenomenal quality of service and customer engagement
- Planning and monetizing new digital, mobile and home services
- Capacity, content and collaboration for global wholesale teams
The most influential players in terms of transforming the telecoms industry shared their valuable insights with delegates from all around the globe. So, where is the journey taking us? What are the current and upcoming trends in the telco industry? Here is a short overview of main points:
- Telcos are well aware of the fact that their core business is saturated and that it will take new business models in order to remain competitive. New business models for 2016 might be connected to trends such as M2M Platforms, Smart cities (e.g., smart metering), Utilities supply (e.g., water, electricity), Digital advertising, OTT (esp. TV), eCommerce.
- OTTs disrupt and change CSPs, which is why CSPs need to expand their service portfolio by launching partnerships (e.g., with providers such as Netflix or Spotify). Making use of big data (i.e., information gathered from Mobile, Cloud, Social and IoT) is also gaining importance.
- Since the “Golden Age of Telcos” is long over, they need to invest in digitalization as services such as WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, etc. are strong competitors, eating up their revenues.
- Customer experience is constantly changing with the focus shifting between four major channels: Social, call center, self-care and retail.
- And, last but not least, let’s have a glimpse at the customer of the future: The new customer will be technologically advanced, well informed and demanding. However, you still need to keep in mind that a customer will always be a customer and never a target.