The last three years have seen significant changes in the telco industry around the world as the pandemic has unexpectedly accelerated the growth of many companies, particularly the telco sector.
Many telcos and operators around the world have drastically adapted, either by circumstance or by choice, through the rapid or exponential growth in demand for connectivity and new network services.
The demand, while somewhat forced and abrupt, has essentially fast-tracked the evolution of network services, which has yielded some dramatic and staggering transformations we currently witness.
- Internet services and fiber connectivity has substantially improved in the past years, with the average internet speed of 76Mbps as of January 2023 compared to 26Mbps in January of 2020.
- Subscriber uptake in mobile banking and e-wallets, specifically GCash and Maya users. There were about 20 Million GCash users in 2020 but it has since grown to over 76 Million by September 2022.
- Increased demands in online games such as Mobile Legends, PUBG, LoL, Valorant and growth of e-commerce platforms such as Lazada and Shopee.
These massive growths in digital adoption of consumers and end-users have driven many telcos to expand their service offerings and accelerate their growth projections.
In a recent issue of WinWin #41, Huawei’s President of ICT and Business Strategy, Peng Song stated that:
Most operators now agree on the importance of accelerating digital transformation. Operators should equip themselves with an end-user perspective and aim to better understand, satisfy, and care for users.
While the pandemic has certainly ignited a surge in demand, telcos and network providers had to be agile and responsive in order to immediately address the needs of its customers. The growth opportunities can only be realized with the right shift and focus on digitalization.
We need not look further than this case study from our ASEAN neighbor, Indonesia, which as a particularly similar landscape to the Philippines.
XL Axiata CTO, Gede Darmayusa, shared the market dynamics and growth demands for digital services in Indonesia.
The unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic is having a tremendous impact on our economy and society, and at the same time accelerated the pace of digital transformation. The outbreak has reshaped the way people work.
This is exactly the same scenario that occurred in the Philippines, only that Indonesia has more than half a dozen telecoms operator and more than double the total subscriber base compared to the Philippines so one can only imagine the sheer scale of transformation needed to meet the surge in demand.
Damayusa stressed that in order “To realize the digital operating model in aligning with strategic framework, XL Axiata is developing capabilities that leverage on data analytics and applied on the ‘Four Rights Actions’. This refers to the executing ‘Right Offer’ to the ‘Right Customer’ and investing ‘Right Place’ at the ‘Right Time’.”
XL Axiata’s analytics-driven approach provides a more calculated response to consumer demands. Tracking the internet usage pattern of the subscribers allows them to predict monthly data consumption, data usage and activities that will allow XL Axiata to spot trends, fine-tune service offerings, or initiate new services based on customer usage behavior.
We’ve seen similar approach with our domestic telcos. It could be as simple as offering a Mobile Legends-specific load credit of as low as Php10 for 3 days OR a 7-day unlimited access to Tiktok with 8GB of open data for only Php99. With data analytics, operators can track usage behavior and create a customized offering to target customers that will allow them increase customer loyalty and generate higher revenue per user (ARPU).
Darmayusa said that “Throughout the past couple of years, we have succeeded in realizing significant cost savings across network investments and digitization of processes and achieved enhanced velocity and responsiveness in go-to-market initiatives.”
XL Axiata’s success hinged on the belief that excellent operation revolves around three pillars: digitalization, customer centricity and convergence.
The same analytics-driven “Four Rights Action” has helped XL Axiata drive investment in high-value areas and buildings in order to meet demands of potential residential and business customers. This digital-driven operations enable intelligent decisions like prioritizing profitable towers in high-demand areas. These strategies have been paying off.
In a highly saturated and competitive environment, operators need to be intelligent and decisive yet prudent where they place the lion’s share of their capital expenditures. By employing an analytics-driven approach, decisions are more calculated and results are measured. It is simply one of the more proficient ways to gain an edge and market leadership.
Peng Song offers a more succinct proposition:
Digital transformation in three areas is recommended for operators to seize the opportunities presented by the coming new era. First, service digitalization. Operators can realize business benefits by integrating ecosystems, platforms, and networks to drive rapid second-curve growth. Second, operational digitalization. Operators should transform from being network-centric to customer experience-centric, linking devices, services, platforms, and networks together, and maximize the value of data to drive business decision-making and realize value-based operations. Third, infrastructure digitalization. Operators should integrate their computing and connectivity resources to make networks more intelligent, the cloud more diverse, data flows more efficient, and intelligent applications more widely used.
And I could not agree more. Digitalization and a consumer-centric approach is what customers definitely appreciate. It creates intrinsic value and inspires a more loyal customer that are generally willing to try new products and services. It’s definitely a win-win combination.
The WinWin Issue 41, entitiled “Deepening Operational Digitalization for New Business Growth” is the latest edition of Huawei’s publication that covers enterprise partnerships, use cases & success stories that create value with ICT.
You can read more about WinWin41 here:
https://carrier.huawei.com/minisite/winwin/41/en/index.html
