Telefonica launches smartphone chat app titled ‘TU Me’ (Spain)
Mobile operator Telefónica is working towards winning back customers from the free instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Viber that have eaten into its text message revenues, by launching its own smartphone chat app, according to a report by FT.
As per the report, TU Me, developed by Telefónica Digital, the carrier’s innovation unit established last September, will allow customers of any mobile network to send free voice and text messages, photos, video and their location to friends who also use the same app. The app, which is available from Wednesday for Apple’s iPhone and will soon be released for Google Android smartphones, is free to download and use.
The report reveals analysts estimate that they have attracted tens of millions of users and cost operators billions of dollars in lost revenue, by cannibalising text and picture messaging.
Stephen Shurrock, chief commercial officer at Telefónica Digital, said it was important for the operator to meet consumers’ needs, while potentially generating extra revenues from spurring increased data consumption or selling digital goods. He said that they can see users increasingly starting to use Viber and WhatsApp. What they wanted to do is put themselves in the centre of that market as well. ?They thought it was important for them to be in that space.
He said Telefónica was broadly comfortable that there is not going to be a significant impact on its own texting revenues because it already offers inclusive bundles of text messages in many markets. Shurrock said if we are staying close to customers and giving them products they want, that should improve churn.
Batelco’s Q1 profit down by 8% as subscriber base decreases (Bahrain)
Batelco Group, the regional telecommunications operator of reference with operations across six countries, announced its results for the first three months of the year ended 31 March 2012. The period was marked by continued market leadership in the Kingdom of Bahrain, its home market, and solid contributions from overseas markets especially from Jordan and Kuwait.
The company reported Net Profit of US$42.7 million versus US$46.4 million for the corresponding period in 2011, a decrease of 8 percent year over year. EBITDA for the period was US$75.1 million, representing a 36 percent margin, versus EBITDA of US$86.5 million for the corresponding period in 2011.
Batelco Chairman, Shaikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, announced the Group’s first quarter 2012 results following a Meeting of the Board of Directors at Batelco’s Hamala headquarters stating that during the first quarter of 2012, they continued to focus their efforts on maximising the performance of their investments overseas whilst maintaining market leadership in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
In line with the guidance that they provided at the outset of the year, their results for the quarter reflected the continued impact of significant competition in Bahrain and in the highly competitive environments across the MENA markets in which they operate. They are nevertheless pleased with the ability of the Group companies to continue to deliver solid results, despite challenging operating environments, as evidenced by strong cash flow generation during the period and the overall strength of our balance sheet.
Having ended the quarter with significant cash balances despite significant one-off capital expenditures, they continue to be in a strong position to deploy their resources towards further strengthening their existing operations and making investments in the growth and expansion of the Group, which is a key priority in 2012 as they work to build scale and deliver even greater value for customers and shareholders.
For the first three months of the year, the Group reported a decline in mobile subscribers of 40 percent since the previous quarter and by 32 percent when compared to the first quarter of 2011. This is largely due to the adjustment for the exclusion of STel operational and customer data. Normalising for the exclusion of STel, mobile subscriber numbers across the Group for the first quarter would have shown a decline of 9 percent since the previous quarter and a 2 percent decrease when compared year over year due to competitive pressures in Bahrain and elsewhere across the region.
Broadband customer numbers on the other hand remained robust. For the first quarter, the Group reported a solid 4 percent increase since the previous quarter and 5 percent growth when compared to the corresponding period in 2011.
Vodafone Australia may be up for sale (Australia)
Telecom operator Vodafone Australia may be up for sale, with an information memorandum sent out to potential purchasers in Europe and Asia, as reported by The Australian. The report reveals that an information memorandum has been sent to telecom operators and sovereign wealth funds in Asia and the Middle East, amongst others, in an attempt to gauge the market reaction to the sale.
The telecom operator has reportedly been facing increasing churn levels owing to recent network outages in the past two years. However, in an attempt to resolve the issues, Vodafone has initiated an extensive upgrade of its network infrastructure, so as to offer better customer experience.
Vodafone Australia’s two major shareholders are the Hutchison Whampoa group based in Hong Kong, and the master Vodafone Company, which is based in the UK.
Telefonica to launch cheaper tariffs to reduce churn (Spain)
Telefónica, a leading integrated operator in the telecommunication sector, is reportedly launching cheaper and more user friendly tariffs in an attempt to reduce loss of customers to rival operators. According to reports, the telecom company has said that it hopes to use the economic crisis as an opportunity to boost efficiency.
As per sources, Spanish unit head, Luis Miguel Gilperez said a series of flat tariffs would be offered from this week to Spanish customers, including a $6.90 per month discount if they are ADSL customers as well. He added that this was not just about cutting prices but is also a way of focussing on customer needs.
According to industry reports, as many as half a million mobile customers have switched to cheaper rival operators such as France Telecom’s Orange and TeliaSonera’s Yoigo, in this year. Further, the company has also lost out on the ADSL market share which fell from 52.7 percent in last December to 50.36 percent this August.
Airtel acquires top position on MNP charts (India)
Recent research report has unveiled that Airtel is the top most in demand for subscribers across the country to switch to with the help of MNP.
Consumers will probably switch to Airtel followed by Vodafone. 25% of the respondents are willing to part with their current service provider.
Network quality tends to be the key trigger for switching to and from a particular provider as well as the reason for loyalty with the existing operator.
Globally, MNP rollout has met with mixed results. Churn due to MNP has ranged from 22% in the US to 0.4% in Portugal. Low impact of number portability in Singapore was primarily due to limited tariff cuts by the operators, while high porting charges were responsible for similar results in Japan and Taiwan. Experience indicates that the impact of number portability has turned out to be less of a challenge as compared to what operators feared it would be.
Other key findings of the survey show that the awareness for MNP at the first level is moderately low at 41% within the target socio groups A to C, but after explaining it in little detail it was almost 83%. Word of mouth along with television ads is the major source of information for the larger audience to generate awareness of MNP.
Close to 93% respondents to the survey agreed that MNP is beneficial for consumers. However, only 25% at this point in time are willing to part with their current service providers.
According to the survey, the category audience believes that pre-paid users are most likely to opt for change under MNP than the post-paid users . The Indian government chose to implement MNP primarily to ensure greater competition. While the market is predominantly pre-paid, it is envisaged that competition will foster innovation in products and pricing strategies. Further, operators will be forced to re-look at the levels of customer service, according to the survey.
The fact that the effect of MNP would lead to emergence of new technologies and decrease the consumer loyalty is also indicated through this survey. The true, long term impact of MNP remains to be seen. However, it is quite clear that MNP will force the operators to revise their strategies to retain a competitive edge.
MetroPCS releases quarterly subscriber numbers (USA)
USA based mobile network operator, MetroPCS Communications has reportedly ended the fourth quarter of 2010 with over 8.1 million subscribers, which includes net additions during the quarter of 298,000 subscribers.
MetroPCS added approximately 1.5 million subscribers during the twelve months ended December 31, 2010. Churn for the fourth quarter of 2010 was 3.5% compared to 5.3% in the fourth quarter of 2009. The company stated that the decrease in churn was primarily driven by the continued acceptance of its Wireless for All service plans.
According to Roger D. Linquist, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, the company is pleased with their fourth quarter net subscriber additions and churn results, particularly in light of the severe weather occurring during our peak selling season in late December.
Virgin Media revenue rises in Q3
Virgin Media has revealed a 6.4% rise in revenues for its third quarter, ahead of analysts’ expectations. Sales of £978 million were together with an 11% increase in operating cash flow to £387 million, as average revenues per cable customer rose from £44.71 per month to £46.38.
According to Neil Berkett, chief executive of Virgin Media, 6% revenue growth for what is effectively a telco is pretty healthy.
Virgin’s rate of net new customer additions halved compared with the same period last year, with churn customers leaving slightly higher at 1.6%. Churn was higher and net additions lower than analysts’ expectations.
According to the CEO, in a quarter where there was significant activity between BT and Sky. The company is delighted by the number of products sold, highlighting a record 100,000 new subscribers to Virgin’s Sky Premium package of channels.
As per the company, it would start rolling out a new 100Mb per second broadband package to a potential 12.7 million connected households from December.
According to Mr Berkett, it might be the Ferrari in a Fiat fleet but it will carry with it a halo effect of having a Ferrari sitting there. The company has no intention to have a big Christmas splash. The company is absolutely on target for what is an extremely complex platform build.
What is Mobile Centrex?
Mobile Centrex solutions allow subscribers to treat mobile handsets as office extensions. There are no upgrades required to the handsets involved any existing device can be used.
Mobile Centrex solutions provide seamless mobility, ensuring that users have access to the same feature set available in the office, and removes the distinction between a fixed and mobile device.
With users accessible on the same number and able to select preferences based on presence and availability, the goal of Fixed-Mobile Convergece can be achieved without significant investments via the use of a Mobile Centrex solution.
The surprising thing is that much of the attention regarding Hosted or Centrex solutions has been looked at within the fixed domain. However, it is the mobile version which offers immense possibilities.
Mobile Operators can offer PBX-like services to enterprise users as an alternative to premises-based solutions.
Research conducted by the Wireless Federation shows that there is a considerable opportunity for mobile operators to target SMEs with Hosted PBX services. Large enterprises already have significant investments done in legacy systems, but it is the SMEs that can greatly benefit from such a service. This would also ensure an increase in ARPU as well as a significant reduction in CHURN from the engaged SMEs.
To know more about Mobile Centrex solutions and How it can help a mobile operator significantly enhance ARPU from the business segment, write to christina @ wirelessfederation.com and ask for the “Global Mobile Innovations report for the Business Segment” report.
Excessive handset subsidies in Netherlands come to an end
Following T-Mobile’s recent announcement, market leader KPN has also decided to cut the commissions it pays to retailers for selling mobile services in The Netherlands. From September, KPN will gradually reduce handset subsidies and sales commissions. The handset subsidies and excessive sales commissions have been a thorn in the side of operators in recent years amid an increasingly saturated Dutch mobile market. The handset subsidies and sales commission contribute to very high churn rates, reaching 30 percent, but do not add to service revenue growth, putting pressure on profit margins. A reduction was inevitable, but the question was which operator dared to take the first step and risk giving the competition an advantage? The first move by T-Mobile and the recent success of E-Plus in Germany may have helped KPN take the decision to pull the plug on handset subsidies in The Netherlands.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com
