From the very first long-distance telegraph message that Samuel Moore sent in 1844, to the first cell phone call from New York City to Bell Labs in New Jersey by Martin Cooper in 1973, to the mobile capabilities we have today, technology will continue to evolve in new and surprising ways.
John Squillace, CEO and Founder of Helix Wireless, provided the third of the keynote sessions for the event, exploring which technological innovations can help MVNOs unlock new opportunities and revenues.
The pace at which technology is evolving right now makes it difficult to predict even what the near-future will look like. This creates uncertainty for MVNOs, but it presents great opportunities as well. Those opportunities will fall to the MVNOs who are adaptable and innovative, able to use new technologies to your advantage.
What qualities do all modern MVNOs need?
To successfully navigate the coming change and remain competitive, John suggested that MVNOs need the following:
1. Speed, agility, and adaptability
John explained, “The mobility market moves so fast. While leaders such as T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Orange, and Vodafone can wait for the market to move then validate whether that’s where they want to go, most MVNOs don’t have that luxury.”
“To survive as an MVNO, you must be prepared to adapt and move either before the market moves, or in line with the market. So, speed and agility are paramount to success.”
2. Customer acquisition and satisfaction
Being able to not only find the right customers, but also keep them engaged and loyal for long periods of time is, of course, critical to MVNO survival.
Your job as an MVNO, and a brand, is to convince prospects of your value, persuade them to become a customer, and then retain them with outstanding customer service.
3. Growth
Some important questions all successful MVNOs must be able to answer include:
- What is your niche or target audience?
- How do you target and approach your niche?
- How do you communicate with the people that are inside that space?
- How do you inform them that you’re here and that they can transact with you?
- How does that transaction flow? For example, online-only channels, retail stores, etc.
Answers to these questions will (and should) be different for each MVNO, and that’s also where opportunities for differentiation arise.
4. Customer journey
You must create a simple, easy-to-follow customer journey for your target audience.
To do that, you need to remove as many barriers to entry as possible for becoming customers, and give them a quick and easy route to using your services.
“For example, eSIM is an incredible accelerator for MVNOs,” said John. “Because it means your customers no longer have to wait two days for their new SIM card to arrive in the mail.”
An effective customer journey requires you to remove as much friction as possible for the customer in using your service.
Opportunities with eSIM, 5G, and other innovative technologies
John was joined on-stage by a Helix Wireless partner, Curtis Govan, President, Americas at floLIVE.
The strategic partnership between Helix Wireless and floLive is one way both organisations are able to keep up with the pace of change and remain ahead of the curve in the current market.
Together, John and Curtis took a closer look at how MVNOs can use new technologies to innovate.
Curtis noted that, “It’s imperative for MVNOs to understand that the market is evolving, and evolution demands innovation. But innovation doesn’t always necessarily mean you have to do something completely new. Innovation is often about doing things differently.”
5G
John pointed out that 5G technology is yet to live up to the initial hype and excitement that surrounded it pre-release.
So, what stance should MVNOs take on 5G today?
“I would caution MVNOs to be patient,” said Curtis. “Because the adoption of new technology doesn’t happen over-night.”
“It’ll take years to get things through the standard bodies, but my perspective is we don’t wait on standard bodies. We innovate, and then hopefully they take it as a standard, but we move forward.”
“The fundamentals of the technology, the foundational piece is there, and now we’re building on the innovation.”
The speakers went on to discuss how the real opportunity with 5G is most likely going to be in the enterprise space. Consumers are unlikely to use the technology in a different way than they do currently, for streaming videos and similar use cases.
However, 5G can bring in the next generation of enterprise innovation, particularly through more advanced IoT applications.
Curtis said, “In manufacturing, for example, it will enable machines that require ultra-low latency so that you can control them in real-time. We’re seeing these kinds of applications with Amazon and others, so I would say 5G innovation is coming.”
“The thing that MVNOs need to be aware of is that the typical customer will also still want high speeds and higher quality. Even though they really don’t need it, it’s important for you to be able to provide it.”
eSIM
Conversely, the speakers agreed with many other sessions throughout the conference: eSIM technology is already transformational for MVNOs.
In fact, eSIM is transformational for the whole telecom industry, because of the impact it has on the user experience, particularly in terms of travel.
The ability for a US-based consumer, with a good US carrier, to travel abroad and use an eSIM to immediately access high quality connectivity and local services without any friction is a point of value that MVNOs must take notice of.
This becomes even more important with the mindset of consumers changing, now more willing to trust new brands, alongside how easy it is for consumers to now switch to those new brands. To get a new eSIM, consumers don’t have to go to a store, they can download it in minutes, so the ways in which MNVOs need to keep customers engaged is also evolving.
Curtis said, “eSIM has the ability to completely transform the entire ecosystem we have for travelling solutions. I think, from an overall perspective, today, it’s the most transformational technology we have in front of us.”
Data-driven services
MVNOs should also consider data-driven services. Adding this layer can be beneficial, but John advised MVNOs to approach this both strategically and cautiously.
First, it’s important to understand what the purpose of your application is, what it’s trying to achieve, and what value it can provide to the customer. Without a clear, customer-centric purpose, it’s not wise to develop additional services like this.
Additionally, John suggested MVNOs should be wary of the temptation brought on by AI capabilities in coding and development.
While AI has lowered the barrier to entry for service providers to create new products in drastically reduced timeframes, it’s still important to ensure the proper approach is taken to development and testing.
“We’ve decreased the barriers to entry for things that you used to need a team of 20 or 30 engineers to figure out how to do. Still, I don’t think asking ChatGPT to build you something and then rolling it out without testing is probably the best solution.”
“But what you can do now is get a lot of good ideas fleshed out before you have to even hire developers. You can now get from point A to point B really quickly, and understand whether a new product is something you want to go after as an MVNO or a supplier.”
A strong, customer-centric brand remains crucial through technological change
John shared an important reminder for the audience, emphasising that a strong brand customers resonate with is always important, regardless of any technology-driven changes in the market.
John said, “You should be able to easily show your customers what your brand stands for, what you do, and why you do that, and then you’ll find people that are passionate about that as well. Regardless of the technology, success as an MVNO is still about winning people’s hearts and minds.”
“If you’re open and honest about what your brand stands for, and keep your strategy in line with that, you’ll find the right people who want to use your service and stay on your service.”
Key take-aways and guidance for MVNOs
If you’re an MVNO aiming to use new technologies to innovate and grow your customer base, John and Curtis recommend that you should:
- Ensure you respect the key fundamentals of an MVNO business to remain competitive through rapid technological change.
- Remember that in a fast-evolving market, innovation is not optional, nor is adaptability.
- Be quick to adopt and leverage new technologies, and don’t wait for a customer to come and tell you your product isn’t working anymore.
- Find strategic partners that can help you innovate and keep up with new customer demands.
