By Alex C
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are beginning to channel requisite resources towards improving the Quality of Experience (QoE), directly perceptible and felt by the mobile user, observers have said.
With the extensive use of new connected devices and the arrival of new technologies, mobile operators are facing higher expectation of end-users in terms of network quality and QoE.
In view of this, a fresh wave of outsourcing and managed services deals is expected to be consummated by mobile operators and telecommunication equipment vendors to enable the former meet customer demands.
According to the market observers, QoE has become a critical differentiator for telecoms companies, as they look to reduce churn and grow marketshare. This is even as revenues from voice services continually decline year-on-year due to regulatory and competitive pressures.
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for voice services is expected to decline steeply by around $5 per month over the next five years, down from $6-$7 in April 2013 and $10 in 2008. “Years ago, when mobile telephony emerged, people settled for certain quality, they accepted drop calls and accepted average data transmission and coverage. That’s not the case anymore,” said Jean-Claude Geha, vice president of Ericsson.
QoE is a measure of a customer’s experiences with a service (web browsing, phone call, TV broadcast, call to a Call Centre). For quite some time, mobile operators in Nigeria have been bogged down by intense pressure from the telecoms regulator to enhance Quality of Service (QoS) levels.
Earlier this year, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had asked India’s Airtel, South Africa’s MTN and national carrier, Globacom, to pay a cumulative N647.5 million as fine for failing to meet the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), for QoS in the month of January 2014.
In a bid to achieve higher operational efficiency and boost network quality, Airtel, MTN and Etisalat all embark on innovative network optimisation initiatives. In the first half this year, the three operators were all involved in tower management deals in Nigeria – in a development that indicates the adoption of a business model predicated on reducing operational costs to free up requisite resources for service and marketing oriented activities, to further compete more effectively.
With Nigeria and Etisalat being a main focus in Nokia Networks’ strategy in Middle East and Africa (MEA), the telecoms company says it is committed to helping the telecoms operator provide world class mobile broadband services.
“This deal hits a large number of evolving managed services sweet spots, including the need for strong service performance, customer experience, security and optimisation in what is an increasingly multi-vendor and multi-technology environment,” said Kris Szaniawski, lead analyst, Intelligent Networks, Ovum, leading research company.
“As the telecoms network services industry experiences a second wave of managed services contracts, we see increased pressure on existing managed services relationships to become more customer-focused and deliver improved service quality,” he added.