The Olympic opportunity: will UK CSPs be able to maximise it?
Teresa Cottam looks at the effect the Olympics will have on the UK communications business, and argues the industry needs to think more positively if it's to maximise the opportunities. Plus there's a free Telesperience white paper to download.
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We may have, for once, got our major infrastructure projects delivered on time for Olympics 2012, but in true British style, the UK communications business is bracing itself for the likely impact. We're arguing about capacity, QoS and the politics of communications provision, but essentially most of the noises from the industry are still network-centric and still defensive.
I'd argue with the best of you about capacity. Firstly, capacity is not the only thing that determines QoS, and we have to see QoS not from our point-of-view but from the customer's perspective (as a key component of so-called QoE). But the main point I'd like to make about capacity is that building out new capacity is only an option until a certain point is reached. At that point the CSP has to move from building capacity to optimising the use of what it has. Capacity building is not a short-term option.
In fact, this is where BSSOSS really comes into its own. Let's be clear: there is no single solution that will deliver a great Olympic 2012 communications experience. Rather a whole raft of different strategies and technologies will help maximise the opportunity and create a great customer experience.
Some of these are network-centric. We need better insight into the experience the customer is actually receiving and the performance of our networks at both the macro and micro levels. We can employ technologies that help manage our data and applications so that the available capacity is used optimally and a good customer experience is maintained. There are undoubtedly some great options out there that have a very important role to play, but this is not what I want to talk about today.
What I'd like to talk about is the role of the BSS, which is possibly the most neglected part of the equation. The BSS can help support the design of sexy new tariffs and offers, and service plan innovation, that will help the CSP proactively shape traffic while also delighting customers. The problem here isn't the lack of great technology to support this, it's the lack of joined-up, positive and strategic thinking within CSPs. And another missing piece of the puzzle is the ability to work proactively with partners. There's a great opportunity, for example, to work with roaming partners in order to market out Olympic packages before the visitor comes to the UK. This has a range of benefits to the home CSP in that it gives more insight into the number of roamers and helps them influence those roamers to behave in a way that makes operational as well as commercial sense. It provides a better customer experience, as well, since it gives the roamer certainty and makes them feel cared about by their home provider, as well as the visiting network.
Furthermore there are great opportunities for CSPs to market products not just to the Olympic visitors and enthusiasts but also to the "refuseniks" like me, who have no interest in the Games. There are many, many potential business partners who need to target these people in order to ensure that they still make a profit while the Games are on. They range from providers of entertainment (think Alton Towers and Nottingham Playhouse) and hospitality (hotels, restaurants etc) outside London, as well as retailers and more. If the CSPs can provide a retail pipe for these businesses then there is a great win-win for everyone.
But we don't work with our partners in such a strategic way. We don't see ourselves yet as a platform for retail and business innovation.
The question therefore is can the commercial departments of the CSP (product management and marketing) work with the BSS department, OSS and networks to develop an Olympic strategy that delivers great outcomes for the CSP, the customer and partners? This is about orchestrating all elements of the customer experience (see The Four Main Pillars Of The Telecoms Customer Experience), plus their supporting departments, processes and systems, to work well together. But can CSPs do this while also thinking big enough thoughts to create a truly delightful experience for all customers (both enthusiasts and refuseniks) and a profitable opportunity for themselves? Or is Olympics 2012 going to be remembered for outages and lost opportunities? In our view, success will require CSPs to move from being purely reactive and even proactive to being positive.
Related Content
Telesperience white paper (downloadable PDF) Olympics 2012: opportunities and risks
Microsperience story: Is the telecoms industry too focused on the negative?
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