Telecommunications companies like wireless carriers and cable providers are slowly phasing out traditional service bundles—like the classic combo of voice, messaging, and data services utilized by most major cell carriers—in favor of higher-level services that feel more immediately useful to consumers. In particular, telcos are changing which services they bundle together to modernize their offerings.
Telcos are already making significant changes to attract and retain customers in today’s quickly changing digital services landscape. As more customers take connectivity services for granted and instead look for value-added digital services, telcos are in a unique position to modernize their offerings by developing the next generation digital consumer experiences.
Video Is Still Important, but the Landscape Has Shifted
Over-the-top streaming services like Netflix have augmented or even replaced traditional TV offerings for many consumers. Consumers expect the ease-of-use, limited advertising, and large catalogs of popular streaming services. At the same time, traditional TV (particularly live sports and other current content) is still hugely popular and very profitable for telcos.
Many telcos are embracing the best of both worlds by bundling value-added services like third-party or in-house streaming services in addition to traditional TV. Some cell carriers which would otherwise not offer any TV service at all can attract more customers by bundling streaming services.
Telcos Are Perfectly Positioned to Build Next-Gen IoT Devices
Telcos—particularly cable and landline phone companies—generally offer cable modems, wireless routers, and set-top boxes for rent as part of their standard service offerings. Since these companies already have a foothold in customers’ homes, they have a unique opportunity to offer useful Internet of Things hardware, like Internet-connected home security products and smart thermostats. As with video, telcos can distinguish themselves from the competition by providing more useful user-facing products and treating the connectivity services as a given.
Customer Service Is Expanded and Digitized
Given that telcos now provide a number of additional services outside of basic connectivity, customer service has taken on a greater role. Today’s customers expect fast, helpful, easy-to-use customer service, so moving to e-care is a must. While traditional call center customer service should continue to be offered, self-service options may improve retention rates and customer satisfaction.
Migrating to e-care gives telcos a huge advantage by reducing their operating costs and simultaneously increasing customer satisfaction.
The Telco Digital Transformation Is Underway, But More Can Still Be Done
Most telecommunication companies have improved their bundled offerings to attract more of today’s customers. However, the technology world continues to move fast and telcos can still do more to offer the value-added services that become a differentiating factor. Oftentimes, it is not financially feasible to build these services in house. Many digital services—not to mention IoT products—require organizational competencies and talent that telcos might not have. For this reason, third-party developers can be a huge asset when it comes to building services outside of the core abilities of a telco.
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