Mobile User Experience Predictions #5 January 27, 2010
Posted by TimDS in Mobile Operator, User Experience.1 comment so far
APPU not ARPU
ARPU must surely be the wireless industry’s most ubiquitous acronym. For years those four letters have been used as the measure of a carrier’s success.
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) simply expresses the revenue generated by each individual subscription on the network. It has long been used to demonstrate a carrier’s growth and market position and is often quoted not just by the carriers themselves but by industry analysts and the media.
But is generated revenue still a valid measure of success? The cost of acquiring and managing subscribers on a network has risen dramatically, eroding the profitability of consumers who, when measured on ARPU alone, seem to be model citizens. In addition, traditional ARPU calculations don’t consider the impact of multiple subscriptions, heavily skewing the figures. That’s why 2010 is the year of APPU (Average Profit Per User).
Take the Apple iPhone as an example. It’s often quoted that iPhone users generate significantly more revenue than non-iPhone users. However, some carriers report it taking them twice as long to return a profit on an iPhone than a non-iphone. Why? Simply because smartphone devices are more expensive for the carrier to subsidize and support. And smartphones will be the fastest growing handset sector in 2010.
Handset innovations such as touchscreens and faster processors have pushed up unit prices, forcing carriers to heavily subsidize product to appease the consumer appetite for more sophisticated devices. On top of this, the cost of supporting a smartphone is notably higher than that of a feature phone. No wonder then, that the breakeven point for the average consumer now sits somewhere between 12-24 months.
As the industry tries to regain ground in 2010 following a couple of bleak years of stagnant growth across the global economy, we’ll see increasing focus on managing the profitability of consumers during their lifetime within a network.
Mobile User Experience Predictions #4 January 25, 2010
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$50 price plans
We haven’t seen the last of the unlimited $50 price plan that gained popularity, and a certain amount of notoriety, in 2009. Offering unlimited voice and data, including messaging and web access, $50 plans have been something of a game-changer in the US market, but will they start to give global wireless carriers and subscribers heartburn?
The majority of low-cost, unlimited plans are currently served through Tier Two and regional carriers. As a land-grab exercise this has paid off. These are carriers typically not offering a wide selection of data-centric devices nor offering services via high-speed next generation networks. In other words, there is built-protection against much of the strain that an influx of unlimited data subscribers would otherwise place on a network.
But what of the Tier One carriers? In response, a handful have started dipping their toes in the water; dramatically slashing prices and even launching their own $50 unlimited plans. But with access to the latest data-centric devices and high-speed Tier One 3G /4G networks, how long before data-savvy consumers run their cell sites into meltdown?
On top of this, an unlimited plan effectively caps the potential revenue of a subscriber; which means that costs will need to be cut elsewhere. Carriers may then struggle to balance the consumption they encouraged with the care and support needs of customers. This will be compounded by the need for customer care and support environments to respond to a greater (and more costly) volume of calls relating to more sophisticated devices and services.
The carriers appear confident that they’re able to handle the increased demand and preserve quality of service through capacity improvements in the form of, for example, HSPA+. However, the relative immaturity of such networks in the mass-market means that the desire to compete on low-cost price plans today is a huge gamble, with customer satisfaction and brand equity at stake.
Mobile User Experience Predictions #3 January 21, 2010
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SMARTPHONES FOR THE MASSES
During 2008/09, growth across the global handset market stalled for the first time in history. However, one segment continued to shine; smartphones.
While shipment volumes for non-smartphones dropped, new product launches in the smartphone sector still managed to sell out in days. The expectation is that by 2013 such devices will account for 20-30 percent of all global handsets.
Smartphones are no longer just for enterprise users or early-adopters. Supported by an ecosystem of consumer orientated applications, smartphones have become desirable across geographies and demographics. For the Facebook generation who expect, and are expected, to be connected at all times they have become a necessity. Even RIM, the road warrior’s OEM of choice, has spent millions of advertising dollars convincing Joe Public that they need to stay connected with a BlackBerry.
Spurring further growth, 2010 will see increasing price-drops as both manufacturers and carriers drive open platforms such as Android and Symbian. This will move smartphone devices into the $100-$150 dollar price bracket; the traditional home of the feature phone.
A key challenge, however, will be the need for carriers to protect their smartphone investments through better consumer education and support channels. Heavily subsidized, a smartphone limited to just voice and text becomes just an expensive paperweight. And an expensive one to support.
Mobile User Experience Predictions #2 January 18, 2010
Posted by TimDS in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
MVNO BUSINESS MODELS 2.0
Two very different MVNO business models will continue to develop in 2010.
MVNOs used to be the favored approach for established brands looking to offer their content through the mobile channel (think ESPN and Disney). Today, with many brand-led MVNOs having fallen by the wayside, the MVNO model is morphing, offering innovative pricing models and social media-style services.
In the UK O2-owned GiffGaff shows just where the MVNO model can be taken. As you’d expect of an MVNO, pricing is already competitive. However, the price of running a mobile can be made almost free to GiffGaff customers who become actively involved in the GiffGaff community by recruiting new subscribers, offering help on the support page and even making decisions on the future of the service. This new breed of MVNO is able to tap into the social media zeitgeist to defer traditional customer acquisition, marketing and support costs by encouraging consumer participation and a feeling of ownership.
The second incarnation of the MVNO comes in the form of ‘bundled-data’. Rather than simply competing with carriers who ultimately control supply, a new breed of MVNO will emerge that’s focused on a complete solution where wireless connectivity comprises just part of the total offer. The best example of this is the free Amazon Whispernet service that comes bundled with the Amazon e-reader, the Kindle. Whispernet uses the Kindle’s embedded 3G module to deliver content and free internet access to the device.
Importantly, Amazon’s carrier partners don’t feel threatened by enhancing a competitive brand and they also gain access to a previously unaddressable market. To the consumer, there’s no phone number nor, in this case, subscription. Connectivity is simply an inherent part of the offer and the cost of delivery is part of the product’s ticket price.
It’s not an MVNO as we know it today, but more will follow in Amazon’s tracks.
Download the full predictions e-book here.
http://www.wdsglobal.com/mobile-predictions/WDSGlobal_mobile_predictions_2010.pdf
Mobile User Experience Predictions 2010 January 15, 2010
Posted by TimDS in Handsets, Mobile Operator, User Experience.Tags: 2010, predictions, User Experience
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At this time of year, the industry is awash with predictions for the coming 12 months. WIF member WDSGlobal has a different take; they’ve published the trends that they think will impact the mobile user experience.
Each day we’ll post one of the 6 trends that they think will shape the user experience.
You’ll likely have your own view on these, so feel free to comment.
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TREND ONE: Network strain forces pricing rethink
2009 was a watershed year for mobile data with consumer interest finally ignited thanks to improved network speeds, device desirability and service innovation. Most importantly, carriers improved the transparency of their data pricing. By the end of 2009, nearly all major carriers offered ‘unlimited’ data plans, allowing consumers to finally get connected without constant fear of bill shock.
However, while unlimited data plans have been critical in establishing mass-market data adoption, 2010 will be the year that we see a number of carriers looking to revise their pricing strategies as their networks begin to creak under the pressure of growing data demand.
From smartphones to mobile broadband dongles, embedded 3G modules and mifi units, the range of data-hungry products and services promoted in 2009 has created unprecedented strain on existing infrastructure.
This puts the industry in a difficult position. Having spent considerable effort raising consumer awareness around data, many networks have hinted at the need to try and curb traffic by educating consumers about their data consumption. Worse still, several have already come in for criticism after discretely rewriting the rule-book and restricting their unlimited data plans to the disadvantage of paying consumers.
With smartphone penetration increasing, consumers will continue to expect inclusive data and will naturally gravitate to the carrier that can feed the data addiction of 2010. Most likely, the year ahead will see the introduction of some innovative pricing models, such as tiered pricing with consumers charged in bands depending on their usage.
Recognizing that the vast majority of data traffic comes from just a handful of consumers this will allow carriers to deliver a better experience to the majority.
We’ll likely also see attempts to discourage heavy bandwidth applications such as file sharing and streaming media.
Whatever the approach, carriers must be careful not to curb demand for valuable mobile broadband products that deliver important secondary revenue streams, nor must they stymie innovation amongst the ecosystem of developers that has matured in the last 12 months.
Mobile Breakfast Series Round-Up December 7, 2009
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WIF attended the Mobile Breakfast Series (www.mobilebreakfastseries.com) in Seattle, WA on Friday, December 4th. The Mobile Breakfast Series is a quarterly event that brings together thought leaders and visionaries from the global mobile industry to interact and share ideas, insights, and best practices with the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, and others who are passionate about mobile.
This quarter’s topic was “The Impact and Evolution of Mobile Broadband.” Speakers on this panel included Stacey Higginbotham, Senior Writer, GigaOM; Neville Ray, Sr. Vice President of Engineering, T-Mobile USA; Charlie Martin, CTO – Wireless, Huawei Technologies; Ken Denman, CEO, Openwave; Hank Skorny, Sr. Vice President, Media Cloud Computing, Real Networks; Dow Draper, Vice President, Technology Partnerships, Clearwire.
The following were some of the more interesting comments made by the speakers.
Clearwire’s Dow Draper:
“If you look at the iPhone, it’s an incredible phone, but the big reason for its success…is Google’s applications.”
“The faster the network, the more subscribers will use data.”
Real Networks Hank Skorny:
“The network openness could trigger the whole network falling off a cliff. Software and services vendors are placing life and death bets on platform openness.”
“We’re fearful that carriers won’t invest in their networks because of app revenue escaping their grasp.”
T-Mobile’s Neville Ray:
“Building connectedness for subscribers through social networks is a carrier value proposition.”
“I think we all will embrace VoIP as part of our migration to IP and 4G. It will be key to success.”
“Carriers have historically done a poor job of harnessing innovation.”
“Customers already are willing and spending more on data. Data revenue’s big opportunity for carriers is to offset ARPU drop.”
“4G and new devices will drive new user experience and demands for data. This is only the beginning.
Openwave’s Ken Denman
“Fear is whether the pie is big enough for all mobile data players, especially the demanding content providers.”
“It’s not just the phone. It’s all things non-phone related that are going to be driving a ton of usage.”
“We are at an inflection point in mobile data – where big money is to be made.”
What happened to Mobile TV? October 28, 2009
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So what really happened to Mobile TV?
Four key factors that have prevented growth.
1) Poor handset support
Regardless of a slip in market share, Nokia remains the dominant force in the handset market. Certainly in Europe, the network carriers are looking to Nokia to deliver a strong line-up of Nokia DVB-H handsets in order to gain mass-market adoption of mobile TV services. However, this just hasn’t happened. Finland’s finest seems to have gone a little cold on the technology.
As early as last year the warning signs were there. Nokia’s head of internet services admitted that DVB-H wasn’t taking off in the way the company had hoped, and that customers seem more interested in downloading content than watching broadcasts.
It’s a classic game of chicken and egg. The carriers want Nokia DVB-H equipment before they make infrastructure investment and Nokia wants the carriers to invest and commit before they offer move product.
Today only a handful of Nokia device include built-in DVB-H compatibility. Nokia do provide an external antenna to a wider range of devices but that seems far from optimal. Even the N97 – one of Nokia’s biggest handset launches of the year, shipped without DVB-H as standard.
2. Mobile Broadband
Mobile Broadband has been the surprise success of 2009. This has had a direct impact on mobile carriers’ Mobile TV aspirations. Both services are data hungry and many carriers have reported aborting their Mobile TV strategies to save on network bandwidth and allow mobile broadband to grow.
The trend towards data bundles and all-you-can-eat price plans will continue to strain network resources. Experts predict 3G traffic volumes are set to increase by a factor of 20 by 2015. A major tier one Mobile TV launch would undoubtedly require significant network investment and traffic prioritization strategies to mitigate the potential impact of network latency on the user experience.
3. Handset Category
DVB-H compatibility remains a feature almost exclusive to the smartphone and high-end feature phone segment. The technology has yet to find its way into mid to low-end devices . This will be critical to gaining mass-market acceptance, especially within the high-growth markets of Brazil, China, India etc.
4.) Downloading / side-loading
Who needs broadcast content when you can download and watch at your convenience?
Unlimited data plans have removed the number one barrier to data adoption – bill shock. This has opened the flood gates to users proactively seeking out their own multimedia content and downloading it to their device.
The practice of side-loading (transferring content from another device, principally a PC, via cable, Bluetooth, SD Card etc) also remains a strong channel for getting content onto the mobile handset. The practice has traditionally been leveraged for the management of music content, with consumers syncing up their playlists through brand-name and OEM proprietary music stores and library consoles. The practice is now extending to include audio-visual content.
Opinion from the world of mobile web & apps October 23, 2009
Posted by TimDS in Handsets, Mobile Operator, User Experience.Tags: google, iphone, iplayer, User Experience, vodafone, yahoo
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WIF is currently attending Informa’s Mobile Web & Applications 2009 conference. 
I was hoping to live blog, but (typically) there’s little-to-no mobile coverage so my mobile broadband dongle is useless and I refuse to pay the conference center’s ridiculous wifi charges.
So the following is an extract of my notes, summarizing some of the most interesting / pertinent / salient points made by the speakers.
THE COST OF MOBILE DATA – HEADING TO ZERO?
Chris Wade, Chairman and CEO, ShoZu
- The all-you-can-eat data plan is in jeopardy. Bandwidth on networks is already limited. Which carrier has the bravery to make the change?
Unknown Panel Participant
- Content providers want mobile data [transport] to be free to the consumer. That’s unrealistic, the carriers will respond stating that they subsidize the handset, they paid for the spectrum, they pay for customer support. But there must be a middle-ground.
Ray De Silva, Head of Enabler Commercial Partnerships, Vodafone Group
- There’s no expectation among our users that mobile will ever be free.
Nora Goodman, Executive VP, Finally! TV Studios
- We should be careful using the word ‘free’. The internet has done a disservice to an entire generation by making so much content free. Artists, developers, whomever, are creating all of this great content and not getting paid for it. Is that what our forefathers intended? “Work, work, work….and don’t get paid for it.” Thankfully the mobile application / content market is resisting this.
DISTRIBUTION OF CONTENT & APPS
Benjamin Mosse, Director AP Mobile, Associated Press
- The walled garden still exists, we see it every day. We can’t put our app on certain carrier portals because it’s free. This has to stop. Just because it’s free. it doesn’t mean you should say no to it. Just because it doesn’t earn you any money, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value to your end-users.
- Some carriers want to be media companies. Business success is all about core competency. It’s taken us 160 years to get it right. How successful will the carrier be as a media company?
THE EVOLUTION OF THE MOBILE WEB
Ray De Silva, Head of Enabler Commercial Partnerships, Vodafone Group
- Mobile Web 1.0 was defined by MO/MT SMS, PSMS, shortcodes etc. Mobile Web 2.0 is about delivering a more compelling user experience. For example, bearer detection, data bundle look-up, roaming check (both to prevent bill shock) and handset configuration checks.
- Delivering a convenient payment mechanism is key [to monetizing]. Conversion rates for big brands using mcommerce: Credit cards deliver 10-20% conversion. Single click billing delivers 30-70%.
- If a user wants to access data-heavy content (like BBC iPlayer), the network should be able to detect data tariff status to avoid bill shock and upsell where necessary. It should also know what bearer the user is connected via and dynamically change the file served accordingly [to improve delivery speed]. Finally it should know if the user is roaming [again to prevent bill shock].
Mark Kortekaas, controller for BBC Audio & Music Interactive and BBC Mobile.
- Your content history should move with you. If you access BBC iPlayer on the mobile device, it should know that you’ve already watched a programme on your PS3 interface or notebook.
Nicholas Heller, Strategic Partnerships, Media & Publishing, Google
- Google’s advertising model works equally well on the mobile; CPM on the mobile platform is comparable to fixed web. We are now looking to embed ads within apps, based on app-type. This will will include click-to-call / click-to-coupon and is very compelling to advertisers and our content partners.
- We are betting on Moore’s Law and the growth of feature-rich handsets. The mobile web benefits from the unique properties of the mobile device. For example a mic (voice search), GPS (location searches), camera (image overlays).
Ariel Seidman, Director Product Management, Yahoo! Search
- Voice search [on the mobile] doesn’t really solve a big problem. Two-word searches are very fast to type and the privacy issue [of reciting your search] is huge.
STATS
Ray De Silva, Head of Enabler Commercial Partnerships, Vodafone Group
- It’s hard to second-guess the end-user. We have Google search on most of our portals around the world, yet users still navigate to www.google.com because that’s why they are used to [on the PC platform].
- 1 in 5 under 35’s surf the mobile web daily in the UK.
- Smartphone ownership increases data usage x39.
Wandrille Pruvot, Regional Director, Europe, Buzzcity
- The opportunity for data in the emerging markets is huge. There are 400 million mobile users in India with 10 million new subscriptions every month.*
* On this last point I have to take issue. As great as these conferences are for harvesting stats, I grow increasingly angry at the recycling of stats and facts, flippantly included in presentations as a means of justifying a business case. I have no objection to the fact the emerging markets (based purely on their scale) represent enormous opportunity. However, take the above stats about India. Scratch through the veneer and what exactly is the immediate opportunity for data?
Consider that;
a) The majority of users in emerging markets, including India are using entry-level devices. The most populous handset in this market (indeed the world), is the Nokia 1100. That’s a six year old design, first launched in 2003. It has a monochrome display, has basic WAP connectivity but little else. An iPhone it is not.
b) The majority of the 10m new subscribers p/month are coming from rural areas of India. Users in metropolitan areas typically have better phones and more disposable income. In rural areas the reverse is true, they have very little money to spend on anything other than basic connectivity (voice).
Again, I agree that India represents opportunity. But let’s not start building business models on these very generic figures. A little due diligence please. For the record, I certainly don’t intend this as a criticism of Buzzcity – their presentation was insightful and I’ve seen the ‘Indian growth’ stats a hundred times before!
How low can you go? October 15, 2009
Posted by TimDS in Mobile Operator, News.4 comments
As the market for mobile data (either through appstore downloads, mobile email, web or mobile broadband etc) finally starts to reach its tipping point in the mass (western) markets, a new goldrush has begun. The last 12 months have seen massive price erosion across many European networks as networks battle to maintain share in a saturated market.
Finally realising the need to lower the barrier to data access and mitigate the threat of bill shock, price plans that include unlimited data have started to creep in under GBP£20 in the UK (US$32). That’s a huge shift from where we were even just 12 months ago.
Now, the US carriers are upping the game. Not content with unlimited data, a number of carriers are circling around the notion of completely unlimited plans. And I mean completely unlimited; unlimited data, calls and texts.
Retail goliath Wal-Mart has this week announced a $45 a month plan that gives unlimited everything. Its Straight-Talk service is a no-contract plan that undercuts almost everything else in the market by some margin.
Wal-Mart’s press release notes that the average ARPU in the US is $78 p/month. So how do the carriers respond? It seems illogical that the Tier 1 community would slash their ARPU and effectively cap their revenue opportunity per subscriber? However that’s exactly what T-Mobile is rumoured to be working on under the codename ‘Project Dark’. The one difference is that Wal-Mart’s line-up of available handsets aren’t likely to be sat connected to streaming media content 24/7 or tethered to a notebook (three year old Samsung anyone?). T-Mobile, however, investing heavily in HSPA (including a 21Mbps service in trial) will be opening the floodgates across some seriously data-centric devices.
If Project Dark sees the light of day, it’ll be a seriously disruptive force. You’ve got to be spending upward of $90 a month on Verizon, Sprint or AT&T to realise the same unlimited benefits.
However, the most immediate impact of this price erosion is likely to be felt announcing the the Tier 2 and regional US carriers. Wal-Mart’s retail footprint across the US, coupled with an industry-busting price plan is likely to unsettle the non-contract players such as Leap and MetroPCS. It’s perhaps within these non-contract networks that the subscriber base is also more fluid and willing to churn.
Are iPhones damaging MNO profitability? August 19, 2009
Posted by TimDS in Handsets, Mobile Operator.1 comment so far
Could it really be that the only company profiting from the iPhone right now is Apple? According to research from Strand Consult, of all the mobile network operators who range the iPhone, not one has managed to increase market share, revenue or earnings as result of the including the handset ‘de jour’ in their line-up. In fact, Strand found evidence of several MNOs who had actually suffered as a result of the iPhone, reporting profit warnings as a result of the device.
In the US, AT&T cited iPhone subsidies as a contributing factor to a dip in OIBDA (Operating Income Before Depreciation And Amortization). SingTel, Southeast Asia’s largest phone firm, reported falling profits due to iPhone launches, saying the iPhone alone hurt operating profit margin by 3-4 percentage points. In Europe, TeliaSonera, the top operator in the Nordics, has launched the iPhone in all Nordic countries, but it has not helped it to boost market share or lift ARPU says Strand. TeliaSonera’s ARPU in Denmark has declined from 212 Danish crowns to 168 crowns over the last two years, twice the pace of ARPU fall from competitor Sonofon whose ARPU in first quarter was 205 crowns. In Sweden TeliaSonera has lost one percentage point of market share in two years, and its the lowest ARPU carrier among top firms, with ARPU falling to 179 Swedish crowns in the first quarter.
Why? Well, it’s much the same story as we reported here. The introduction of new technologies designed to stimulate ARPU (average revenue per user) is often accompanied by significant cost that can quickly cancel out subscriber profitability.
There are three main cost areas that impact new product / technology launches in this way.
1. Subscriber Acquisition & Subsidies: Outside of marketing and advertising, a principle cost lies
in subsidizing handsets. Subsidizing handsets is standard practice for many MNOs. It’s a practice that enables them to quickly gain market share, attract customers and seed the market with revenue generating technology at a price-point that the consumer’s can bear. It is, however, a costly strategy and one that puts subscriber profitability in the Red from day-one. No wonder then that many MNOs have increased their standard contract duration to 24 months in an attempt to claw-back this cost.
Sources at AT&T have suggested that without the acquisition costs associated with the iPhone 3GS, which it launched in June, its OIBDA service margin would have been 40 percent rather than the reported 38.3%.
Mobile Broadband services are also suffering in this way. Most USB broadband dongles are supplied free-of-charge and many MNOs even offer free laptops to entice customers.
2. Cost-to-Support: When a new handset and/or technology is launched to the market it’s not uncommon to see a spike in support traffic as end-users grapple with new features and functions or learn to navigate a new OS. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost. The cost of handling customer care and support calls has an immediate bearing on a subscriber’s profitability because, like the cost of subscriber acquisition, handset subsidies and network maintenance, it forms part of the cost of maintaining a subscriber on a network.
Technical support calls on smartphones such as the iPhone tend to be longer and more complex in nature than lower-end devices. It’s not unreasonable to assume that a single call to a tier-3 technical support agent has the potential to wipe-out an end-users profitability for that month.
Do Sprint’s actions make a little more sense now?
3. Infrastructure: Data-centric devices place enormous strain on legacy network infrastructure. The industry has undergone something of a transformation in recent years, shifting data billing from time-based to packet-based. The availability of ‘unlimited’ data bundles is prevalent and seen as a key selling point for MNOs keen to fill the gap left by dipping voice revenue. However, in reality unlimited mobile data means 500mb-1GB. An operator will use ‘unlimited’ as a strong advertising statement to attract users, knowing that 99% of them won’t even get near the fair use 500mb-1GB and that margins / network performance are protected. But iPhone users (and their peers) are a different breed. These devices live for data connectivity.
It’s a fact that the rise of mobile broadband and the popularity of smartphones has put significant strain on 3G networks. Estimates suggest that the iPhone and mobile broadband services (amongst other data factors) have caused data traffic on tier-one networks to grow at rates of 10% to 15% per month. AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told the Wall Street Journal earlier in the year that wireless operators aren’t prepared for the onslaught of data traffic coming from smartphones, and that the deluge is beginning to clog their networks.
As such, many MNOs are doing a lot to upgrade their networks as quickly as possible in order to accommodate demand. However, when MNOs see data traffic increasing they sometimes react in a less than favorable manner by capping usage or imposing punitive charges.
What this commentary is not suggesting is that the iPhone (and similar peer devices) are white elephants. We all accept that they are game-changing and have been a positive force in taking mobile data mainstream.
OK, the subsidy that AT&T pays for each iPhone totals about US$300 but their monthly tariff averages at US$70. Over the long-term, such devices can add significant incremental revenue and reinforce subscriber loyalty. The message is that costs can be managed in other areas to allow for any short-term damage imposed by acquisition costs.
For example, it is important that support lines are optimized in advance of new product launches to counter any spikes in traffic. Can subscribers be managed via more cost effective web-based selfcare channels instead of being connected to an expensive support agent?
Of course, as internal systems, processes and knowledge improve around new products so too will the cost-to-support. Significant profitability gains can be realized by mitigating the above-average support requirements of new products and any reduction in post-sale support costs will have an immediate positive uplift in profitability that will enable MNOs to maintain competitive pricing strategies.
