In this first of the Product Insights series, we’ve taken our learnings from engagements with some of the leading CSP brands across the globe to create new ways of tackling product transformation, supporting the digitised future. In this post we focus on the B2B market, exploring how to increase momentum by starting small in order to reduce complexity and win big.

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Le 1er janvier 2020, le Dr. Robert Redfield, directeur du Centre américain pour le Contrôle et la Prévention des Maladies (CDC), a reçu un appel[1] de son homologue chinois, l’informant de la recrudescence d’une nouvelle souche de Coronavirus. Le Dr. Redfield, en vacances avec sa famille, passa une grande partie des jours suivants au téléphone pour essayer de comprendre les implications de ces informations en provenance de Wuhan. Ce faisant, il a oublié de téléphoner à Cartesian, pour nous informer que nos prédictions de la lettre de fin d’année 2019 avaient besoin d’une mise à jour. Mais même si nous avions fait nos prédictions fin janvier, nous aurions encore été loin d’imaginer à quel point ce virus allait impacter l’année 2020.

Nous espérons que vous, vos familles, vos amis et vos collègues se portent bien. Jusqu’à présent, l’industrie semble avoir remarquablement bien résisté aux méfaits du Covid-19. A l’heure où nous écrivons ces lignes, il est aussi intéressant de noter que des secteurs n’ont pas, ou ont peu, souffert de la pandémie. L’industrie des télécommunications constitue un pilier robuste sur laquelle une grande partie de l’économie continue de s’appuyer, et les médias audiovisuels ont encore une fois prouvé qu’ils étaient le moyen le plus efficace de nous distraire. Mais il ne fait aucun doute qu’il y aura des conséquences économiques et des changements dans les habitudes des consommateurs qui n’ont même pas encore été envisagés. Comme d’habitude, cette lettre se termine par nos prédictions pour 2021. Mais dans ce contexte, nous devons admettre qu’elles n’ont jamais été aussi incertaines.

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On the 1st January 2020, Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) received a phone call[1] from his Chinese counterparts, informing him of the outbreak of a new Coronavirus strain. Dr. Redfield was on vacation with his family at the time but spent most of the next few days on the phone, trying to understand the ramifications of the news coming out of Wuhan. One phone call he did not make, however, was to Cartesian’s office, to let us know that we should really update our industry predictions for the year ahead. Realistically, had we made our predictions even in late January (when a colleague canceled a holiday to China “just to be on the safe side”), we still would not have come close to anticipating the impact that the virus would have on the year that followed.

We hope that this letter finds you, your families, friends, and colleagues well. The industry seems to have been remarkably resilient so far to the challenges of Covid-19. As we wrote the letter it was interesting to note the number of things that were not obviously impacted by Covid. The telecoms industry is providing the sturdy backbone on which large parts of the economy are continuing to function; TV is once again proving that it is the most cost-efficient medium for keeping us entertained. But no doubt there will be further economic consequences and changes to consumer habits that have not yet been realized. This letter concludes, as always, with our predictions for 2021 – they are, we suspect, our most uncertain to date.

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Sharing account credentials for video streaming services has become the norm for many people today. How did password sharing become socially acceptable, what does this mean for video providers’ business models, and what can they do to mitigate the risks?

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Multi Dwelling Units (MDUs) represent valuable pockets of concentrated opportunity for ISPs. The most successful ISPs recognize this, and have accurate and up-to-date data on the locations, sizes, and characteristics of both existing and under construction buildings so that they can be targeted with tailored sales and marketing tactics.

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