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China’s 5G Story: Inspiring Rollout Journey and Ongoing Challenges

Despite concerns about the commercial viability of 5G, China Mobile has recently reported that an impressive 689 million customers have signed up for its 5G package. This remarkable figure reflects China’s unique journey towards 5G rollout and commercialization. Join us as we explore the exciting developments in China's 5G market.

Getting Pricing Right

The perfect storm of runaway inflation, tightening household spending and the post pandemic hangover of slow growth into recession has Telcos taking careful steps at pricing strategies to counter it. As with any such programs that have a direct impact on profit lines, market share, customer loyalty and churn, the remedy can be worse than the disease, and so a very careful, customer-centric analysis is the order of the day.

2022 Year-End Review and Industry Predictions for 2023

In our year-end review, we look at 2022 through the lens of the telecoms, media, and technology industries, evaluate our past predictions, and forecast what lies ahead in 2023.

Getting to Grips with One Touch Switching

The new Gaining Provider Led switching process in the UK took a major step forward recently. With the publishing of the proposed retail processes and the technical interface to the new industry switching hub (https://totsco.org.uk/resources/), this long-talked-about and fundamental industry change is now much more tangible.

Addressing the USA Broadband Availability Gap: Expected Funding and Scenario Planning for States

Our recent study determines that BEAD will provide sufficient funding for the majority of states to close the digital divide. Other states will face constraints as the BEAD funding formula does not account for local cost differences. For this once-in-a-generation opportunity, all will need to closely evaluate their deployment strategies and tradeoffs.

2021 Year-End Review and Industry Predictions for 2022

In our year-end review, we look at 2021 through the lens of the telecoms, media, and technology industries, evaluate our past predictions, and forecast what lies ahead in 2022.

The Impact of COVID-19 on VPN Usage and Streaming Habits

While most industries faced financial difficulties due to COVID-19, Internet streaming platforms have seen record subscriber growth. However, demand for online video content has also led to greater VPN usage.

US Broadband Infrastructure: Costs to Close the Digital Divide

The amount of funding required to fund gigabit deployment to all unserved areas depends on how ‘unserved’ is defined.

US Broadband Infrastructure: Geographic Trends

Although significant availability gaps are an issue in many rural areas, adoption gaps occur in both rural and non-rural geographies.

The Growth of “New” Legacy: An Ongoing Threat to Transformation

In our Product Insights series, we look at some of the challenges and solutions for enabling digital transformation. Today, we focus on tackling one of the key issues – how to execute an effective platform migration strategy.

What Drives Churn in an FTTP World?

FTTP and gigabit cable will soon be the primary access options for most households in industrialized countries. What drives churn when speed is no longer a bottleneck and service incidents are reduced?

Video Conferencing Applications: Bandwidth Benchmarking

How did the increase in video conferencing applications affect household internet bandwidth needs? We tested Zoom and Teams to find out.

US Broadband Infrastructure: The Adoption Gap

Is lack of adoption of fixed broadband a bigger problem than lack of availability of this service?

US Broadband Infrastructure: The Availability Gap

How much has gigabit speed availability increased over time, and how many US households still don’t have access to broadband internet?

Credential Sharing Mitigation Strategies

How can streaming video providers reduce credential sharing without negatively impacting customer experience?

Rolling out FTTP: The B2B Business Case for GPON

In this blog article, we look at the technology and market developments that are making GPON-based products suitable alternatives to Ethernet-based network designs for the enterprise market.

Product Agility and Innovation: Supporting B2B Product Transformation for CSPs

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.

Notre bilan de fin d’année 2020 et nos prédictions pour 2021

Dans notre lettre de fin d'année, nous examinons l’année 2020 dans le secteur des télécommunications, des médias et des technologies, évaluons nos prédictions passées et essayons d'en faire de nouvelles pour 2021.

2020 Year-End Review and Industry Predictions for 2021

In our year-end review, we look at 2020 through the lens of the telecoms, media, and technology industries, evaluate our past predictions, and attempt to make new ones for 2021.

Is It Too Late to End Video Streaming Credential Sharing?

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?

The Importance of Maintaining an Up-to-Date MDU Database

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.

Why Geo-Blocking Fails and What Service Providers Can Do About It

Content service providers have put in place measures to restrict access to content by geography. However, users are getting around these barriers to access content that is not available in their region. How are users doing this and why do service providers need to stop it?

2019 Year-End Review and Industry Predictions for 2020

As we close out the decade, there’s much to reflect on. The telecoms, media, and technology (TMT) industries have driven substantial innovation that changed everything from the way businesses solve problems to how people engage with their friends, families, and the wider world. In this special edition of our year-end letter, we take a moment to consider some of the most impactful developments of the last ten years.

Fighting against Digital Piracy in the Streaming Age

With competition intensifying in video streaming, content owners and providers need to be on top of their security measures more than ever before to protect against content piracy. In this article, we review the impact and cover the solutions to prevent, detect, and reduce digital piracy.

Video Watermarking and the Battle against Piracy

Digital video watermark technology is increasingly used by content owners and service providers to protect their content from illegitimate distribution. In this blog post, we discuss applications for watermark technology and how it can be used to combat piracy.

Lessons from the Field: Rolling out FTTx

In this blog post, Jaume Fornos shares operator insights from his FTTx rollout panel discussion at Gigabit Access 2019 including fibre developments, learnings, and success factors.

8 Steps to Power Your Network Virtualization Journey

Based on findings from our network virtualization survey, here are eight recommendations that would help your SDN and NFV projects.

How Does Credential Sharing Impact Streaming Video Service Providers?

Streaming video subscription sharing can lead to unexpected business costs, legal issues, and lost revenue opportunities for service providers. In this article, we highlight the five main risks related to credential sharing and theft.

Content Protection and the Hidden Extended Network of Streaming Video

In the ongoing battle against content piracy, streaming video account sharing adds another dimension to content protection efforts. In this article, we discuss the main types of credential sharing and the associated risks.

How Consumers Watch Streaming Video for Free

Sharing passwords for streaming video subscriptions isn’t a new issue, but how common is it? We recently conducted a survey to see how today’s consumers access streaming video content and their attitudes towards sharing account credentials. Read on to see what we found.

Using Data Science to Change Subscriber Strategies and Enhance Customer Experience

For many service providers, the way to prevent illegitimate account sharing and fraud is to employ highly restrictive access barriers. However, these tactics may prove impractical, worsen the customer experience, and prove less competitive compared to others. In this article, we look at an alternative approach to solving the credential sharing problem.

How to Plan for Network Transformation

All communications infrastructure has a limited life span. Restructuring and migrating networks are essential to network operations. “Network transformation” – changes that include decommissioning and customer migration – is a complex process that has many phases and touches many departments in the network operator. In this article, examine the major issues operators face when undertaking network transformation projects and get insights for a best practices approach.

The Role of Process Mining in Digital Transformation: Part 2

The key distinction of Process Mining is its flexibility. In Part 2 of our two-part series, we discuss three specific use cases in digital transformation for telecom companies.

The Role of Process Mining in Digital Transformation: Part 1

Process Mining is an emerging process improvement technique that organizations are adopting to drive their digital transformation efforts. How can telecom companies use it and does it replace traditional Business Process Reengineering practices? In our two-part series of articles, we explore the digital transformation opportunity for telecom companies and what changes are needed to fully reap the benefits.

How Telecom Companies Can Select Network Analytics Use Cases

Having established the possibilities of using network data and artificial intelligence in Part 1 of our series on network analytics, in Part 2, we define a framework that telecom companies can employ to prioritize business use cases.

Taming the Wild West of Wi-Fi: The Home Frontier

With consumers increasingly looking to outside support to solve their home connection issues, internet service providers are well-positioned to take the lead on Wi-Fi. The consumer home, however, is a territory with many unknowns. How should ISPs handle the challenges of in-home connectivity?

Unlocking the Power of Network Data through Analytics and Artificial Intelligence

Much of what consumers experience of artificial intelligence (AI) has been focused on front-end customer use cases. But AI has the potential for so much more. This first of a series of articles on network analytics introduces how leveraging the vast amount of available network data can advance applications of AI customer care and experience, and the overall running of communications networks.

3 Considerations to Drive Indirect Sales with Sales Analytics

Service providers invest substantial resources to attract new customer leads across a range of marketing channels. Yet too frequently, customers are lost for avoidable reasons. However, this can be mitigated with advanced sales analytics.

The Real Impact of Roam Like at Home on MVNOs

Nearly a year after the EU’s Roam Like at Home regulation took effect, operators share their experiences and views with Michael Dargue during a panel discussion at MVNOs World Congress 2018.

Why Is the Cost of FTTH Not Falling Faster? Five Things That Don’t Follow Moore’s Law

We look at reasons why the costs of building fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) remain high compared to other technology investments.

Streaming Video Credential Sharing: How Service Providers Can Identify and Stop Unwanted Password Sharing

Up until now, consumers have shared their account passwords to streaming video services with little or no impunity. That era may soon be over, with Pay TV and OTT markets facing increasing levels of competition and a building pressure to retain revenues. Streaming video service providers should reconsider policies on credential sharing in 2018, both to convert non-subscribers to paid accounts and to reduce unnecessary operational and legal costs.

Win-Back Opportunity: 3 Steps for Success for the Enterprise Market

Enterprise, or business customer, churn can significantly impact a service provider’s business. Rather than trying to gain new customers to make up for this lost revenue, service providers can employ effective “Win-Back” programs to lure customers back to their business. Here are three steps to create an effective Win-Back strategy.

CSP Strategies to Reduce Business Risk in Fiber Deployment

Fiber networks require huge upfront investment and have a payback period of many years. The business cases that support these investments always contain a degree of risk – most noticeably on the demand side, but costs can also be uncertain when digging in a new location.

Network Virtualization: Implications for Cost Accounting

As CSPs deploy network virtualization, cost accounting will become more difficult. This post looks at why accurate cost attribution is essential in the telecoms sector and explores NFV-specific accounting challenges.

Service Provider Data Quality in Business Connectivity Market Reviews

Network inventory and CRM systems should be an excellent source of information for regulatory authorities in a review of the business connectivity market. However, in practice, service provider data quality is often poor, and cleaning up these data sets can appear daunting. Referring to recent work by Ofcom as an example, we show that with the correct tools and techniques, these issues can be overcome. Regulators can then obtain a detailed understanding of the market, including geographic variations in competitive intensity.

Dealing with Transformation in a Virtualized World

Communication Service Providers (CSPs) are under pressure to embrace network virtualization. But, the technology is still in its relative infancy, and deployment has proven to be more difficult than expected. We surveyed a cross-section of decision-makers in the telco industry. This article outlines our survey and key findings from our report, "The Future of Networks".

Monitoring and Mitigating Early-Life Churn

Early-life churn often accounts for ten to fifteen percent of all customer losses – we look at the reasons why customers leave and how service providers can address the underlying drivers.

Product Development Strategy: Internal Process Improvement

How business self-reflection aids in aligning long-term strategic priorities with continual business development for product-driven businesses.

4 Ways Pay TV and SVOD Are Converging

Streaming video on demand and Pay TV players are looking across the fence and deploying strategies that mimic the other's traditional business and operational models. In this article, we consider four areas that blur the boundaries and create a new playing field for all.

5G New Radio – Emerging Spectrum Bands

The next generation of wireless communications is on the horizon, and the telecoms world is waiting to see exactly at which frequencies 5G will be implemented. Despite some unknowns and technological challenges, it is increasingly becoming clear that millimeter-wave (or millimeter band) will be a key enabler for 5G and it is going to be deployed in very early 5G use cases such as 5G fixed wireless. In this article, we explain the benefits of the different wave frequencies and delve into the activities of the key stakeholders who are shaping the 5G future from a new radio spectrum perspective.

Take Sales Growth & ROI to the Next Level with Sales Analytics

Once you've harnessed your data and set up performance metrics, what can you do to take your analytics to the next level? In this article, we look at three examples of trends service providers can find in their advanced sales metrics that reveal ways to improve sales performance and quickly decide what to do next.

SD-WAN and the Need for a Targeted Sales Strategy

Since our last insight on SD-WAN strategy for telecom providers, many top-tier service providers have launched SD-WAN products and are positioning their offers in the marketplace to grow sales across business customers for new use cases and regions. In this insight, we describe how to focus sales efforts to identify potential early and high-value adopters of SD-WAN.

Why Over-the-Top Video Providers Aren’t Concerned with Churn – and Why They Should Be

Over-the-top (“OTT”) video providers today downplay the fact that their customers churn at far higher rates than traditional service providers. While OTT video has some important differences from traditional Pay-TV, increasing competition and slowing growth will make customer acquisition a more challenging, and expensive, proposition for OTT providers. Understanding the true causes of churn and implementing some best practices can help OTT providers maximize profitability.

Retaining Customers through SDH Network Platform Transition

While carriers would prefer to deploy scarce resources in support of fast-growing Ethernet-based services, they find that tackling the challenge of SDH/SONET obsolescence and transitioning to new platforms is riddled with uncertainty and complexity. This article considers what is needed for a holistic approach to SDH/SONET platform retirement.

Customer Migration in Switch Decommissioning Projects

This article delves into approaches to TDM switch migration including the customer pre-migration activations in decommissioning projects.

Developing Network Cost Models

Cartesian develops fixed and mobile network cost models to support business cases and investment decisions. Regulatory agencies also call on us to develop and audit the models that underpin charge controls for wholesale access and network services.

Understanding the Quad-Play Business Model

Service providers continue to invest heavily to build quad-play bundles, many with high hopes for lower churn and better margins. The value of these bundles to customers and service providers is yet to be proven. However, with an increasing share of the market, quad-play bundles cannot be ignored.

MVNE Strategies in a Crowded Market

The MVNE market is crowded. Many firms – from large-scale vendors and system integrators to specialist and niche players – have entered the market to serve the needs of MNOs and MVNOs. The result is a fragmented and highly competitive environment. What does it take for an MVNE to stand out from the pack?
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