With the number of mobile technology users and the rollout of 5G rocketing at unprecedented rates, vast opportunity can be found for the Channel. The promise of increasingly fast, low-latency network speeds brings a sturdy foundation for the deployment of IoT and AI-based solutions, pointing to benefits ranging from environmental and sustainability improvements to increase in productivity.
According to the GSMA’s latest Mobile Economy Report, 5G connections are set to reach one billion in total this year. By the end of 2025, it projects 5G’s scope to account for around a quarter of total mobile connections, with more than two in five people around the world to live within reach of a 5G network.
Rob Kittler, head of connectivity practice at Gamma said that the speed and latency improvements offered by 5G raise potential to drive down operating costs, especially in the SME market, by reducing the size and cost of office space and improving business functions via a remote workforce.
He added, “On the other hand, the big uptick in density provided by 5G will enable fast and robust connectivity for the growing number of devices that businesses are using – including those we consider to be part of the Internet of Things.”
“With more and more people working away from the office, the hunger for networks and devices able to provide faster data throughput and real-time video communications is quickly growing. Voice and SMS are no longer the preferred way of communication and collaboration, further fueling the desire for very quick data speeds and tariffs to accommodate these speeds and quantities.”
Jean-François Catz, innovation lead at Enreach, commented, “5G and eSIMS are both game-changers and users will expect as smooth a transition as possible, rather than a revolution.”
Catz added that infrastructure developments have represented a “huge leap forward” with the gap between 4G and 5G speeds much larger than between 3G and 4G.
“Think about all the embedded tech in your smartphone with more to come. [That could include] location services, proximity detection, automatic network handover, activity detection, gesture detection, voice-activated commands, augmented reality … and of course, camera and access to multiple business and personal apps. Mobile is also a gateway for users to the IoT, using proximity detection.”
Catz suggested that examples of use cases for this include an employee entering a meeting room and the mobile automatically turning on the lights and projector before sending a message to participants that the session is starting; or a mobile detecting that a user has left the office and automatically publishing the user’s presence to colleagues.
“Whilst many in the Channel may still be thinking about SIMs and handsets, the big opportunity is the use of 4G, and increasingly 5G, as genuine alternatives to fixed line technologies,” said Martin Saunders, product director at Highlight.
“Static cellular or mobile connections are becoming a viable compliment to a fixed line network, and although at an early stage, it is a huge opportunity. Manufacturers of IoT devices are also driving the increase in mobile usage as they look to connect the sensors that monitor their devices. In terms of use cases, cellular is perfect for fast-start situations. It gets connectivity quickly to a location without hardly any lead time, whether in a field or a city.”
Cellular is also being used as a secondary connection if the primary fails, he added, and SD-WAN technology can enable cellular to be used as an active-active connection.
“The SD-WAN maximises the cellular connection to deliver more bandwidth into the location. We are also seeing a few customers using cellular as their only connectivity, such as a large supermarket retailer and a petrol service station. As long as the organisation controls their bandwidth and doesn’t offer free Wi-Fi, cellular can deliver a strong primary connection, with no other strings attached.”
Ericsson’s 2022 Mobility Report found that over 20 service providers had launched public 5G standalone networks by the end of 2021, and this number is expected to double in 2022. The report also forecasted 5G to cover around 75 per cent of the world’s population in 2027.
“5G compatible devices have become increasingly affordable in the last 18 months,” said Gamma’s Rob Kittler. “You can buy an entry level 5G smartphone from the mid-tier price bracket – something that wouldn’t have been possible two years ago.”
He noted that in addition to faster delivery of applications to a wider, distributed workforce, another advantage is the ability to install plug and play 5G routers delivering high-speed internet to locations without fixed access.
“This is particularly beneficial as the PSTN switch off is approaching and as 5G is matching, and sometimes even exceeding, fixed connectivity.”
Tariffing preference has also changed over the years, he added, due to increasing data usage and popularity of messaging applications for communication and collaboration.
“While previously businesses would’ve looked at what suited each user, or would’ve shared data over the estate, they’re now seeking out an unlimited package and an all-inclusive bill,” he told Comms Business.
“This is also so they can avoid bill shock or data peaks in certain months, using it as a safety net. As data usage grows, the tariff options will dwindle, allowances will move to unlimited and speed will become the deciding factor – akin to what happened to broadband.”
Stand-out services
For the Channel, there are many opportunities to be drawn from the evolving mobile market, and many will be wondering how they can develop a truly compelling offering that will differentiate them within the market — no easy feat.
Over the past few years, Kittler pointed out that Brexit has meant some operators have had to drop Roam Like at Home deals from their commercials. “This creates an opportunity for those resellers who can still offer it through the right provider, as many people will be looking at their choices as we begin to travel again post-Covid,” he said.
To succeed in developing stand-out offerings, he said that resellers and MSPs should go back to basics and look at their knowledge, as well as how they serve customers in terms of professionalism and speed.
“They must assess how quickly they can provision SIMs, implement moves, and add changes to accounts when needed. We work in this Amazon-esque and Google-esque way now where people expect things to happen very quickly when requested. Customers will vote with their wallets and decide based on their ‘need for speed’ if they don’t get that kind of service.
“To deliver a stand-out mobile offering, they have also got to get the price right, offer the best speeds, and have conversations on what it can bring, understanding business needs and how they can work and grow together. Above all, they absolutely must have their house in order to service the customers in a quick and timely manner, as well as partnering with the right provider that can deliver the latest mobile technology and flexible tariffs to go with it.”
Highlight’s Martin Saunders said that service assurance is key, adding that resellers and MSPs who want to stand out need to be able to consider potential challenges and, more importantly, mitigate against them.
“Whilst fast and easy to install, cellular requires a strong signal strength to work effectively,” Saunders said. “MSPs with large cellular estates need the ability to deliver a reliable cellular service, confident in the knowledge that the signal strength is adequate and assurance that any unexpected usage can be identified and managed effectively. Having full visibility of these connections is critical to ensure business continuity.”
MSPs must also be aware of, and managing, unexpected usage leading to bill shock, he noted. He added, “If a customer’s primary network fails and cellular automatically picks up the traffic, providers need to know when this happens, and that the traffic returns to the primary network as soon as it is restored.
“Providers also need to spot if cellular networks are being preferred by the user, perhaps because the cellular is faster than their primary fixed line, leading to overuse of expensive cellular connections.”
Elsewhere, resellers have an opportunity to be adaptable and in order to stand out from the crowd, mobile offerings are no exception to the rule that assessing individual customer needs, and focusing on meeting those, can be the game-changing differentiator that Channel companies are looking for.
An example of this, given by Enreach’s Catz, is white-labelling to make offerings customisable to your product portfolio, with the option to select the features that best meet your customers’ requirements. They can also look at the benefits of integrating CRMs and vertical apps, as well as adding mobile capabilities to Microsoft Teams, he added.
Partnering for an evolving market
Naturally, part of ensuring that your mobile offering stands out in the market will involve assessing whether you’re working with the right vendors and identifying the best vendors to form new partnerships with.
“If I was a reseller, I’d insist on a live trial, and in multiple countries if required,” said Catz. “It is time for vendors to move beyond the talk and prove what they can actually do in practice.”
Rob Kittler at Gamma agreed that whether MSPs and resellers are looking to differentiate themselves on a commercial level — such as free roaming or flexible tariffs — or a functional one, such as self-serve portals or easy deployment: the best vendors should be able to allow resellers to do this, while allowing them to meet customer demands through the latest mobile technology.
“Businesses are now looking at the benefits of 5G and associated speeds, and will want to choose a provider that can offer them the best possible coverage on this network, as well as a high quality voice service such as VoLTE,” Kittler commented.
“The uptake of APIs and ease to market will also be important, as will be the post-sales experience.”
As the mobile market evolves, Andrew Dickinson, CEO, Jola, said that the Channel is seeing an exponential rise in demand for mobile data SIMs, not only for use in 4G/5G routers, pre-Ethernet connectivity and Ethernet back-up but also for digital signage, gaming machines, vending machines monitoring devices, sensors and ATMs.
“SIMs are being used in wind and solar farms, measuring and tracking key variables, they are also being used in smart TV cameras, which roam internationally. Electric Vehicle charging points are popping up across the country, from individual domestic units used at home, to multiple units at service stations and supermarket carparks,” he said.
He pointed out that manufacturers and service companies are continuing to find new uses for mobile data daily, and as the rollout of 5G accelerates, this is unlikely to slow down.
“It’s practically impossible for resellers to provision and control SIM estates without a comprehensive, well established real-time portal,” Dickinson said. “Choosing a trusted channel-only supplier means the reseller can take advantage of their knowledge and experience when they are bidding for deals.
“[Our] most successful partners involve our partner managers directly with their customers without fear of disintermediation. Price is really important and mobile data suppliers need to understand that their products have to be priced so that channel partners can win deals at decent margins.”
For resellers unsure where to start in grasping the mobile opportunity, Jola has productised its process of helping customers successfully sell mobile data, Dickinson said — the ‘Mobile-Data Revenue Generator’ aims to helps partners to identify low-hanging fruit and win their first significant mobile data opportunity.
“From there they can start to productise mobile data and develop the eco-system required to sell, support and bill it.”
Changing channel models
Digital transformation and the evolution of 5G is enabling a wide range of new technologies, offering up exciting possibilities for the mobile market. But the nature of the Channel is significantly changing, believes Kushal Shah, director of business development MVNO at BT Wholesale.
“Decreasing consumer footfall and a growing tendency toward online sales saw the closure of Phones4U in 2017, with Carphone Warehouse radically overhauling its business model three years later in response to these market changes,” Shah said.
It’s inevitable that we’ll see the enterprise market go the same way, he explained, adding that estimates suggest the indirect market accounts for only around a quarter of enterprise mobile sales.
“So it’s little surprise that channel partners are concerned about the uncertainty of their indirect partnerships. The solution may lie in Carphone Warehouse’s reaction to changing market trends: the launch of its iD Mobile MVNO.
“Originally focused on low ARPU customers, the iD Mobile brands has evolved so that it can now serve all parts of the market, including higher ARPU customers on unlimited data packages, allowing Carphone Warehouse to serve the demand of both its digital and remaining retail customers.”
Shah predicts that more enterprise brands will soon launch as MVNOs, emphasising that an increasing number of enterprise channel partners are now considering it as a long-term business model.
“Gamma Mobile and Abzorb, for instance, already have MVNO propositions in place, while BT Wholesale has enabled Plan.com to recently launch on its EE Network,” he said.
“An MVNO partnership can provide stability for one thing – something much needed in the face of the volatility of indirect sales, which can fluctuate in terms of volume and share of value as operators flip-flop between needing and not needing indirect volumes.
“It allows businesses to acquire, serve, and retain customers under their own brand, too. If they’re happy with the experience, customers will become loyal to the partner’s brand rather than the network operator’s, as is usually the case in indirect sales.”
Finally, he concluded that an MVNO means true customer ownership, which will provide huge shareholder value for any business.
“Regardless of its long-term exit strategy, a channel partner’s business will be worth more if it owns the relationships with its end customers rather than just acting as a reseller or sales agency for another party,” he said.