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ONLY WITH MY PARTNER
5.1. ESCAPING THE COMMODITY TRAP
In the long term, however, keeping up with the latest technology
and expanding one’s portfolio incrementally will not
suffice to successfully meet the challenge that arises from the
commoditization of voice and data transmission. What telcos
must do instead is to realign themselves in order to develop
new sources of revenue.
This is because existing business models based on usage or
subscription fees for consumers are facing mounting pressure,
unless they offer the customer pronounced added value.
Retail customers are showing greater willingness to pay for
value-added services, meaning content and services for entertainment,
information and transactions. 6) Unlike pure voice
and data transmission, such services can also achieve pull
effects and improve customer loyalty.
But a fundamental shift in the telcos’ outlook is much more
important than this expansion of their existing lines of business.
Instead of focusing exclusively
on consumers, as they have
done in the past, telcos are
opening up new lines of
business through partnerships
with other companies.
New monetization models such as white-label services,
revenue sharing, platform fees and advertising offer potential
for the future here. In just a few years, these revenue
models based on B2B partnerships will surpass the pro rata
share of the B2C business models in total sales.
It is very important to
have good B2B partnerships.
B2B is important
because you get good
scale effects rather than
reaching out to single
customers, since the
companies want to
exploit their network
capacities.
Top executive,
COAI, India
It will not work without
partnerships.
Top executive,
Technology & Innovation,
Deutsche Telekom, Germany
There was almost unanimous agreement among the study
participants with this assessment of the shift in significance.
A B2B partnership is a business model based on
an agreement involving two or more companies to
share resources (e.g. financial, capabilities) to reach
a common goal (e.g. joint product development).
6) IBB Consulting (2017). Majority of Paid OTT Users Willing To Spend More On Existing Subscriptions, Add New Ones. Retrieved from https://ibbconsulting.com/ibb-consulting-paid-ott/