EXPERT OPINION
some new forms, with fresh outlooks and
alternatives, and our product became out
of date. Currently we reinforce the concept
of change in our choice for product and
development, and our corporate culture in
general. We practice simple and start-up
approaches in many ways. We are shifting
to another level of decision making as we
determine what products are or are not
necessary for the market. Our team tests
the product first. If we see it works in the
right direction then we start investing into it.
As for locomotive products, SMS
distribution and other SMS type of services
are at the top for business solutions. Today
there are many speculations that SMS
share decreases in the market. This is only
partially true when it comes to SMS as
a source of communication. However, if
we consider transactions, mechanisms to
verify personality in the banking sector,
SMS gains its popularity. The subject of
pride for our department –products related
to Big Data – ‘Business view’ product in
particular. We offer geolocation reports to
banks and trading networks. They help to
better study and understand where their
clients are. The result of it – increase in
sales and loyalty. Our strategy is to not
only become a telecom operator for our
customers, but also a partner in digital and
IT direction services. Big Data is one of the
key directions in this regard and we bet on
this aspect.
There is an opinion that the level of
technological development today
outpaces the market readiness to
implement these technologies. To
what extent is your target audience
ready to accept the offered solutions?
It is true that clients often
underappreciate the importance of
analytics, how drastic it is to assist
in their business. Therefore we act
ahead of time, check the problem areas
a business has to solve them with
the help of big data. Kcell employees
present at the sectoral conferences,
speak not only about the products, but
how useful they can be for clients.
The most dynamic growth now is
demonstrated by small and middle
business. They have serious need in
our solutions that can optimize the
company’s work. I would like to underline
that the level of overall competence in
Kazakhstan’s corporate sector gradually
increases. The market is more serious and
adaptive to training and self-education.
Meeting the market demands we launch
our activities in this niche.
Approximately a year or two ago
we decided to find new forms of
communication with clients and organized
trainings. At first we were planning to
accent the online training, but practice
showed that offline seminars bring good
conversion and increase the loyalty of
clients from small and medium business
segment. So, we decided not to stop
offline training and to hold seminars
(or workshops) not just in Almaty but in
regions. Entrepreneurs in the regions
aspire to learn the instruments that help to
improve their business, but lack necessary
information. We are planning to develop
the opportunity of weekly trainings. If we
are pleased with the result we are going
to broadcast to the regions by the end of
the summer. As for the online learning, we
launched small DigitalReady.kz project that
allows clients to consider how much they
can decrease expenses and increase sales
simply addressing certain questions.
Competition in the B2B segment
today is high enough. What are the
advantages of mobile operators and
Kcell in particular in your opinion?
One of the main advantages is covering
Kcell mobile internet and active
development of the 4G network by our
company. In my opinion the share of the
fixed connection will be dropping and in
demand in a very narrow segment due to
the penetration of mobile internet. One
more Kcell advantage is that we were
pioneers in new services development.
First, that assisted us in gaining a data
base that our competitors do not have.
Second, we created a line of products that
are capable of satisfying all possible needs.
Customers are sometimes ready to give a
little more, but to be able to work with one
reliable service provider that suggests all
necessary and high quality solutions.
The number of subscribers (users) in the
B2B segment almost has not changed for
the past years. ARPU (Average revenue
per user) index increased and growth
happened because we sell new services
to the same clients. Another advantage
of ours is our team. In addition to the
best professionals in telecom, we attract
experts in IT and big data. We constantly
build up expertise by mutual enrichment
with knowledge and experience.
What directions in the B2B segment
improvement does Kcell plan to focus
on in the second half of this year and
next year?
Recently we have launched a self-service
to manage SIM cards that is also used for
M2M solutions. We plan to further develop
this service. Moreover, we understand that
to launch globally interesting products B2B
and B2C segments should work together,
but not to pull the blanket over or compete.
There are projects that work in between
the segments. They appear in B2B and
then merge to B2C, since individual
consumers will be using this service
eventually. Most of all B2B2C approach is
appropriate for internet of things type of
services, fintech – technologies to manage
finance via digital interfaces, and mobile
marketing. We understand that synergy is
necessary in this process. We can become
much stronger in togetherness and are
working on the ways for private individuals
and corporate players to treat Kcell as one
company.
Information source: www.kursiv.kz
supported by EUROBAK
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