The telecom sector is recovering after the bloodbath triggered by unreasonable growth strategies, outlays for UMTS licences, technical delays hampering 3G rollout and the decline in traditional revenues, which has exacerbated the effects of the operators’ huge investments.

Under the impetus of high-speed technologies (15Mbps service is already available with ADSL technology) and cross-media convergence (fixed-mobile, voice-Internet-TV), the long-posed issue of new uses and new types of consumption is taking on a new reality and nourishing hopes for new revenue streams.

However, the competitive landscape has become more turbulent as a result of regulations that have stabilised the guideposts and also because of technological forces. Virtual operators, who are already established in the fixed-line market, are now moving into mobile telephony, either directly or through distribution agreements. They are also taking the lead in the so-called triple play commercial offers. At the same time, VoIP and software like Skype are forcing operators who have infrastructures to take a critical look at the bases of their commercial offers and business models.

Equipment makers and applications providers are quite naturally repositioning themselves in the value chain, focusing in particular on the corporate market. They are offering solutions to large companies – and increasingly to SMEs as well – that compete directly with the services of the telecom operators.

Other forces will play an important role in changing the telecom landscape. Local authorities, who are aware of the political impact of having access to high-performance services and affected by infrastructure constraints, are among those forces. Alternative technologies (cable, BPL) are another, since they are the only way of overcoming the quickly approaching limits of ADSL, if the exponential growth in demand for high-speed communication continues.

In this turbulent sector, Solving Efeso supports its clients’ efforts to build up their strategic assets and efficiently stake out positions in emerging markets.

Development : Examples

• Strategy for offering services to SMEs (alternative operator) Business plan for a new, high-speed, point-to-point technology (local loop start-up)
• Distribution strategy (integrated fixed-mobile-cable operator) Wi-Fi business plan (local loop operator)

Operations : Examples

• Optimisation of the customer service chain (fixed-line operator) Structure for an operations and maintenance network (fixed-line operator)
• Reduction of 3G costs and purchasing organisation (mobile operator) Key Account management (equipment maker, infrastructure and services)

Key telecom expertise

• Regulations and standards
• Pricing policies
• Assessment of mobile network coverage
• Unbundled local loops
• New network access solutions
• Fixed/mobile integration
• Multiservice platforms
• Wireless applications
• Call centres
• Intranet/extranet architectures –
• Satellite solutions
• Billing systems