The telecommunications industry has undergone more dramatic changes over the past few years than it has experienced over the past century. Convergence—including the consolidation of communication services being offered by carriers (e.g., fixed-line, mobile, Internet, TV), as well as the continuing evolution toward a universal device for consumers to surf the web, check email, conduct financial transactions, and communicate— is changing the way we create and consume content.
These seismic shifts are creating tremendous opportunities and challenges for telecom operators as they are being forced to reexamine their service portfolios to meet their customers' convergence needs, says Ozan Bayulgen, a managing partner at Peppers & Rogers Group. For instance, incumbent telecom operators such as Telkom SA and mobile carriers such as Vodafone are working to build out their asset bases with data and mobile services.
One of the key early lessons that telecom operators are learning during the convergence revolution is the importance of treating different customers differently through effective segmentation. That includes understanding how much value each customer brings to the relationship and how telecom operators, in turn, need to differentiate product offers and support levels to customers based on their worth.
