Telecommunications

With 200 professionals worldwide, Value Partners’ telecommunications practice is a global leader in advisory services. In the last 15 years, we have assisted the main incumbents and challengers, as well as start-ups, in mature and emerging markets, on local and global issues.

We have worked with 15 of the 20 leading investment banks and with most private equity companies holding stakes in this sector. We also have close working relationships with regulatory institutions and TLC ministries in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

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PUBLICAÇÕES

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    Yoox Group's Chinese strategy is to extend its existing partnerships with leading fashion houses by powering their Online Flagship Stores also in China. A comment by Riccardo Monti, executive director, Value Partners Asia. »

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CONTATOS

Technology & Network

Operators nowadays face unprecedented challenges, such as: determining the optimal NGN/NGA strategy or assessing which combination of technologies (ADSL, VDSL, FTTx, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, 3G and LTE) should be pursued to support revenue growth plans and improve margins and ROI.

Value Partners has assisted leading fixed and mobile operators, industry associations and regulators globally with NGN/NGA business planning, investment case and public/private co-operation models; high-speed broadband roll-out strategy (geographical priorities, customer propositions, etc); spectrum valuation and bid auction strategies (800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.800 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.6 GHz for Mobile, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz for Wi-Max); operating model optimisation (e.g. tower networks outsourcing, IT systems rationalisation) and capex pruning and operating expenditure rationalization.

Regulations

The lines are blurred between fixed and mobile, telecoms and media. The role of telecoms regulators around the world is increasingly complex. The regulatory framework has a key role in the definition of the best strategy and innovation speed (suffice it to consider trends such as the new generation networks deployment, NGN/NGA, or the digital divide problems). Regulators play a key role in determining the optimal strategy and the pace of innovation, by determining frameworks for NGN/NGA roll-out, foundations for bridging the digital divide, and overall capacity availability on mobile.

When considering the optimum balance for regulators between market intervention and a gradual, light-touch approach to regulation, it is necessary to look at whether the remedies in place to tackle market dominance in the media and telecoms markets are sufficient; the market reviews based on the EU framework are applicable to emerging markets.

Policies should be in place to deliver ubiquitous, affordable, high-speed broadband to consumers, taking into account: the role of governments and public-private partnerships in national broadband rollout, and how the next generation access networks are regulated to foster investment and competition.

It is crucial to manage increasing demand from service providers and optimise the current allocation of spectrum to unlock value. Questions to consider in order to facilitate this include how to accelerate 900MHz spectrum refarming; how to best use the digital divide.

Value Partners has assisted leading fixed and mobile operators, telecoms and media regulators, government and industry associations across a range of regulatory issues, including policy and regulatory advice on market liberalisation and competition development; expert witness and investigation of complaints and disputes relating to regulatory issues; assessment of regulatory and commercial implications of the migration to NGA, including cost benefit analysis, technology strategies, and bids for government funding; regulatory lobbying on a range of issues (SMP assessment, LLU pricing, network separation, etc); policy and regulatory advice on licensing and regulation of both telecoms and media services (renewal of broadcast licence, design of auction framework, etc); conducting and managing industry and public consultations for regulators – or the responses to consultations for operators and market stakeholders.

Marketing

What’s important in developing a successful value proposition and an effective marketing strategy? Careful market and customer segmentation, an accurate assessment of all operators' positioning in each market segment, and a clear understanding of corporate capabilities and priorities.

Value Partners has worked alongside several operators in mature and emerging markets to develop approaches balancing pricing and usage profiles, and leveraging lifestyle attributes. Some of our key engagements include branding, identifying segments, positioning the main brand and determining which strategies to adopt on other segments/market niches (e.g. sub-branding, second brands, MVNOs); offering, with the value proposition development, focusing on key service and pricing models, to stimulate purchase and consumption by each segment; articulating the proposition in line with the customer lifecycle; avoiding competition and cannibalisation within and across business lines. And also communication, defining key messages to be communicated and determining relevant media and marketing mix, and go-to-market, with appropriate channel strategies, given proposition and target segments, creating partnerships with brands operating in different sectors

VAS

In a market where voice service is already a commodity, the development of a clear VAS strategy is imperative for all the operators. As Internet and media players enter the VAS arena and overturn established business models, telcos need a strategy to maximise value for themselves.

Value Partners has supported clients in designing their own VAS strategies, identifying relevant market scenarios and key drivers for incremental and disruptive change; value chain elements to be monitored and business models to be adopted at different stages; offering portfolio and pricing models, besides implications for the various distribution channels – portals, applications stores and physical distribution.

Commercial effectiveness

Operators face different distribution challenges in different markets, each requiring specific approaches. Extensive territorial coverage is fundamental to capture growth in emerging markets, while multichannel strategies optimise effectiveness and efficiency in mature markets. The role of channels themselves changes profoundly in this context, with the need to review management strategy – pushing acquisitions versus growing customer lifetime value through retention and upselling.

Typically, the intervention areas for distribution models’ optimisation are the definition of a clear role for each channel to ensure coverage of all customers and their needs, while reducing duplication; the alignment of channel incentive models to operators' sales targets and the organisational set-up, processes and IT systems to ensure effectiveness in the governance model and coherence with sales channels, CRM and customer care.

Value Partners draws on a strong experience in distribution model setup and optimisation. Some examples of studies conducted for our clients are a retail channel segmentation and development of multichannel strategies; the development of innovative channels (e.g. push channels and web) and the review of commissioning and incentive systems. We have also delat with the optimisation of channel geographical coverage and resizing; the definition of point of sales (POS) model and the design of channel balance score cards.

Customer retention

Customer service excellence is becoming a strategic priority for telcos, especially in mature markets. The traditional approach to customer service hinges on a continuous trade-off between quality and efficiency, while separately pushing self-reliance (often onto lower-value customers).

This model becomes increasingly unsustainable as demand for satisfaction and retention improvements increases, while available budgets shrink. The new paradigm has to be based on a real multi-channel contact strategy for all customers, personalised interactions on all channels, and strong integration between channels.

In the last two years, we have assisted operators through this radical transformation. We have helped clients achieve global best practices, generating significant improvements in customer satisfaction while attaining double-digit cost reductions.

In this context, we focus on designing multi-channel caring strategies, customer experience management programmes, churn prediction model and churn prevention strategies, loyalty strategies and propositions.