Category Archives: Consulting

The FMC hoax

Without subscription growth it’s difficult for mature market operators to report service revenue growth.

Some operators – anxious to still show growth – have thus begun to regularly highlight their fixed-mobile convergence base in quarterly results presentations. It’s most often a smoke screen. Here are seven examples – of which six aren’t growth stories.

From Telefónica’s Q3 2019 presentation (on Spain)
Continue reading The FMC hoax

Mobile data consumption continues to grow – a majority of operators now rewarded with ARPU

Taiwan: Unlimited is so last year – Korea: 5G boosts usage

Tefficient’s 24th public analysis on the development and drivers of mobile data ranks 115 operators based on average data usage per SIM, total data traffic and revenue per gigabyte in 1H 2019.

The data usage per SIM grew for all; everybody climbed our Christmas tree. More than half of the operators could turn that data usage growth into ARPU growth for the first time a majority is in green. Read our analysis to see who delivered on “more for more” and who didn’t.

Speaking of which, we take a closer look at the development of one of the unlimited powerhouses Taiwan. Are people getting tired of mobile data?

We also provide insight into South Korea the world’s leading 5G market. Just how much effect did 5G have on the data usage?

Continue reading Mobile data consumption continues to grow – a majority of operators now rewarded with ARPU

How South Korea’s operators drive demand for 5G

Reference: Analysis and Go-to-market, 2019

Nowhere else in the world will you find as many 5G users as in South Korea. Nowhere else will you find as many 5G base stations up and running. If there ever was a race to 5G, the Korean government and industry won it.

Seeing is believing: After having dug up, read and compiled all reporting and data on Korea’s mobile business there was no other way forward than to seeing it for ourselves and interview people involved in creating Korea’s ‘5G wonder’.

We spent eight busy days (11-18 July) in Seoul to finish a comprehensive 106-page analysis – full of graphs and photos – with recommendations for European operators.

Continue reading How South Korea’s operators drive demand for 5G

Prepping for 5G: Monetisation model and FWA define usage

This is tefficient’s 23rd public analysis of the development and drivers of mobile data.

Mobile data usage is still growing in all of the 39 countries covered by this analysis. Two countries stand out – China and India.

But China and India aren’t yet challenging the usage top – where the two unlimited superpowers, Finland and Taiwan, still reign.

Data-only remains a key driver for overall usage and new figures from Czech Republic, Latvia, Finland and Austria add insight to the extreme usage pattern of fixed wireless access.

Continue reading Prepping for 5G: Monetisation model and FWA define usage

Interviewing 23 executives and experts for Ericsson ConsumerLab research on 5G consumer potential

Reference: Go-to-market, 2018-2019

Conducting and transcribing 22 interviews with 23 senior executives from telecom operators, handset and chip manufacturers, start-ups, academia and think tanks on the potential of 5G for consumers.

These interviews were, alongside focus groups, used as input to design Ericsson ConsumerLab’s consumer research ultimately covering 22 countries and over 35000 smartphone owners globally.

The interviews form an integral part of the 5G consumer potential report as issued by Ericsson ConsumerLab in May 2019. All interviewees are named in the report. Thank you for your kindness!

Continue reading Interviewing 23 executives and experts for Ericsson ConsumerLab research on 5G consumer potential

Are fast networks fast because they aren’t used?

This blog is a follow-up on Tefficient’s recently published mobile data usage and revenue analysis of operators

    When you use a mobile network, your traffic has to co-exist with traffic generated by other users currently connected to the same cell. Your speed experience will depend on how much and what type of traffic those other users generate. It will also depend on how your operator has dimensioned that cell, i.e. how many carriers they have put up. Ultimately that depends on the available spectrum your operator has access to.

    When operators want to convince us how great their networks are, they typically talk about download speed, i.e. how many Mbit/s users on their network averagely get when downloading something from the internet. It is being supported by a number of independent network performance specialists – Tutela, Opensignal, Ookla, P3, RootMetrics – issuing country reports naming winning networks.

    These reports are actually often multi-faceted with several performance metrics, but that is often too complex to use in marketing, operators think. The simplified marketing message becomes: Speed is good – and we won.

    Here are a few recent examples:

    Continue reading Are fast networks fast because they aren’t used?

All operators climbed the tree – 46% turned usage growth into ARPU growth

  • Which operator has the world’s highest data usage?
  • Which operator carries the most data traffic in the world?
  • Which operator earns the most or the least per GB?

This is tefficient’s 22nd public analysis on the development and drivers of mobile data. We have ranked 90 reporting or reported operators based on average data usage per SIM, total data traffic and revenue per gigabyte in 2018.

Continue reading All operators climbed the tree – 46% turned usage growth into ARPU growth

China and India shift to 4th gear – leave many mature markets in the dust


Final! Mobile data usage and revenue for 39 countries

This is tefficient’s 21st public analysis of the development and drivers of mobile data.

Mobile data usage is still growing in all of the 39 countries covered by this analysis. But there are two countries that stand out – China and India. In the first half of 2018, these two ‘developing’ nations have overtaken several mature markets when it comes to average data consumption per subscription. The growth is incredibly fast and driven by 4G.

But China and India aren’t yet challenging the top – where the two unlimited superpowers, Finland and Taiwan, still reign. Continue reading China and India shift to 4th gear – leave many mature markets in the dust

How to continue to improve mobile service revenue and customer loyalty

Reference: Analysis and Go-to-market, 2018

Quantitative and qualitative exploration and analysis project starting with a Nonstop Retention® benchmark for a specific country market.

Analysing a wide area of propositions and tactics from several different markets:

  • Multi-user and multi-device plans
  • Fixed-mobile convergent plans
  • Premium value plans and options
  • Flexible plans and sub-brands
  • Early upgrade plans for handsets
  • Loyalty programmes

Identifying best practice with regards to impact on revenue, take-up and customer loyalty. Applying it to the local market competitive context, resulting in a recommendation presented during interactive workshops.

Continue reading How to continue to improve mobile service revenue and customer loyalty

Five of your questions that Tefficient can answer – now

2019 will be a year with significant uncertainty for many operators. Will we get that frequency license? Will the merger in our market be approved? Will we be able to launch 5G? Will competing fixed wireless propositions steal our broadband customers and erode prices? Will our competitors begin producing original content?

Good then that there are questions that can be answered here and now. These are the ones we know many of you are busy with:

Continue reading Five of your questions that Tefficient can answer – now