Gearing up for 2014

As known, the Indian tele­com industry has wit­nessed steep ups and downs. Now, the ecosys­tem is working towards bringing in stability in their revenues and growth. In an attempt to establish stability, the sector is most likely to embrace the following top telecom trends in 2014.

 

4G Takes Off

4G service was launched in 2012 in India. Airtel was the first company to launch TDLTE/4G technology on April 10, 2012. But the consumers have still not switched to 4G services. And 2014 is going to be the year of 4G, though it will remain in its infancy. It would take another two to three years for 4G to mature.

Airtel, so far has been the sole opera­tor to launched 4G services, while other operators will roll out 4G in 2014. Reli­ance Jio is focusing solely in the future of 4G in India. It has partnered with Airtel to share infrastructure and with LG to build devices. Airtel has joined hands with Huawei to build 4G-enabled devices. At the end of August 2012, Airtel had added 3,180 subscribers on 4G network. 4G-enabled smartphones were launched.

Tariff War to Recur While Tapping Data Market

In the previous decade, the industry had seen a tariff war in the cut-throat com­petition. It has felt the melancholy from the tariff tragic war while captivating subscribers. This war will recur in the data market but its intensity will be lesser as compared to the previous tariff war in the voice market-as the industry has real­ized its negative impact on their ARPUs.

Several service providers, including Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Docomo, Reliance, slashed 2G and 3G data browsing prices from mid 2012 onwards. Tata Docomo reduced its prices from 10 paise per 10 KB to 1 paise per 10KB. It reduced 2G and 3G data plans by 90% from July 2013 onwards.

Industry to Accelerate Launch of Data Services

Though the industry introduced 3G in 2008 yet the operators were not aggres­sive on launching data services. Of late, particularly from this year, data services are increasing. In 2014, operators are bound to launch innovative data services to leverage the market and enhance ARPU on data services.

Tata Docomo had launched ‘Freedom Offer' on the occasion of Independence day in Andhra Pradesh. Tata Docomo pre- pay customers availed 1947 MB of 2G data free for seven days with a recharge of `32.

Mobile Networks Get Sophisticated

In recent years, telecom operators are not only competing with each other but they are also competing with internet-based companies/ over-the-top players. And also customers are very demanding hence the Quality of Experience (QoE) will be a differentiating factor. Therefore, telcos are enhancing investments on upgrading networks.

Deployment of Big Data/ Analytics

From the past two to three years, the ICT industry has been speaking about big data and analytics. The industry has moved from creating awareness to actual deployment-it has answered some of the myths around big data, and has demonstrated the relevance of structuring unstructured data and the value proposition that a real-time data processing platform can deliver.

Rather than trial and error method of business, enterprises have realized the importance of informed decisions hence big data/analytics will have inroads into several enterprises and tele­com would be one of the biggest consumers of big data. This tech­nology enables telcos to unlock the power of data -after govern­ment organizations. The telcos have tremendous data stored in their networks about the citizens of the country. With the help of big data, telcos are turning savvy about monetizing subscriber data. Big data/analytics have become a key part of telcos subscriber data management strategies.

Big data is impacting the telecom sector heavily and it has made operators to become more aggressive with their subscriber data management strategies, including expanding beyond the network to incorporate data sources such as OSS, billing, and customer care.

Several operators have opted for big data/analytics as it enables them to make more focused and targeted policy decisions. Besides, operators are increasingly looking to take on the role of a trusted identity provider, handling authentication, and authoriza­tion transactions between customers and third parties such as retailers, banks, and over-the-top providers.

Social Media Tool Pervades Deeper Down into Marketing

We have witnessed the initial days of social media which was just a tool to stay connected with people and be updated about the likes and dislikes of friends and is now elevating to be an important tool in addressing issues and concerns faced by people regularly. Businesses have started taking the medium seriously and have allocated specific budgets for social media. Interacting with consumers on a digital platform is imperative for all companies today.

With the advent of new age media, the way companies communicate with their customers has drastically changed. Today, new age media is changing the communication pattern in all sectors. Social media has pervaded deeper down into marketing due to characteristics such as cost effectiveness, personalized mes­sages, and targeted marketing.

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media have become essential busi­ness tools. Companies have refrained from completely blocking employees from accessing the social web and it is grow­ing at a rapid pace at the workplace.

Social media is becom­ ing a greater tool to create brand aware­ness, to gather intelligence directly from an organization's target audience, to help improve products, services, and other areas of their business.

M2M Services to Grow

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communi­cation has revolutionized a few segments such as fleet management, smart grids management, automotive industry, etc, across the world and even in India as well. M2M solutions have become a major revenue generator for telcos.

M2M is poised to be a transformative since the dawn of the internet age. The opportunity for M2M in India lies in in­creased mobility among the workforce. M2M communications technology is expected to speed up enterprise mobil­ity, according to a survey of IT decision makers (ITDMs) by SAP and Harris Inter­active. Around 70% of respondents said that enterprises that fail to implement M2M technologies will be at a competi­tive disadvantage. The report stressed that M2M technologies would enable enterprises to respond to real world events with better insight into their business. Furthermore, the report also highlighted the fact that it increases ef­ficiency, productivity, collaboration, and mobility of the workforce, which is now constantly on the move.

M2M allows businesses to share in in­formation, solve customer problems, and act on opportunity virtually and instanta­neously. Enterprises can recalibrate their operations and market response, giving them greater control of the workings of their businesses. Smart machines and applications can take information from a system or the environment to create new revenue streams, control costs, and im­prove products and services. Automating day-to-day tasks also frees up workforce to get on with more important aspects of business. M2M can thus fuel innova­tion, agility, and productivity across the enterprise.

Sanjay Poonen, President of Tech­nology Solutions and Mobile Division, SAP, said in a statement, "Today, M2M technology is primarily being used to col­lect vast amounts of machine data. The ‘Internet of Things' goes one step further by integrating data from machines, ERP, CRM systems, social media and more, in real-time, allowing humans to intel­ligently interact with devices, devices with devices, and devices to humans -the ultimate social media collabora­tion of man and machine. This vision requires a technology infrastructure that can handle big data, analytics, and mobility in the cloud securely

-something SAP is uniquely able to deliver."

 

Looking beyond the benefits of an individual consumer or company, pluralities from all six countries, China (35 %), Brazil (35%), Germany (30%), India (27%), US (25%) and UK (21%), surveyed said that smart cities would be the coolest possible outcome of M2M.

"Our vision of the networked soci­ety, where anything that benefits from being connected will be connected, is supported by our global platforms in machine-to-machine communications," said Douglas Gilstrap, Senior Vice-Presi­dent and Head of Strategy, Ericsson, in a statement. He further added, "This will lead to new, innovative business mod­els from connected vending machines and automobiles to connected homes and cities. High volumes of data can be transformed into in-depth knowledge for real-time decision-making. Companies like SAP and Ericsson are actively uniting work and living environments that were previously separate, bringing deeper engagement to the interactions be­tween cities, municipalities, businesses, institutions, associations, and citizens. Ultimately this will boost life satisfaction and economic growth."

Infonetics Research forecasted that while 2G technologies make up the majority of mobile. 3G M2M is on the rise; and it is expected to grow to 56% of all M2M modules shipped in 2017. LTE is the fastest growing mobile M2M technology segment, driven by con­nected car initiatives.

Infonetics Research's Di­recting Analyst for M2M Godfrey Chua had men­tioned in a recent research re­port, "Mo­bile operators are deploying more M2M solutions and enterprises and consumers are increasingly adopting them across the globe, creating a robust outlook for the overall M2M services market, as well as the mobile M2M module market. Many mobile operators are putting a sharp focus on and real resources behind their M2M businesses, and it's beginning to pay off. That one of the global leaders, AT&T, can speak of a billion-dollar busi­ness in this segment demonstrates the traction and growth that M2M services are experiencing."

Managing BYOD Efficiently

Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) trend sneaked into enterprise. As it has demon­strated value alongside flexibility, BYOD became a pivotal part of enterprises from the past two years.

Embracing BYOD has now given rise to issues around managing it. As it is becoming an integral part of workforce, enterprises are focusing more to manage it efficiently. Enterprises are now coming up with policies around BYOD.

BYOD is here to stay and enterprises have to inevitably address numerous challenges surrounding network, data and device security posed by BYOD phe­nomenon. While mobile devices have tremendous potential for enhancing productivity, the challenge for organiza­tions today is to provide the same level of security regardless of the device or location of the user. Enterprises are focusing on BYOD security strategies to protect organizations by authenticating devices, controlling user behavior in the network and restricting data access rights. In 2014, enterprises will not ignore the deployment of a robust BYOD security infrastructure that uniquely combines integrated wireless functions, embedded security technologies and simple, cost-effective licensing.

Enterprise IT managers will aggres­sively adapt to BYOD with scalable, af­fordable, secure platforms in a unified infrastructure.

IT organizations are under increasing pressure to provide access to applications and data from anywhere, at anyime, via any device. Bandwidth, integration, and intelligent security features that scale to a large number of users are among the top requirements.

"Mobile device use in the enterprise continues to scale at a dramatic rate, straining the network in terms of band­width, data security, and connectivity to services. IT managers are seeking solu­tions to enable a considerably more agile and secure network," said Ram Velaga, Broadcom Vice President and General Manager of the Core Switching Group, in a statement.

Hybrid Cloud Gains Prominence and Becomes a Normal Norm

The ICT industry has been speaking and listening about cloud computing from past one decade. But the actual deploy­ment has gained momentum from the past few years.

After testing cloud environment - public, private, and hybrid cloud architec­tures-enterprises have realized hybrid delivery as the future of cloud which consists of traditional IT, managed cloud, private and public cloud offerings.

According to a new study commis­sioned by HP, 69% of organizations in Asia Pacific and Japan surveyed said that they intend to pursue a hybrid cloud delivery model. The study also revealed that more than 60% of senior business and technol­ogy executives surveyed are concerned about vendor lock-in when implementing cloud solutions. Seventy-two per cent of respondents said that portability of workloads between cloud models is also important when implementing cloud solutions.

Mobile Security

Mobile devices have become ubiquitous. It has become an integral part of life -it plays a multiple role in our lives such as a role of a computing devices at work, a wallet, an entertainment device, commu­nication device, etc. It will further play a tremendous role when Internet of things (IoT)/ Machine-to-Machine communica­tions evolve.

In this scenario, both enterprises who have opted for BYOD and consumers have to be wary of the security of the device and the data stored on it. Enterprises and consumers are becoming cautious about addressing security challenges by enabling security of the device, apps and content mobile users are accessing data and systems more complex than simple messaging-and security of the device is on the top-of-the-mind for enterprises and consumers.

Real threats to mobile devices are ac­tive, so mobile security is a real concern of enterprises and consumers looking to manage and protect the data and applica­tions on their mobile devices.

Jeff Wilson, Principal Analyst for Security at Infonetics Research, pointed out in a research report in February 2013, "For many IT organizations, there's an immediate need to do something about the mobile device security problem be­cause like it or not, a new wave of mobile devices is being connected to corporate networks, and companies are looking to lock down these devices and control the apps they can use."

Wilson further added, "We believe that SSL VPNs will become a cornerstone for many enterprise mobile device secu­rity strategies moving forward because they solve an immediate connection security requirement, and are familiar and easy to use, often free, and will likely support additional security and control functions."

 

Malini N

malinin@cybermedia.co.in