I recently had a long mail chain discussion with one of my acquaintances in Indian Telecom industry, the discussion was revolving around how the role of technology has increased in the telecommunication business and the areas where we can see some more action in the near future.

The idea behind this post is to present my opinions on how technology is going to rewrite the rules of the game in telecommunication industry playfield.

A) Network is Dead! Long live Network.

Virtual Network is about to be Bor. I am sure most of you would remember the number of ATM (Banking) terminals around your area over a decade ago. The place where I used to live had a Citibank ATM approximately 4 miles away from home. I used to stare at the money vending machine with awe!

Today, every street virtually has at least two Teller Machines. Having witnessed the rapid growth of Banking network around the country, I was anticipating sooner or later these terminals are going to be non-proprietary affair i.e., I as a customer will not be confined to access only my Bank’s ATM but can access other Banks’ ATM Network as well. It did happen; today you can have your Bank account in a Bank and withdraw monies from its competitor’s terminals. The little fee we are paying for such a service will also be gone shortly.

Likewise, the frequency available with various telecommunication operators today will be available for others to run their business. Virgin Mobile is a classic example in this case. As you must be aware, they do not own the telecom infrastructure but have an SLA with operators like T-Mobile and resell their frequency with Virgin Mobile branding. Here, marketing gets higher priority than the Network itself. Similar operators would hail in India as well shortly; it is currently not in force as the policy regime of Indian government does not encourage such an endeavor.

B) Number Portability

I am not too sure on the status of this item in Indian telecom industry; however, it has to hit the market sometime soon.

What is Number Portability? Well, the number I got from my Operator while subscribing is currently owned by my Operator i.e., if I choose to move away from my current operator, I will have to give away the number I have been using for years, which is a painful act. In future however things will be different. I will own the number and can choose my operator at will.

Result? If the contact center of my current operator puts me on hold for 3 minutes playing some boring music, I will not stop only at Yelling at the executive but also call up other operator and ask them to move my number to their network. This concept is not new to subscribers in the United States and other developed countries. This approach will surely keep telecom marketers on their toes 24/7 and ensure profitable customers are identified and served well.

I can write a few more key items that I anticipate in Indian telecom industry. However, in interest of time, I shall stop here.

It is important to know that technology can play a significant role in identifying and retaining your profitable customers, something that you need very shortly.

In today telecom world of fog-landing all the time, telecommunication operators better be equipped with such solutions on monitoring consumer behavior on usage and harness the support system. Identify deviances in usage and pristine quality customer service is one of the key attributes that can guarantee operators survival. If not, create a Farewell ring tone and keep it available for her to download before going on to your competitor.