The Dual Sim Chronicle
The two timing mobile generation of Sri Lanka
Part II
At the outset, the writer would like to thank everyone who contributed with their valuable ideas with regard to the Part I of the Dual Sim Chronicle.Be it the Mega Sim or the Chinese Dual Sim Phones , it is very much evident that there will be more than one service provider present almost in every mobile phone via different technological frameworks in the near future.On this note , let us begin the finale of the Dual Sim Chronicle.
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It was established that the Dual Sim owners’ choice of network would depend on
:a. Where? (The location of the consumer)
b. When? ( The time of day and the respective call charges)
c. Who? ( The intended caller and their network)
d. What? ( The most sought after Value Added Services – VAS)
What are the implications of this theorem to all the marketers in the telecommunication sector? Is there an opportunity for small players to take on the big guns? Would the traditional marketing techniques still work? The writer wish to approach this in 3 aspects.
1. Low bargaining power of service providers
2. Opportunities for small players
3. The need for innovative marketing tactics to stay on top
1. Low bargaining power of service providers
With the advent of the Dual Sim phenomena , the consumer could switch between network providers with consummate ease. They will choose the appropriate network depending on where , when , who and what they want to do with their phone. Such flexibility would result in lower bargaining power of the service provider. If the service provider fails to deliver what the consumer wants , a network switch would be the result.
An ideal strategy to negate this “switch” would consist of Four main attributes where the success of each attribute will be determined by the communication campaign the respective service provider adopts.
a. Island wide coverage
If every network could deliver 100% Island wide coverage , it will directly eliminate the reason to “switch” from one network to another as there will be no network failures at any given location.
However , here lies a question mark of how could small time operators could survive? Would a “niche” market operation highlighting the superiority of coverage in a particular province be the way forward? Would this mean that the future of telecommunication advertising be provincial based?
Certainly , an interesting point to ponder upon.
b. Best call charges
If a service provider could offer the lowest call rates throughout the day, it would eliminate another reason for a Dual Sim user to switch.
However , here lies another issue in practicality. Could any service provider be the lowest cost operator and still remain profitable? Does this mean that the way forward would be to own a certain time belt of the day and support that claim via a consistent media campaign ?
c. Highest number of subscribers
If a service provider could own more than at least 70% of the market share , it would mean that roughly 7 out of 10 people that a Dual Sim user would want to call be belong to a single operator. This would eliminate the need to “switch” .
However , there is hardly a single operator who could stake a claim as such. Hence, does this mean that the service providers would have to select their allies and start offering special rates from “Network A” to “Network B”?
Or could a single operator unleash the equivalent of the “Hiroshima Bomb” and be the superior entity? If so , what would this “Hiroshima Bomb” consist of?
d. Best bouquet of Value Added Services
If a service provider could provide the best bouquet of VAS , then the need to “switch” could be eliminated.
However , how could any service provider have each and every VAS a user wants? Even if they could offer everything , would it be profitable? Does this mean that each service provider has to dig deep into their core target market and identify what VAS they really want?
Or ,just as how the aviation industry has their own networks among other airlines , would we witness an association of mobile service providers sharing their Value Added Services among all mobile phone users?
2. Opportunities for small players
The advent of Dual Sim phenomena would certainly bring about many opportunities for all the small players in the category.
Just as how Easy Jet, Air Asia revolutionised air travel the advent of Dual Sim Phones would create market gaps for small players to operate in.
Niche marketing strategies focussing on specific profitable provinces would be a strategy of choice in time to come among many small time service providers in the country. This would not only help them differentiate from the “big guns” but also carve out a niche in each of their selected geographic location.
It won’t be surprising to see 5 years down the line , when entering the Northern Province , a huge road side gantry saying “ Welcome to Jaffna – the land of Network A”. A clear indication of geographical focus in communications would be mandatory to survive.
Or , would the small players get-together and roll out Dual Sim packages to the masses? Would it be as effective as the strategy above? Imagine, a Dual Sim package from two different operators covering the whole country with the best call rates coupled with the best bouquet of Value Added Services. Wouldn’t that be just awesome?
3. The need for innovative marketing tactics to stay on top
All the factors discussed above would boil down to one pertinent question. What would be the marketing strategy?
Would geographical focus pave way for different breed of marketing? Tapping into deeper consumer insights and understanding what they really need?
A simple example out of many would be , there are over 200,000 migrant workers who enter Western Province every week. Would it profitable to identify where these workers come from and offer specific packages linking Western Province and the state of their origin?
i.e. “Outgoing calls only 30cents per minute between Southern and Western province on Network A”Opportunities are …… indeed…. Endless.
Conclusion
The Dual Sim phenomenon is here to stay in Sri Lanka. The low cost of owning a phone would drive the masses to purchase such a phone. The added aura of “superiority” of now having the choice to switch between service providers would also play a major role in this.Service providers would need to challenge their status quo and question , whether they are ready to face this paradigm shift? Would traditional marketing strategies still hold true will be a decision they would have to take fast.
Small players have a tremendous potential to grow in the backdrop of the Dual Sim phenomena.Presence of multiple service providers in a phone will bring about major changes in the telecommunications sector.
However , one thing will always remain the same. That is… the consumer will always be the King!
Availability of multiple service providers…… As the “remote control TV” revolutionised the world of media in the 20th century , would the Dual Sim Phenomena revolutionise the telecommunication industry in the 21st Century?
Your guess is as good as mine.
The End
Clearly, the possibilities and the ‘imaginable possibilities’ are many. One interesting thought is the comparison of the airline ‘sharing model’. Which can be a possibility in the future when the networks hit a dead-end in trying to stay on top of the game.
The ‘migrant’ worker package idea is, as I see, a hot marketing idea. They are very price conscious, and would definitely latch on to a package like that. Yet, it is quite surprising that most of these migrant workers, for various reasons, use dual numbers….. I know a lot of statisticians would contest this thought, doing income and expense analyssis of this group. But true consumer habits and thinking are not based on statistics..
As for the Dual-Cim phenomena, there is no sign of this consumer habit fading unless ofcourse there is a ‘Hiroshima Bomb’ from a single entity, as the writer puts it.
The North-East will be the ‘goldmine’ of the future. With a vast international dispora of relatives (the need to communicate on a constant basis) and the NE’s vast potential for progress, will no doubt make the NE the market to watch out for. If anyone recalls the ‘net-2-phone’ explosion Sri Lanka, and the sudden surge of ‘communications centres’ in Colombo, the past will certinaly predict the future.
The ‘migrant’ worker package idea is, as I see, a hot marketing idea. They are very price conscious, and would definitely latch on to a package like that. Yet, it is quite surprising that most of these migrant workers, for various reasons, use dual numbers….. I know a lot of statisticians would contest this thought, doing income and expense analyssis of this group. But true consumer habits and thinking are not based on statistics..
+1
Tomorrow @ 7.57p.m….!!!!!!! Hmmmmm…!!!!