The international roaming business has completely changed over the past few years. The time that operators agree on a standard roaming contract, do some testing and let the traffic flow, is definitely over. It won’t be long until all of the roaming traffic will be under an Inter Operator Tariff discount agreement. Furthermore, because of severe competition on the retail side of roaming, roaming regulation and enhanced traffic steering possibilities, there will be an even stronger focus on wholesale roaming negotiations.
For small and usually “net inbound” operators, roaming in general is responsible for 10-20% of revenues and even higher percentages of EBITDA. Because of the developments mentioned above, smaller mobile operators are confronted with some essential questions and challenges:
1. What is our roaming P&L on in-& outbound? How has it developed over the past period? What happens to our market share on wholesale and retail?
2. Do our networks offer the right basic and enhanced roaming services, like GPRS, CAMEL, short code support, call correction etc.?
3. Are we fully prepared for the wholesale IOT negotiations? Do we have people available with the right negotiation skills that are able to build a long term commercial relationship with the main inbound operators and groups? Are there preferred agreements with the main “inbound” operators and groups? Are the IOT’s at competitive level?
4. Do we have traffic steering tools in place so we can direct our own traffic to our most preferred partners?
5. Do we have the right wholesale IOT agreements that facilitate a competitive retail proposition? Should we move from “IOT + surcharge” retail offers to a destination dependent flat rate? Can we make a competitive retail proposition that increases usage and/or grows our market share in the high usage/business segment?
Based on more than 20 years of experience in Roaming, Connect2Roam has developed a complete Roaming Business Scan that provides you with insights in short and medium term opportunities to improve your roaming business. With the Roaming Business Scan we will provide you with an extensive analysis of your international roaming business, both for visitors and your own customers. Because Connect2Roam works for several operators, we have a the insights to compare your roaming performance with other operators in a comparable position.
This Scan consists of the following elements:
• In-depth analysis of all your roaming data on traffic and wholesale charges
• Analysis of traffic patterns on In- & Outbound
• Construct a roaming P&L.
• Review strategic positioning at wholesale and retail level
• Analysis of your IOT level
• Analysis of IOT discounts and traffic development from key partners.
• Analysis of traffic steering effectiveness
• Analysis of how VAS’s can increase your revenue & EBITDA.
Our recommendations are summarized in a report and will advise you on concrete steps to take for improving your profitability on roaming. This could vary from changes in rates, to pursuing new preferred agreements, optimization of traffic steering, introducing new VAS’s etc. We are confident that these recommendations will improve your margins on Roaming and your competitive position in both the Wholesale and Retail market.
If needed Connect2Roam can support you with the implementation of these recommendations.