Widening the Broadband Base

The Middle East rapidly develops broadband networks as a means of delivering innovative services to residential and business customers. In the race to reach consumers, it is fair to assume that the need to differentiate one's offering from that of the rest of the crowd will follow a pattern similar to the one played out in Western Europe, Asia and United States. Peter Löfling of PacketFront says that his company possesses world class experience in this field and that there is tremendous potential for Telecom and community networks in the region to take advantage of that.

Communication
Communications remain the very basis of modern business and leisure. We increasingly rely on the Internet and other broadband services for immediate access to news, entertainment and gaming. Nowhere is this truer than in the Middle East, a region where the market for entertainment and communications services is growing rapidly.

While the potential is great, these markets are often highly regulated, and Internet and broadband uptake rates are low compared to those in Europe and elsewhere. The lack of competition impairs service innovation, while the high cost of connectivity remains a concern for the consumer. If the region wishes to continue with the exceptional economic development new business models need to be developed and implemented in order to better cater to the needs of consumers.

Any market undergoing changes of the magnitude currently being experienced in the Middle East will go through a phase where pricing is the only differentiator. These kinds of market conditions mean small margins and frequent business failures. In our experience, the lack of differentiation leads to low uptake of new services, and to expenses increasing faster than revenues. Again, the result is small margins and eventually, business failure.

By careful examination of tools and alternative business models that already exist in the market, PacketFront can help network operators avoid the mistakes many others have made.

Prioritizing flexibility
The operations of large-scale infrastructures often force operators to devote a disproportionate amount of their personnel resources to mundane and time- consuming tasks throughout the lifecycle of the investment. The complexity involved in operating a triple-play enabled infrastructure requires a highly skilled technical organization. That type of organization is not well suited to handle daily routines of repetitive tasks like service activation, ads, moves and changes, especially when most of these tasks can be automated – allowing the organization to focus on task that requires the skill available but also increasing quality.

The very foundation of PacketFront’s broadband solutions is the focus on automation and extensive service distribution capabilities, something which has proven beneficial to broadband operators throughout the world. High levels of automation in the network help operators keep track of their personnel, thus keeping their expenditures under control while allowing their networks to grow in size and complexity. This means that the technical team can stay focused on the most important and challenging tasks such as growth and improvement of network and service capabilities.

PacketFront’s solution automates every part of the process, from the installation of network components to the activation of services in the network. The solution even allows a bottom-up model to be implemented whereby the consumer fully manages his or her own service capabilities without involving helpdesk personnel. This approach allows for extensive service development and deployment without added operational expenses but also increases the quality by minimizing errors when doing everyday tasks and gives the possibility to implement automated quality assurance in an uncomplicated way.

Alternative business models
In a business environment where operators must respond effectively to rapidly-evolving market trends, flexibility in the choice of business model is a significant advantage. In order to function efficiently, an operator must be able to change its business model over time. As no one can predict the applications of the future, companies must always prioritize finding the proper business model, and not allow their technology to dictate that choice.

In the Middle East, most operators are vertically integrated. This means that they are both network operators and service providers. In the highly competitive situation facing network operators, however, access to services and a distinctive image are vital. The question then is how to solve this challenge.

There are two paths that can be taken. One is to continue develop new and innovative services internally on the vertically-integrated model. Another option would be to open the network for non-core services. Giving new innovative service providers access to the network enables an operator to guarantee the availability of creative new services for the end-users. Naturally, an operator can buy these services as white label offerings and brand them as he wishes. In fact, experience shows that while customers enjoy competition and innovation, they also appreciate a long-standing, strong and reliable brand.

Whichever path that is chosen requires a technical platform to support not only service deployment and customer care issues of today. But more importantly, it requires flexibility in the choice of business models in the future.

Maximizing infrastructure benefits
PacketFront sees a great potential for the expansion of broadband services in the Middle East, particularly in areas such as consulting, and business and service development. The company is well aware of the unique demands of the Middle East market, and the large eco-system that goes around its solutions only serves to further encourage expansion within the region.

PacketFront’s solutions are designed to manage services, rather than connections and ports on a broadband router. They are designed to treat each single service offered, enabling the introduction of a multitude of new services with virtually no impact on the network or its operation. The greater variety of services satisfies the needs of a broader section of the population, both demographically and geographically. With more services to choose from, end users’ total consumption of services from the broadband connection tends to rise, as does the likelihood of attracting new customer groups.