Carrier Differentiators, What's Next?

Differentiators:

How are the carriers going to differentiate themselves from each other? They may or may not. They are trying to differentiate themselves from the cable companies. They will work very hard to make you choose them over the Comcast's of the world. That’s the goal. They want to become even more valuable to the end user who wants a mobile device and a high-speed ISP.

In case you want to read it all click here.

Verizon and AT&T already made one move with fiber to the home. Now they are going to make another push with fixed wireless. The more products and services they can get a person to commit to the more that person is liable to stick with them, assuming they treat them right. T-Mobile made sure that customer service and no contracts matter to the end user. The world has changed.

Let me ask you something though. How do they differ from each other? Seriously, if you switch from Verizon to AT&T to T-Mobile, what changes other than coverage? Maybe the price, but how significant is that. Sprint’s last campaign entirely revolved around that one issue. They said, hey, we’re good enough and cheaper, why not go with us. So begins the race to the bottom. Way to go Sprint!

I think of the quote from Seth Godin that states, “How do we know that brands like Verizon and AT&T are essentially worthless? Because if we switched someone from one to the other, they wouldn’t care.” While this is an older quote, it’s more relevant today than ever because what is the difference for mobile coverage?

Ask yourself these questions, then think about the world we live in today:

·       Do you remember when Verizon was the monopoly?

·       In mobile coverage and in landlines, more or less.

·       Do you remember when landlines mattered?

·       Do you remember when you picked a carrier based off of coverage?

·       Do you remember when you went with a carrier because there was something unique about them?

·       Seth Godin’s quote came from one of these blogs; I included both to make the point about Verizon being a monopoly at one time.

o  https://qz.com/work/1461996/seth-godin-does-your-logo-matter/

o  https://seths.blog/2008/06/learning-from-f/

The industry has evolved. The carriers are becoming more and more alike. Sprint is in serious financial troubles even though they are running leaner than ever. The cheaper carrier that’s almost as good, say within 1% as good, is struggling to make it until T-Mobile can take over.

Do you know who your carrier is? Of course, you do! It’s the one who gave you the best deal with the best coverage where you need it the most. It was either your decision, or your company had a corporate deal with one of them to save money.

In 5 years, will it matter? What will the differentiator be? Will you decide based off of technology? You might. AT&T had the iPhone exclusively for a year, does it matter now? Will you choose AT&T because they had the iPhone first? Probably not, I mean seriously, who cares today?!?

The choices you make may be personal, perhaps loyalty to a carrier you’ve been with for years. It might be because you were with a carrier whose customer service sucked so bad or they charged you outrageous roaming fees that you swore you would never go back to them. I did that, sorry Sprint, but you really poised me off! How could you do that to me?

Coverage still matters. I can’t tell you how many kids I talked to wanted to go with T-Mobile, but it didn’t work at their house. Why T-Mobile? Because of marketing! The marketing that T-Mobile does focuses almost exclusively on millennials and veterans. T-Mobile is not stupid! They know how to grab attention.

Sprint did something similar by getting the brilliant Paul Marcarelli to take Verizon’s tagline, “Can you hear me now” to telling me that Sprint is good enough with a better price. To be honest, it worked very well. Mr. Marcarelli is still doing the commercials. Let’s face it; he’s a likable character.

What’s next for Wireless Carriers?

Obviously 5G, but now that means more than just a new G, unlike 3G and 4G. It now means that FWA is going to be a reality with the new spectrum. It means that mobile coverage has the potential to rival your ISP if you live within coverage. It means that IOT may become mainstream and affordable to all companies.

The idea of 5G should open up new offerings that the carriers can sell and compete in new industries.

Think of this; TV will change, it already has. Cable is dying, and internet TV in the form of subscriptions services is rising.  Even if they use their TV, how many people rely on the Amazon Fire Stick or Apple TV, it's an alternative to cable. Think of the millennials, how many watch anything but movies or downloaded shows on any device? Yes, including TVs. They may use Amazon Prime Video or Netflix but either way, it's not cable.

The world is changing, open up your eyes. The carriers and cable companies need to see this. Comcast is betting heavy on Wi-fi, is that a good bet or will that become obsolete in 2021? Will the carriers create unlimited packages that run from your smartphone to the laptop on LTE or 5G? If you think it's not possible, think about how Amazon will let you watch the same show on your Kindle, smartphone, or firestick. Carriers need to offer a similar service where you can have unlimited across several devices, just like they do with family plans on a smartphone, expand that to more than the device. That is the dream!

What’s next for Deployment?

The carriers are going to stop upgrading at some point when the systems are good enough. They won't densify unless they can get a clear payback. They are already reducing all costs, specifically contractor costs, to keep profits high enough for the shareholders to be happy. They are all downsizing.

Is DAS going to continue to take off? Of course, just maybe more of a CRAN distribution.

Indoor needs to get better, but is that through Wi-Fi or LTE or 5G? What is it that will be the foundation for seamless coverage as well as new private wireless systems for new services? Do you really care who’s system you’re on or what price you pay?

It’s not all doom and gloom. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, it's not a train coming at us but new services. If the carriers can continue to innovate, like offering an alternative to the cable company as a low-cost ISP. Lucky for them cable TV packages are not so valuable anymore. Think about how many people watch shows, YouTube, Sports, and more on their devices. whether it's a smartphone, laptop, iPad, or Kindle, they watch more and more on devices.

Will device makers get to have more of a say in the future or will they continue to play catch up?

Will Wi-Fi be here in 2025?

I can’t wait to find out! I hope I’m still working in this industry. Well, maybe not. 

Read the entire article here, https://wade4wireless.com/2018/12/10/what-tech-differentiate-carriers-going-forward/ if you want to learn more.