Mobile Connectivity Canvas: The Crucial Dimensions of Mobile Connectivity

Mobile Connectivity Is Complex and Everyone Struggles

In more than 20 years of handling mobile connectivity projects, products, and strategies, basically each project had two things in common:

• Everyone dealing with mobile connectivity struggles somehow.
• Everyone underestimates the complexity of mobile connectivity initially.

In this article, my colleagues and I want to shed some light on the complexity of mobile connectivity – and propose a Mobile Connectivity Canvas to structure and relieve some of your mobile connectivity pains.

Who Should Care About “Mobile Connectivity”?

1)    Optimizing Existing Connectivity: Everyone who already relies on mobile connectivity for – let’s say – 1,000 or more connected devices like smartphones, IoT devices, or cars, somehow struggles with one of the following issues:

• Connectivity Costs: That is when the famous “bill shock” hits you every single month: You know you have unfavorable connectivity terms or your connectivity costs are simply untransparent.
• Operator Lock-In or Dependencies: Switching operators can seem impossible – for example when the costs for switching SIM cards are already higher than the connectivity cost savings.
• Device Management: There are plenty of issues that can arise when you manage a large number of connected devices: Starting with replacing a lost phone (and its connectivity) to providing affordable connectivity to a travelling employee.
• Connectivity Quality and/or Coverage: Especially if you rely on global connectivity, patchy network quality and coverage will be quite familiar – and a problem if you need reliable, high quality connectivity for your customers, devices, cars, or employees.
• Regulatory Restrictions: China is not a fan of the eSIM, Brazil and many others don’t like permanent roaming, lots of European countries have very strict KYC requirements: Regulation is messy.

As a result, lots of companies usually face a daily, frustrating struggle to change anything about their existing connectivity solution.

2)   Getting Started with Connectivity: Then there are cases, where your challenge is to connect devices, but you simply do not know where to start. For example:

• You want to provide connectivity to employees (“Enterprise Connectivity”).
• You need to connect your IoT devices (from cars and smoke detectors to consumer IoT like the Apple Watch or other smart watches).
• You need to connect your factories (smart or not, via “Campus Networks”).
• You want to offer connectivity as a service (like “end-user data plans”).

A Big Word: Mobile Connectivity Strategy

Of course: A consultancy proposes a strategy, right? Not really – we just urge you to make a plan when it comes to your mobile connectivity. Whether you call it a “strategy”, a “roadmap”, or a “project plan”: Who cares. But it saves you a ton of money, lifetime, pivots, negotiations, and nerves if you ask and answer the right questions upfront.

Connectivity Is Complex - Not Complicated

With this Mobile Connectivity Canvas, we take a step back and take inventory of all issues, questions, decisions, and required information you need to have on your list. It is a guide to clear the first hurdle towards your individual connectivity strategy by breaking down a complex topic into 34 manageable chunks and four main categories:

• Basic Connectivity Requirements
• Product And Usage Requirements
• Business Requirements
• Implementation Conditions

Module 1: Basic Connectivity Requirements

Laying the Groundwork for Your Connectivity Strategy

In this module, you mostly need to make decisions regarding your connectivity use case and the underlying technical requirements: Which devices are you aiming to connect: Are we talking about industrial IoT, mobile consumer IoT (like the Apple Watch), consumer connectivity devices (like iPhones), or cars? Where and how are you going to deploy these devices? What do you care about most: Connectivity prices, quality, or coverage?

And many more: Type of Connectivity, Supported Devices, Services, Geography, Deployment and Location, Available Power Supply, Connectivity Priorities, Technology Support, SIM Card Technology, Connectivity Usage, and Processing Capabilities.

Module 2: Product and Usage Requirements

Solving Pain Points and Shaping User Experience

In this dimension, you should get a clear picture of which connectivity experience and product you want to offer: Connectivity is not (only) a shiny product for you to advertise on your website but solves a very specific set of pain points for you and your users.  For that purpose, you need to define your target users or devices, understand their usage context and challenges, and think about your connectivity lifecycle from onboarding over management to shut down.

Any many more: Target Users, Onboarding Experience, On-Device Branding, Target User Pain Points, Target Connectivity Experience, Personalization Requirements, Forecast, and Product Horizon.

Module 3: Business Requirements

Let’s Talk Money, Strategic Goals, and Regulation

This section is all about your business goals and requirements: Why do you care about connectivity? Do you need to reduce connectivity cost or increase your revenues from or through connectivity? How important is it for you to own all your telco infrastructure or are you happy to have somebody else run it?

Any many more: Connectivity Objective, Connectivity Business Model, Connectivity Revenue Streams, End-User Connectivity Pricing, Commercial Preferences, Flexibility Preferences, Regulation, and Infrastructure Ownership.

Module 4: Implementation Conditions

Assessing Internal Resources and Capabilities

That is your reality check: This dimension aims at understanding the budget, assets, tools, and prerequisites that you have at hand to implement your individual connectivity solution. Do you already have existing resources and assets that you can build upon? What is the budget and timeframe for implementation? And have you already established useful business relations with partners and vendors? 

And many more: Budget Constraints, Time-To-Market Requirements, Existing Resources and Assets, Existing Relations, Project Priority, Existing Connectivity Solution, and Control of Connectivity Chain.

1,000 Connectivity Questions and 1 Honest Answer

In a nutshell: There is a lot to consider when finding the path to your perfect connectivity solution. As you can see, there are probably 1,000 perfectly valid questions around connectivity – with just one honest answer: It depends. On your connectivity use case(s), your business goals, and the preconditions. But you have to start somewhere – and hopefully this Canvas makes the start a bit easier.

The Mobile Connectivity Canvas and Whitepaper are available for download at: www.digital-oxygen.com/publications.

Axel Meiling

I am Partner at Digital Oxygen and am driving the implementation of eSIM and multi-SIM strategies and processes for international MNOs. I work on the Consumer IoT business model for M(V)NOs, OEMs, Retail Intermediaries, IoT Vendors and Telco investors, the architecture of all customer related touchpoints, and the right organisation to transform legacy infrastructures.