Battle for consumers rages among service providers

MANILA, Philippines - A global survey by exploring partnership attitudes among three groups shows service providers willing to work together for the right terms yet are heavily invested in owning the all-important customers.

Released by Amdocs, the leading provider of customer experience systems and services, the study explored attitudes toward partnering among three groups that help define the customer experience: communications service providers, “over-the-top” (OTT) players — such as streaming video providers — and device manufacturers.

Conducted by leading research firm Coleman Parks, key findings of the survey include increasing competition on owning customers with 66 percent saying they must own the customer in any partnering agreement while only 13 percent of device manufacturers and 14 percent of OTT players see themselves prepared to cede ownership of the customer experience.

The study also showed survey respondents agreeing that brand strength, network quality and customer data are core assets.

The survey also found that service providers increasingly see OTT players as potential partners and sources of innovation rather than threats.

There is also a cautious willingness to share core assets among these players, with 74 percent of OTT players and 73 percent of device manufacturers willing to expose and share their core assets, while 56 percent of service providers are willing to do so.

Different motivations were also noted relative to the willingness of players to engage in partnerships, with 40 percent of service providers looking to extend network reach through partnerships, while 34 percent view partnerships as a tool for developing new products and services.

“One of the key findings of this research is that while service providers, device manufacturers and over-the-top players may have different sets of interest, they increasingly recognize the need for collaboration and partnership to achieve common goals,” said Rebecca Prudhomme, Amdocs vice president for product and solutions marketing.

“To partner effectively, service providers need a trusted advisor to help them clarify their strategies. Successful partnerships demand open and effective partner management systems for revenue sharing, easy onboarding of new partners, high QoS (quality of service), and a winning customer experience that is only possible with integrated IT systems that effectively leverage the customer data,” Prudhomme said.

The survey is based on quantitative research involving 100 telephone interviews among executive decision makers at service providers, OTT players and device manufacturers across North America, Caribbean and Latin America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

The research was conducted between June and July 2012 by Coleman Parkes.