MNOs: Another Postal System in the Making?
A curious search into digital economics and its dynamics

I went from recharging my phone for voice call every day to every week while subscribing for internet data every month to every week. If you are like me, you cannot believe how fast and easy your data vanish, almost like an imaginary digital straw is attached, zapping it all.
What does this interpret into?, with the digital world increasingly becoming a utility more like water or air; competition from digital companies have put the telecommunications industry at a decisive turning point.
Fact 1: Technology companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon and smaller over-the-top (OTT) companies are taking the lead in voice, apps, content, advertising, the cloud, and the Internet of Things.
While the Telecommunications industry has been thriving in the past, the rise of OTT alternatives with innovative business model has changed the dynamics of its operating environment. Clearly, maintaining the status quo is a recipe for irrelevance and slow death. For example, you would rather call your uncle or friends overseas with your internet data than voice calls due to the exorbitant cost of making international calls.
The move by Telecommunication giants to thread the space of Data and diversify its revenue have been met with higher level of capital investment, straining its bottom line. ( Source — PWC of two Telecom, a Look into the Industry’s Future). They face competition from new players such as Google with the introduction of Google station in Nigeria.
Fact 2: Providing efficient services by up-scaling their bandwidth and providing improved network quality and infrastructure (4G&5G) through broadband could see Telco’s rise above its present dilemma.
The game in the Telecoms industry has definitely changed. What is needed is innovation: for the Telco’s to unlock more value to keep themselves relevant in the eyes of the consumers. Through innovative Product offerings and leveraging on data of their customer base, they can unlock another blue ocean by providing intelligent connections to those consumers. Several have already started moving into the area of Fintech like the M-PESA in Kenya and Mobile Advertising. While these are early days, there is promise; revenues from these streams has seen a steady uptake.
And of course, what are all these without a strong internal culture within the company, driving alignment between the company’s vision and its employees as well as highly driven employees burning with passion in the achievement of its goal.
The postal system demise was a slow and painful one; technology had rendered the old way of doing things obsolete. Yet this doesn’t have to be the story of Telco’s. By innovating and diversify their product offering, they can adjust to this ever changing world.