Partnership options range from a fully outsourced turnkey solution from the back office to branding, provisioning, or marketing. Sponsored by Sprint
As global companies look to the US and elsewhere to offer MVNO services that embellish their brand and create new revenue opportunities — or to provide M2M (machine-to-machine) services that offer companies and consumers new ways to manage and monitor their businesses, lives, and health, the need for a strong partner is paramount.
Sprint’s US nationwide 3G mobile broadband network and first wireless 4G network from a national carrier makes the company the ideal partner.
Because the nationwide Sprint network in the US is a CDMA network, Sprint removes the concerns about working too closely with a US wireless provider that also operates as a competitor in the partner’s own territory. In addition, Sprint’s MPLS NNI — network-to-network interface — makes the Sprint network appear as a transparent extension of the partner’s network. The MVNO space is an area where Sprint has been successful. Sprint has the experience and the network and business expertise to turn its customers’ inspired ideas into reality.
When companies in Europe, Asia, and across the globe consider MVNO and M2M service offerings, it is important that they understand the common thread among the success factors involved.
That is the reliability and dependability of the underlying network and the ability of the network provider to partner with your company to give life to your business ideas.
Certainly, the ability to brand, promote and provide top-quality customer service for MVNOs, and the potential for offering desirable M2M applications, are essential ingredients for success. But so much depends on the network that the MVNO or M2M provider is using. In Sprint’s case, that network is as open as it is scalable, powerful, and reliable.
The MVNO market in the US is evolving from the traditional standalone pre-paid model to one in which incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers (ILECs and CLECs) offer enhanced services to their established client base in order to deepen customer relationships and prevent churn. Retention for wired services is increasingly tethered to wireless service offerings that emphasise customer service and beneficial customer relationships.
Finding a partner for these types of service offerings has been a challenge. With four major wireless carriers in the US — and two of them providing TV, internet and telephone services — the partner search becomes an issue of competition. How comfortable will a company be in partnering with a service provider that in other aspects of its business is a head-to-head competitor in its own market?
In this analysis, Sprint, with its CDMA nationwide Sprint network, emerges as the partner that will neither cannibalise the customer base of the wireless provider nor erode the services of the incumbent or competitive local exchange carrier, cable company, or international service provider.
Historically, Sprint has developed more MVNO wireless relationships than its competitors, as well as successful cable partnerships.
What a partner should offer
From a partnership standpoint, a wireless provider must be able to offer a wide range of reliable and high-quality solutions. That includes leveraging leading-edge technologies such as M2M and femtocells, so that a company can develop innovative and appealing services to add to their portfolios.
While the MVNO organization conceptualises the service, promotes it, supports it and essentially gives it life, it is dependent on a network operated by a partner who understands that vision. The partner needs to provide active collaboration in bringing services and technology solutions to market.
In Sprint’s case, the partnering is achieved via a customised team that is staffed to address each customer’s specific needs. Thanks to Sprint’s long involvement in the wholesale wireless business, these experienced teams know how to help customers make their visions a reality.
Partnership options range from a fully outsourced turnkey solution in which Sprint provides back-office and marketing support in addition to the network to options in which the customer can maintain full control of any of the business aspects, from the back office to branding, provisioning, or marketing.
One company that was a successful Sprint MVNO partner — and is now owned by Sprint — was Virgin Mobile USA, known from its inception as a bold company in its branding and marketing. Virgin Mobile USA chose Sprint as a partner for its ability to provide the behind-the-scenes reliability and dependability that makes such boldness possible.
As the CEO of Virgin Mobile USA explained it at the time: “Virgin is all about being a consumer champion. We’re not afraid of taking risks, we’re not afraid of perhaps having people raise their eyebrows at what we’re doing. That’s the culture of Virgin. So we select partners who are willing to take those risks with us so that we can be successful in the market. For us, Sprint Wholesale was that partner.”
The success of that partnership grew into the subsequent acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA by Sprint.
Leveraging M2M
In the machine-to-machine, or M2M, space, GPS and location-based services have evolved into e-readers to security devices, vehicle tracking, and diagnostics, to utility meters, patient health monitors and even vending machines, it is predicted that revenue from these markets could grow 250% in the next three years.
As companies move into the innovative M2M space, the quality and capabilities of its network partner are critical to the success of these services and solutions. Sprint, for example, is a leader in certifying third-party devices on its network, and has been encouraging that openness for more than a decade. More than 300 third-party devices are currently certified on the Sprint network, and more than half of those are M2M devices. That enables Sprint partners to tap the power of applications such as remote monitoring, asset tracking, fleet management, automation and control, telematics, automated meter reading, point of sale wireless routing, or SmartGrid initiatives.
Behind those applications is a broad range of access solutions. There is mobile broadband, telemetry, wireless wide area networking, global MPLS and IP virtual private networking.
In addition to offering a US nationwide 3G mobile broadband network and the first wireless 4G network from a national carrier, Sprint has formed an emerging solutions business unit focused on accelerating the delivery of M2M and mobile computing solutions. These are solutions that have a tremendous potential for changing the ways machines and people interact, such as those made possible by Sprint M2M partners such as Microlise, XATA, and DriveCam.
Ford offers. on some vehicles. an in-dashboard computer with internet connectivity where available via the Sprint mobile broadband network. This allows field workers to use productivity applications while mobile, including real-time labour and material-cost capture, inventory updates, invoice generation and work-order completion. XATA delivers telemetry software and services designed to drive down fleet expenses, aid regulatory compliance, and improve driver safety.
M2M applications
While the landscape for M2M applications is as wide open as the imagination of innovative service providers, here are some of the current applications attracting the most attention:
• Fleet management: Through the use of automated GPS technology, companies can remotely locate, navigate and track their fleet vehicles, to improve management and customer service. Mobile assets can be tracked not only for location, but for vehicle performance and driver safety.
• Healthcare and telemedicine: Patients can be remotely monitored from their homes, with medical professionals able to monitor diabetes, cardiac issues, prescription usage, and many other conditions and concerns
• Vending: Inventory management, remote monitoring, alarm status, security, cash shortages and fleet management are some of the important aspects of vending machine management. M2M applications can improve that management, enhance customer service, assure consistent inventories, and enable companies to pay the greatest attention to their high-revenue brands.
• Digital signage: This is the delivery of strategic information when and where it is needed. These solutions are popular in markets such as retail, leisure, sports, security, traffic management and others, with innovations such as video messaging, communication of important or entertaining real-time information, and mobile advertising.
• Public transport: Organisations can better manage their vehicles through M2M solutions that leverage GPS technology for location, navigation, and vehicle movement. The status of the vehicles can be gauged remotely to minimise out-of-service time and improve driver safety.
• Remote monitoring and control: M2M takes traditional applications such as SCADA, building automation, and remote diagnostics to the next level. Today’s embedded routers and modems help assure reliable connectivity for critical applications.
• Automatic teller machines/point of sale: Wireless M2M communication can increase transaction speeds and enable new products such as wireless card transactions, tableside payment, and more.
• Public safety: M2M solutions help assure that the wireless equipment used by first responders and others is operational at all times, as well as manage medical equipment, vehicles, and more.
• Utilities: M2M enables a vast range of utility, SmartGrid, and automated metering applications. Customers can use these applications to remotely monitor critical utility applications and track, monitor, and manage assets.
The M2M landscape
Summing up the M2M landscape in a comment that was part of a late 2009 Sprint news announcement, Steve Hilton, vice president of research at the Yankee Group, observed: “The demand for sophisticated M2M applications that provide data transmission is growing. Specifically, the rapid growth in M2M healthcare, energy and fleet services is fuelling the need for faster and easier deployment models.”
Hilton added: “With the multiple players in M2M and varied solutions that can be complicated to implement, businesses often need help cutting through the complexity. Sprint’s M2M history and new focused approach will make them thoughtful partners for businesses in this space as well as lead to continued innovation in solutions for consumers.”
Whether the services that a global provider seeks to offer in the US market include M2M, or are voice- or data-centric in a more traditional MVNO model, the Sprint network is open for business.
It offers 3G/4G CDMA network reliability and coverage, the ability to extend the partner’s network transparently, Sprint’s extensive successful experience at MVNO partnering, and freedom from concerns that the partner is a competitor in other markets. This combination makes Sprint the optimal partner for turning ideas into reality. GTB
For more information, visit www.PowerYourIdeas.com/M2M. Coverage not available everywhere. First 4G claim: currently available in select areas and on select devices; check Sprint.com/4G for Sprint 4G coverage/device info. Nationwide Sprint network reaches over 275 million people. The 3G Sprint mobile broadband network reaches over 253 million people. GPS requires GPS and Java-enabled device. GPS reliability varies by environment. Restrictions apply.