Telco’s & IoT, how to create value?

Summary:

Digitizing and connecting the physical world offers great economic benefits and improves our lives. But how and where can telco’s create real value with IoT? And what structural blocking factors, such as interoperability, need to be resolved in order to unleash its full potential?

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Internet of Things - IoT: the next tsunami?
The telco market is facing severe challenges. Voice and SMS revenues are under pressure, broadband data networks deployment requires costly investments, and global competition is squeezing profits. Moreover, many telcos perceive IoT as the next tsunami for fixed, wireless and mobile data traffic from billions of devices that are interconnected onto their networks, globally. In order to decide on your next strategic move, you need to find out what trends are relevant to your ambitions, your position in the value chain, the required ecosystem and business model and the execution of these strategic moves.
 
Relevant trends
The potentially explosive needs for global mobile connectivity of IoT OEMs and the high margin value-add services required around this, represent an incredible opportunity for MNOs. Fixed and mobile networks are merged (FMCs), enabling content distribution via omni-channel routes. Business intelligence and advanced analytics become a necessity rather than a ‘hype’ to maintain a competitive advantage and provide a platform for development of new types of products and services.

And there are many more IoT trends that are relevant for telcos. For instance, B2B vertical solutions are very likely to be true value creators – even more so than consumer applications. Also, a large part of the huge amount of data generated by IoT systems is hardly monetized today, e.g. for prevention and optimization. Developing markets offer great potential. And data security and privacy are a major concern in nearly all IoT vertical application domains – and therefore also an opportunity for telcos.

Value chain positioning: Tier 1
Tier 1 MNOs are already claiming the position in the IoT value chain. They have launched IoT value propositions, often in partnership with wider ecosystem players and enabled by their own technical platforms, such as in-house platforms, multiple platforms, and partnerships with specialized platform providers. Tier 1 (mobile) data global connectivity products could include e.g. IP addresses, embedded/smart/soft/SIM, IMSI re-use, HLR, OMA&P activities, e.g. vertical/horizontal plays, advanced analytics, business intelligence, IoT implementation support and consultancy.

Tier 2 and 3
Tier 2 and 3 MNOs have neither scope nor scale to serve multi-country IoT OEMS. They could offer a different range of products and services with a distinctive role, e.g. best global connectivity services, best wholesale price, trusted end-to-end service implementation provider and business advisor to OEMs, et cetera. Tier 2 managed (mobile) data integration services could be e.g. security & privacy, ‘as-a-service’ offering & management portal, home location services, billing and charging. Tier 3 (often in collaboration) could be e.g. vertical/horizontal plays, advanced analytics, and business intelligence.

Ecosystem and business model
A collaboration ecosystem concept would aim at offering flexible and competitive prices for IoT global connectivity to OEMs. With required key differentiators from Tier 1, telcos should offer a global footprint for mobile data at near-local rates to serve new clients. Also, doing business with the ecosystems should be easy. It requires IoT know-how and knowledge sharing, as well as operational, technical and execution delivery local capabilities. Finally, value added services and IoT solution connectivity management platforms offer great potential.

Challenges
These ecosystems face several challenges that need to be overcome. For instance, there are multiple technical standards per MNO, region and country. Also, companies need to consider security versus a comfortable level of openness between members. Networks need to be interoperable, and silos must disappear. New capabilities are needed, such as multi-country rating and billing, content-based charging, and roaming steering. The most effective legal structures are still to be formulated. And operational, organizational and managerial structures are not established yet

Benefits for telcos and their customers
To really capitalize the potential value of IoT, telcos need to collaborate with peers or other companies. This would offer great value to their customers, from low or local mobile data roaming dates and access to global coverage and multi-local footprint to end-to-end IoT solution implementation and go-to-market support for their own portfolio. For telcos themselves, benefits include new global customers, additional data revenues, low entry and operating cost (with solid ROI), mobile data connectivity and wholesale management, et cetera.

The challenge is to start and engage on the execution of such a collaboration strategy. This will require leaders to truly embrace data-driven decision making.

Telco’s and mobile ad exchange: a really smart or really creepy development?

·       Telco's are exploring and entering the mobile advertising market: a really smart or really creepy development? Privacy expert Robyn Post (Deloitte) stresses the importance of transparent and responsible use of personal data.

 

·       Telecommunications operator Telefónica recently announced that together with Blackstone, they will be launching a mobile advertising exchange. How can and will these telco's ensure the privacy of their customers? On the 16th of April the telecommunications operator Telefónica announced that together with Blackstone, they will be launching a mobile advertising exchange. By starting up a new company called Axonix, they hope to offer their unique, accurate and wide range of data resources to advertisers. Of course the data will be anonymized and aggregated, but still consent requirements and the location data of customers can trigger some serious privacy concerns.

 

http://bit.ly/1hSKvVJ

VC4Africa - an digital marketplace for innovators & investors in Africa

Five steps to fundraising on VC4Africa

 

I am one of the several mentors of VentureCapitalForAfrica entrepreneurs. I believe in the innovation & potential power of Africa....

 https://vc4africa.biz/

 

If you have a venture profile registered on VC4Africa you have the ability to raise capital. Here is an overview of how to prepare yourself for a fundraising campaign, the next step needed to connect your business with investors part of the VC4Africa Investor Network.

Prepare your venture

Before your venture is put into fundraising mode, it is important to post documents to your venture profile. This gives investors an opportunity to do a first assessment of your business and is required as part of your fundraising application. Before a fundraising request is approved, you need to upload a copy of your Chamber of Commerce registration (or certificate of incorporation), a business plan and sound financial projections. To improve your chances, add Letters of Intent from strategic partners, or contracts with existing customers, etc. Add relevant media that helps to give an impression of the company and team. Only investors registered as part of the VC4Africa Investor Network can access these documents.

Also make sure to add team members and advisors to your team page. As part of this process, you will be asked to complete the VC4Africa Quick Scan . This is a straightforward questionnaire to help you check your investor readiness and to identify any points that need to be addressed before investors will take you seriously. When you’ve completed the Quick Scan upload it to the documents section of your venture profile. The VC4Africa team provides investors with a pre-assessment of your venture and it is important you provide us with the most relevant documentation when you apply.

Register your intention

Given the results of the VC4Africa Quick Scan, the next step is to register your intention to raise a round of funding. You need to indicate the financing stage – Seed, Start-up, 1st round (Series A), 2nd round (Working cap), 3rd round (Mezzanine) and 4th round (Bridge). You also need to indicate the financing type – Equity, Debt or Hybrid and your capital needs (between USD $10,000 and USD $1 million). Your registered intention is reviewed by the VC4Africa team. Once approved, your venture is added to the list of ventures fundraising on VC4Africa.  The next step is to garner investor interest and secure a lead investor. Post updates and progress to your venture profile showing you are on your way to achieve the milestones indicated in your documentation. Investors who are interested in your work can express their interest to join as a possible lead investor.

Engage potential lead investors

If you have done your work and your venture clearly shows traction, you will hopefully secure interest from a number of possible lead investors. You can engage them and work to understand the differences between them. It’s up to you to decide who is the best investor for your business and agree to a fair term sheet. Do not approve the lead investor until you feel confident about the terms of the deal they are offering. If they have not made the investment into your business, you can ask them to send a bank guarentee showing they have the required capital on reserve. When the lead investor is approved, you can upload the term sheet to the documents tab on your venture profile.

Raising capital

Once a lead investor is secured, the venture can go into “Raising Capital Mode” for 90 days. At this stage, investors registered on VC4Africa can review the term sheet and express their interest to participate. They can outline how they plan to contribute in non-financial ways and any terms or conditions they might have as part of their participation. The amount of capital pledged by each investor will appear in the progress bar indicating your venture finance goal. At the end of the 90 day period, copies of these pledges are sent to the entrepreneur and lead investor.

Closing the deal

At the end of the 90 day period it’s time to close the deal. You will receive copies of the registered intentions and can follow up with the lead investor to close the financing round. Once completed, the venture is put back into building mode. Update your network on progress and make sure you maintain the foundations needed to raise additional capital in the future!

The mHealth opportunity in Sub-Sahara Africa: path towards practical application

 

 

Sub-Sahara Africa bears the highest disease burden in the world, nonetheless the economic and technological advancements in the region provide opportunities to develop and invest in mobile health solutions to improve basic access to health care. What are the requirements to move towards scale and to build sustainable business models?

              

Sub-Sahara Africa is forecasted to be the fasted growing region in the world and mobile technologies are evolving rapidly from simple communication tools into service delivery platforms. Positive GDP growth rates, improved network coverage, high SIM penetration and the increase in health applications and wearables are important drivers for mHealth. Integrating mobile technology in current health care strategies provides new ways of health care and has the potential to deliver healthcare to patients in the most remote areas. Despite all the opportunities provided by the mHealth solutions, challenges lie ahead as well, such as globally accepted guidelines, privacy issues and user acceptance.

The mHealth ecosystem

The mHealth ecosystem is a large and complex web of stakeholders that all need to provide their specific input to fully utilize the possibilities of mHealth services. An integrated approach and close cooperation is extremely important to move towards scale and sustainable solutions. The question is, though: who will take the leading role in bringing together all the different players. It is not only about conjoining different resources and expertise - it is about changing the business. Proactivity and innovative thinking are key to building a supporting environment for the strategic implementation of mHealth.

Our ambition with this article is to demonstrate to companies in developed economies, the value, opportunities and challenges of mHealth services in developing and emerging markets.

More information

Would you like to have more information about this topic, download the report “The mHealth opportunity in Sub-Sahara Africa” [http://bit.ly/1fIA2qr ] or contact Jean Diop +31(0)88 288 5883.

mHealth for emerging economies: social & economic burst of hope?

Data from the World Bank indicates that 63 out of every 1,000 Indian children die before reaching the age of five, with undernourishment taking a heavy toll. "We often forget how easily babies die!" says Anne Marie Thow, a health policy specialist from the University of Sydney.

 

Mobile technologies have become ubiquitous among health care consumers and professionals. Simultaneously, the healthcare industry is moving towards a delivery model that is patient-centered and value-based. Mobile technologies can facilitate the shift in the relationship between clinicians, payers, life sciences companies and patients that is required to implement this new model.

 

mHealth is about practicing medicine and public health, supported by mobile communication devices, such as mobile phones, tablet computers and PDAs, for health services and information; but also to help emotional states correlative with failing health status. mHealth is a sub-segment of eHealth, the use of ICT for health services and information. mHealth applications include e.g.:

·         use of mobile devices in collecting community and clinical health data;

·         delivery of healthcare information to practitioners, researchers and patients;

·         real-time monitoring of patient vital signs, and direct provision of care (via mobile telemedicine);

·         improved ability to diagnose and track diseases;

·         timelier, more actionable public health information;

·         expanded access to ongoing medical education and training for health workers

mHealth emerged in recent years largely as an application for poor & developing countries, driven by the explosive rise of mobile phone penetration in low-income nations. It a means to provide greater access to larger segments of a population in remote areas of the country, as well as improving the capacity of health systems in such countries to provide quality healthcare.

From a business perspective, the health care and life sciences sector is recognized as one of the top three fields (along with consumer products and the financial services industry) likely to experience new mobile business model growth in the next five years, according to several market analysts. Capabilities offered by mobile technologies are fast being appreciated by the health care industry with a raft of devices, sensors, apps and other programs being developed that target chronic conditions, telemedicine and remote monitoring, patient data capture, electronic records, e-prescribing and the parallel industries of fitness and wellness. mHealth holds promise for improvement along the value chain – maximizing professionals’ time and productivity, improving quality, increasing access and equity, stimulating greater consumer involvement, and potentially decreasing costs, or perhaps equally as importantly, getting better value for the money invested. The extent to which stakeholders create user confidence through adequate privacy and security protections will play a key role in accelerating or retarding the adoption of mHealth and the realization of benefits.

mHealth brings more than just new technologies. It facilitates a new way of interacting and providing health care. Accordingly, an integrated mobile strategy should be a key component of growth strategies for providers, health plans and biopharma and med-device companies. Innovation and platform leadership are widely seen as the two most important capabilities in mobile and any platform adopted needs to be applicable or interoperable across the entire health care industry.

Mainly in poor & developing economies, mHealth will help to transform health and social care by enabling providers to respond effectively to rising demand for health and social care services, mainly in rural/remote areas. A key driver is the critical requirement to find solutions that provide a more cost-effective way of meeting the growing demands for such services whilst giving service users the support and confidence to help them manage their own condition more effectively. This is not just about adopting the technology but is about integration and service redesign. mHealth will be most effective if adopted as an alternative way of engaging with and supporting service users and not simply as an “add on” or supplementary to the traditional ways of working.

Start-ups like India-based Mobilitas (http://mobilitas.co/ ) have acknowledged the unique opportunity to reconcile business benefits and corporate social investments, and are innovating with mHealth solutions targeting the needs and constraints of poor & emerging economies.

However numerous & complex challenges remain to be tackled, e.g.:

·         data security & confidentiality;

·         accessibility & affordability;

·         productivity & efficiency improvements;

·         systems & databases interoperability;

·         data-heavy analytics & business/operations intelligence;

·         business model viability & ROI; and,

·         behavior & mindset change of health practitioners.

 

So the jury is still out…. What do you think? Do you believe in mHealth?

What are the concrete benefits for emerging countries?

And how will the bottom-of-the-pyramid population truly improve its daily life with mHealth?

Will less babies dies in poor rural areas of Africa, South America &/or Asia?

 Join the debate….

 

(sources: own web search, Wikipedia, Deloitte, Mobilitas)

Deloitte TMT 2013 Predictions: relevant for Kenya?

 
On January 15th, 2013 Deloitte launched its annual Telecom-Media-Technology predictions. These are Deloitte's view of the key developments over the next 12-18 months that are likely to have significant medium- to long-term impacts for companies in TMT and other industries. Check my tweet for more: @akjdiop (https://twitter.com/akjdiop )

First & foremost, Deloitte TMT 2013 Predictions are a medium to kick start the debate in the ICT community. There are many different views and no one has the perfect crystal ball to guarantee the future. But thinking about the future sometimes makes it a reality….

 

Although a careful look at the local context is always required, one needs to acknowledge that most of these predictions will affect Kenya one way or another. Especially when one considers the ambitions of Kenya as ICT hub for the region. It’ll be more a matter of how fundamental of a revolution versus a careful evolution, these predictions will eventually trigger in the technological, economical & social Kenya (and regional) context. Although still in need of much investments and development, Kenya ICT  is often proclaimed as amongst the best-in-class in sub-Saharan Africa – especially with the m-Pesa as the most referred example.

Now, to some specifics predictions:

·         LTE

The business case for LTE in Kenya might still be a question mark on the short-term. LTE has been around since 2009. For Kenya, it’s more about preparing the ICT sector to the tremendous potential of the technology, especially in terms of bandwidth & speed, compared to 3G. It’s likely to foster the emergence of new competencies, and stimulate products innovation. That will thus contribute to strengthen Kenya ICT entrepreneurship leading position the region.

·         HD TVs

Notwithstanding the cost, one of the main constraints for 4K TVs is the availability of content & broadcasting infrastructure. For Kenya, this might very well be a “bridge too far” for 2013. However just raising the awareness of the local ICT sector will benefit in terms of new capabilities to be required in the near future.

·         Smartphone

My view is that (significant) growth in smartphone penetration & usage is critical success factor for Kenya ICT to keep &/or accelerate its leadership position in the region. This also has a soci-economical impact with the growth of the middle class & digital native youth; to go beyond the “affluent few” classic smartphone users. The availability in Kenya of good 3G mobile infrastructure, an expanding Wifi hotpots (public & private) parks, and continuously exploding fixed broadband internet for residential users, are other enablers supporting the smartphone usage. Mobile internet, often for social media access, is a killer-app for the smartphone usage in Kenya, like in most emerging economies. Furthermore the availability of low-cost smartphone will certainly reinforce this trend. Kenya telecom operators & services providers must embark in a comprehensive campaign for stimulating smartphone penetration & usage. Mass-market voice & SMS prepaid consumers is a loss making segment and is not financially sustainable without the value-added services. Smartphones have intrinsic features that numerous ICT innovative entrepreneurs will certainly embrace and turn into viable business opportunities. Smartphones growth is certainly the key trend which will have the most impact in 2013 upon Kenya ICT competitive position in the region.

 

Let’s continue the conversation and feed in the debate, in cyberspace of course!

Mobile penetration in Africa

With still 2/3 of the population yet to join the mobile revolution, Africa remains one of the most attractive & growth telecom markets...

A recent article from Mobile World Live Briefing (8/11/2012) confirms that only 1/3 of the African population is a mobile subscriber; when one considers 'unique' individual. This is about 1/2 of the Africa's penetration rate, as most subscribers own 2 SIM cards.

The largest mobile penetrations in term of size are in West Africa (driven by Nigeria's population) & in the Magrebh region (Morroco, Egypt, Algeria). Eastern (Kenya) & Southern Africa (RSA) follow closely. The real interest is the double digit growth percentage in the whole continent: 15% average, with many at 18-23%.

However, one needs to keep in mind that each African subscriber hold in average 1,96 SIM card (compared to 1,85 global average). This is common in most emerging economies. Users wants to optimally benefit from numerous low-cost deals & marketing actions, driven by agressive price wars. This is one of the (positive?) side effects of deregulation, privatization & open compettions.

Rural Africa is where true intrinsic growth will take in the near future.

This raises serious infrastructure challenges. Although there is coverage in the rural areas, extending & expanding the base-stations park is a significant invetsment (with a long term return!) for African telco's. And one knows the somewhat erratic power grid supplies in Africa! One consides "Green Power" as a friendly alternative to address the energy constraints of most African countries; and as such, support the telecom infrastructure growth requirements. (also see GSMA report "Green Powe for Mobile" - 2012).

So plenty to do; plenty to invest; plenty to benefit.... let's all get to work!!
As always, let me know your views...