Iliad’s bid for the US market; lessons from France

Over the past 18 months, Iliad has grown from a small fixed broadband provider, to become one of the key players in French mobile telecommunications

At the beginning of 2013, Iliad’s consumer brand Free could only boast 4m fixed broadband customers, most of whom were drawn to Free as a result of their unique Freebox product. A smart piece of Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), the Freebox aggregates different services such as Wi-Fi access, Community Wi-Fi, IP telephony, IP TV and more traditional broadband services.  

From inception, Iliad’s Free has always used disruptive, in-house technologies to underpin their business strategy, without having to rely on third parties. It therefore didn’t come as a surprise when they decided to launch their mobile services in the competitive French market, drastically disrupting the well-established mobile landscape with very cheap and simple subscription tariffs. These aggressive tariffs fostered a complete rejigging of the French mobile market, with the merger of SFR and Numericable on one side, and Bouygues Telecom in a dire situation today on the other.

The Community Wi-Fi network was undeniably one of the best assets Iliad leveraged to offer cheap data services in France, with subscribers seamlessly roaming on and off Free’s Wi-Fi network. This allowed Iliad to cut the cost of the origination and termination of calls, SMS and data traffic, as it mostly uses its MVNO network provided by Orange.

Cheap tariffs and disruptive in-house technology are part of Iliad’s DNA, and undoubtedly Xavier Niel’s group sees an opportunity in the US, where the ARPU has gone up by 17% over the past 4 years, in comparison with a drop of 6% in Europe during the same period.  US tariffs are on average 40% higher than those in Europe, meaning that should Iliad make a second bid that T-Mobile would deem adequate, it would be well positioned to capitalise on these generous tariffs to carve out its own market share.

Although T-Mobile has decided to turn down Iliad’s offer, currently Xavier Niel’s bid is the only one on the table.  T-Mobile’s CFO Braxton Carter has recently commented, however, that the first offer is never the best, indicating that he feels there might be scope for further negotiation with Iliad.

More interestingly, Braxton Carter has mentioned T-Mobile is now ready to carry voice over Wi-Fi traffic, mentioning fixed operator partners such as  Comcast in last week’s discussion of Iliad’s bid. Iliad may therefore decide to push a hybrid solution of Wi-Fi and LTE network to lure T-Mobile, thereby achieving low tariffs and undercutting its competitors.

Should Iliad succeed in entering the US market, it may be bad news for Verizon and AT&T, especially if Xavier Niel succeeds in also striking a deal for offering fixed services which again stitch mobile and fixed together.

 By Philippe Berard, Consultant at Coleago Consulting

Wi-Fi offload won’t reduce the need for more mobile spectrum

During the Wi-Fi Offload Summit in Frankfurt on Jan. 23, a number of interesting developments in the Wi-Fi space were presented. A key question for mobile operators is whether Wi-Fi offload reduces the growth in mobile broadband (HSPA and LTE) traffic and thus the need for more mobile spectrum.

Research presented by Deutsche Telecom from tests in Hamburg and Rotterdam showed that when Wi-Fi is advertised and available free of charge in a particular area, this immediately generates substantial Wi-Fi traffic but does not reduce the volume of mobile data traffic. Towerstream Inc. presented conflicting evidence from its outdoor Wi-Fi offload network in New York.

From other findings presented, it is clear that both Wi-Fi and LTE traffic are increasing dramatically. Perhaps what is at work here is the Jevons paradox, which proposes that as technology progresses, the increase in efficiency with which a resource is used tends to increase (rather than decrease) the rate of consumption of that resource. The increasing availability of free Wi-Fi coupled with a rapid uptake of smartphones and cheap tablets would underpin this theory as one feeds off the other.

The growth in Wi-Fi is also driven by the desire of shops and malls to engage with shoppers on their in-store Wi-Fi networks. There is marketing value for retailers to have shoppers on their Wi-Fi network as soon as the shopper walks into the store. EE in the U.K. is turning this into a small business line, equipping supermarkets such as ASDA with a Wi-Fi infrastructure. Rather than identifying shoppers at the checkout when they swipe their loyalty card, ASDA hopes to be able to identify and engage with shoppers from the minute they are within the store’s Wi-Fi coverage. For example, coupons could be sent to a handset at the beginning of the shopping trip and can be used right away rather than languishing at the bottom of a shopping bag. This is just one of the many marketing benefits of free in-store Wi-Fi.

The simultaneous growth in Wi-Fi and LTE traffic may also be explained by the fact that Wi-Fi has other uses compared to cellular. The proliferation of TV Anywhere apps turns tablets and laptops into TV outlets, and in Canada, Bell has launched the first wireless TV proposition. TV over Wi-Fi creates a surge of Wi-Fi traffic in residential areas. Other devices in offices, public indoor spaces and outdoors rely increasingly on Wi-Fi connectivity because it is cheaper and more flexible than cable connections. This all takes Wi-Fi capacity in cities and raises the Wi-Fi noise floor.

In regard to the rapid adoption of tablets, all are Wi-Fi-enabled, but few are 3G (HSPA) or LTE-enabled. As people take these tablets out of their homes they will look for Wi-Fi access, thus increasing Wi-Fi hotspot usage. However, smartphones have a personal hotspot feature and where tablets are not in Wi-Fi coverage, we are seeing “cellular on-loading” from Wi-Fi devices.

Having paid for a shiny new LTE device, some customers would prefer to pay another €10-20 a month rather than having to faff about with logging onto Wi-Fi. Asking smartphone users to choose between LTE and Wi-Fi is the antithesis of a ubiquitous mobile broadband experience. However, Wi-Fi 2.0 with SIM-based authentication increases the ease of Wi-Fi access and may even be transparent to the user.

Another factor which determines the amount of LTE vs. Wi-Fi traffic are the policies for applications set in smartphones. For example, which bearer is allowed or preferred for which application. Some apps do not work via LTE; for example. FaceTime on the iPhone. In the U.S., the first version of the iPhone 5 with iOS 6 did allow FaceTime over LTE. This came as a bit of a shock to cellular operators as AT&T blocked FaceTime over cellular on most plans, but subsequently changed the policy. What cellular operators really want is to be able to set policies dynamically based on the app, the location, time of day and perhaps even the type of customer.

Nevertheless, most mobile operators have some Wi-Fi offload strategy. The focus is not so much on relieving congestion in busy areas but to deliver an “always best connected” value proposition. In short, LTE and Wi-Fi complement each other. The growth in Wi-Fi does not reduce the need for more cellular spectrum to serve the growth in mobile broadband traffic.

Written by Stefan Zehle, CEO Coleago Consulting

Could mobile operators become the prime real estate landlords for the digital economy?

Finally it is here: The mobile data equivalent of toll-free numbers. Last week AT&T unveiled a “Sponsored Data service”, meaning that their customers are able to use participating services without eating in to their data allowance. AT&T will treat Sponsored Data traffic no differently to regular data traffic, thus providing digital retailers and OTT service providers with an efficient way to communicate and trade with their customers.

Coleago has long argued that with the growth in the digital economy, sellers of physical and digital goods and services are looking for the mobile data equivalent of a toll-free number. In the past many businesses encouraged consumers to trade with them over the phone by publishing toll-free numbers. The growth of online shopping with mobile devices provides impetus for extending the concept to mobile data. The message from retailers to consumers is “it does not cost you anything to visit our digital store”.

The good news for mobile operators is that this provides an additional revenue stream. But the concept could be taken further. In Europe, North America and other markets where most people purchase their smartphone from mobile operators, these operators can control what consumers see on the screen of their new smartphone when they take it out of the box and switch it on. A smartphone screen provides the digital real estate for sponsored apps.  Apps placed on the home screen would be the most valuable, and the giants of ecommerce such as Amazon may have the scale to pay to have their app on the home screen. EBay, travel and financial sites and many other e-tailers may also be interested in sponsoring apps placed on subsequent screens.

Of course users can delete and move smartphone apps. However, judging by how many people do not bother or do not understand how to change their browser home page, it is likely that many of the preloaded apps will stay where they were first placed. This effectively means that mobile operators become landlords in the digital economy.

Written by Stefan Zehle, CEO, Coleago Consulting

AT&T plans shutdown of 2G network

On Friday, the 3^rd of July AT&T announced that it plans to shut down its 2G network “approximately” by the 1^st of January 2017. The main objective is to refarm spectrum currently used for 2G to LTE and eventually save network opex.  This affects both high band spectrum, for example PCS (Band 2, 1900MHz) and low band 850MHz spectrum (band 5). The process of refarming started some time ago and the announcement of the 2G network shutdown has been anticipated.

The majority of the spectrum will have been refarmed from well before January 2017. Over the years the residual 2G (GSM) traffic will be transported over an ever smaller sliver of spectrum.  Operators like AT&T, who are not well endowed with spectrum, make an enormous effort to refarm spectrum to HSPA and LTE to meet the challenges of the surge in mobile broadband traffic. However, legacy customers are an issue. Usually customers who make the least usage and have the lowest bills hang on to their old phones the longest. Although this is not the case with AT&T, some operators are still selling 2G only phones, particularly to prepaid customers, because of the lower cost of handsets. One might think that leaving a few MHz of spectrum for GSM would make good business sense since it cannot be refarmed because it is not enough for the minimum 5MHz block size required for HSPA and LTE.  However, at some point the cost of operating the legacy 2G network outweighs the revenue made from these customers.  The term “customer” includes M2M devices, and it is here where another problem might arise.

Forward looking operators have long realised that there is a direct relationship between the devices sold and network opex and capex.  Working closely with the network department, some marketing departments took the decision to remove 2G only handsets from their line-up. While this might mean slightly higher handsets subsidies, this is offset by earlier network cost savings. Operators who manage this process well will reap the benefits. Of course, in markets where operators do not control distribution – as is the case in markets dominated by prepaid – the lack of control over what devices customers use is a problem that is hard to overcome.

The process of refarming presents operators with other dilemmas. For example, operators run already 2 technologies (GSM and HSPA) in the lower bands, 850MHz in North America and 900MHz in Europe.  While today the device eco-system does not support LTE in 850MHz or 900MHz, it is only a matter of time before such devices become available. For operators who chose the right vendor and agree good terms, a two-step technology migration can be relatively painless.

Despite the refarming of 2G spectrum to HSPA or LTE, operators will still require significantly more spectrum to serve the exponential increase in mobile broadband traffic in urban areas.  Governments and the WARC need to work hard to free up spectrum in a harmonised manner around the globe so that consumers and businesses can benefit from mobile broadband services. Harmonisation is key, because this would deliver the greatest economies of scale and ensure seamless regional device interoperability.

Written by Stefan Zehle, CEO, Coleago Consulting

Overcoming Objections to AT&T’s Acquisition of T-Mobile USA

AT&T’s announcement last week of a $4bn charge in respect of the $39bn take-over of T-Mobile USA indicates a high likelihood that the transaction will not go ahead. This is not necessarily good news for US consumers and shareholders.

Telecoms markets in developed countries are maturing and in some markets revenues are already declining. At this stage of the industry life cycle consolidation would be expected. If there is no further revenue growth the only way in which returns can be maintained without increasing prices is by taking costs out of a business. This is likely to have been the principal driver behind the proposed acquisition.

Much of the opposition to the merger is on grounds of the negative impact on competition at retail level. A solution could be for AT&T to acquire T-Mobile’s network assets but not the rest of its operation, effectively turning T-Mobile into an MVNO. After all, much of the passive infrastructure is probably already owned by tower companies who lease tower space to several mobile operators. Traditionally a very high proportion of a mobile operator’s assets were in the non-active infrastructure – it typically accounted for two thirds of the capital cost of a cell site. The next step would be to share the active RAN and even the whole network. If T-Mobile USA continues to operate as an MVNO this would not affect competition at retail level.

In persuading the US Department of Justice and the FCC to drop their objections to the deal, AT&T might consider introducing accounting separation between its mobile network operating business and its retail business. AT&T’s retail business would buy capacity from the network operating company at the same terms as T-Mobile USA.

The net effect may be positive for all stakeholders:

• One merged network will have lower operating costs than two networks, i.e. costs are taken out of the industry. This benefit is likely to be shared between consumers in the form of lower prices and shareholders.

• Although some spectrum may have to be divested, the merging of AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s spectrum assets would make it easier to refarm spectrum to LTE and deploy wide carriers earlier. This means existing spectrum will be used more efficiently in terms of bits per Hertz. With the growth of mobile broadband this yields an economic and societal benefit, as is well documented.

• There will be a number of further spectrum auctions. With one operator less bidding for spectrum, demand at auction is reduced and prices paid for spectrum are likely to be lower. This will benefit all players in the market.

Written by Stefan Zehle, CEO, Coleago Consulting