MCI INTERVIEW MCI EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW


Differentiating in a dynamic world


Paul Bultema, executive director, UK and Ireland strategy lead for the communications, media and technology operating group of Accenture, talks about consolidation, differentiation and the rise of over the top services.


on network coverage or price. Today, at the dawn of the 4G era, cover- age and price remain important to customers—although in many cases there is nowhere for prices to go—but the deployment of new technology is adding into the mix the expectation of improved performance. As a result, there is a significant op-


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portunity for operators to differentiate on the customer experience, with a focus on the products and services on offer and the brands they represent. Paul Bultema, executive director, UK and Ireland and strategy lead for the communications, media and technol- ogy operating group of Accenture, believes that wireless operators are having a tougher time than the fixed line players, which is forcing a certain shift in the network operator busi- ness model.


“On the wireline side there is more of a sustainable and consistent enter- prise space where you have not seen the same amount of churn,” Bultema says. “But on the mobile side you have the decline of voice and data revenues combined with the impact of growth in data over the last few years as well as the capex investment needed for those network upgrades. It puts carriers in a precarious position and they’ve historically been very vertical in eve- rything like retail and distribution so they’ve taken a hit on many levels.” Sticking to comparisons with the wireline industry, Bultema notes that operators have “horrific” data qual- ity linking the physical layers of the network to the services used by cus- tomers. And while wireless operators also have this issue, they have the additional challenge of much more dynamic requirements. “It’s one thing trying to manage a POTS customer but another managing them in a 3G


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he opportunities for differentia- tion in this industry are cyclical. At one time carriers competed


Accenture's Paul Bultema


or 4G environment where you have to be so dynamic, while at the same time deploying your 4G network, and catering to tablets and devices that are very bursty and have never been seen before in the network,” he says. This kind of pressure is driving


operators to question themselves as to what’s really core and non-core to their business. Bultema acknowledges that operators are increasingly coming to accept that networks are not core to their business—a phenomenon which is driving the growth in outsourcing and network sharing. “We’re going to see some major


changes in the next two to three years in the mobile space, with increased M&A and consolidation impact in terms of retail and distribution and substantial consolidation on transmis- sion,” he says. “Where regulators have historically encouraged competition


they now have to change tack a bit and tolerate network consolidation. It’s more of a move towards a utility rather than each operator owning their own network.” Bultema cites Australia as a prime example, where the National Broad- band Network is being pitched as a core national utility—designed to make the country more competitive and aimed at trying to lower the cost of provision per subscriber. He also cites national investment schemes taking place in Brazil and many other countries, where it is unsustainable for every operator to have their own network.


By the same token, LTE is having a


dramatic impact on operator business models—with the threat of the dumb pipe—the operator’s greatest fear— looming ever large. But according to Bultema, the dumb pipe strategy is a


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