Growth in data traffic in emerging markets and the expansion of access to the internet through data is currently a hot topic. In a recent GSMA Intelligence report, our team took a closer look at what operators are doing to creatively expand access to a customer segment that have previously not been considered as major data consumers.
As data becomes more accessible through low-cost handsets, the pre-paid market in the developing world offers operators a huge opportunity to increase data traffic. This fact is highlighted by the many different tariff plans that are springing up globally, tailored just for the pre-paid customer.
What is especially striking about this trend is the sheer number of options that are being offered to these customers: pay as you go, time defined (hours, days, weeks), content defined (e.g. pay for access to Twitter or Facebook), data allowance measures (55MB – 20GB), and even network speed-specific offers (2G, 3G, 4G). The implicit recognition is a need to offer tariffs aligned to the socioeconomic realities of a low-income customer base as opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach.
Lower-income customers have often been overlooked for reasons beyond their limited individual spending power. There has been a lack of understanding of what this segment wants and what they are willing to pay for. Without these insights, the product design and marketing processes can be elusive and frustrating.
Moreover, a focus on these customers has often been seen as high risk and low reward. However, the multitude of choices in data packaging and pricing now on offer represents willingness from operators to overcome these barriers. It is not only ushering in access to the internet for swaths of populations that could not easily afford it, but is also a step toward understanding these customers better.
While this points to an increasing awareness among MNOs of the need to understand, serve, and derive value from this segment, the real question is what will they learn? Will they research, utilise their behavioural data, and apply sufficiently smart resources to understand this segment? Will this trend in increasing access to data lead to a greater voice for this customer segment in terms of what mobile products and services they most value? If so, this should in turn, lead to an ability to provide a better service and support operator’s bottom line growth.
This document was originally produced as part of the former Mobile for Development Impact programme.