IT Is a known historical fact that modern and
efficient systems cannot be held at bay by man-made regulations. This is the
churn that spurred western economic growth in the West economic growth in the
West for two centuries and one that India has rarely experienced - until now.
In the telecom sector, the virtual market demarcation created via regulation is
blurring rapidly. Regulations will have to adapt and change to these new
conditions for the larger good. Meanwhile, the question is, where will the
customers go? As the pace of competition in India's telecom market heats up,
especially with market deregulation and the intense price wars, survival will
depend on one key factor - consumers. Churn will be inevitable. The crux will
lie in the ability to attract customers, while retaining existing ones to reduce
churn.
In such a dynamic scenario, the Churn Management Solution that belongs to the
Business Intelligence suite of solutions, essentially analytical CRM, is the
answer for telecom players. It equips organisations with the power to predict
accurately which customers are likely to leave and provides insights on major
factors influencing the decision to leave. Empowered with this information
marketers can derive product and service strategies to address issues the
customers might be facing, resulting in the retention of highly profitable
customers.
It is anyone's guess whether phone users will prefer wireless connection over
fixed ones because of tariff increase proposed by TRAI. Telecom experts are
divided, saying that the situation is in a flux and both consumers and phone
companies will weigh their options between now and May 1, when the new tariffs
take effect. It is thus difficult to predict traffic patterns and consumer
choice as of now.
However, one thing is clear, fix phones will still be cheaper to use compared to
cellular telephony. As for the cellular and CDMA based WLL - M, though they will
co-exist, the Leadership position will depend on factors like : how quickly CDMA
is deployed globally, development of applications on CDMA, the broadband data
market etc. In other words, competition for consumer traffic will move from
fixed-to-wireless to fixed, cellular and WLL-M.
In such a situation, it is imperative to understand the customer profile. In the
final analysis, wireline and wireless may well co-exist, with the latter
dominating the former market space. To be a winner, it is important to be
equipped with available modern systems today to survive and emerge as a leader
tomorrow.
