Tourists and in-country roaming visitors constitute an untapped source of revenue. With eSIM technology, operators can easily capitalise on this market and unlock its potential.
Today’s travellers have a number of connectivity requirements, whether it be voice or video call, message or finding directions to a venue, booking a hotel, investigating transport options, checking a restaurant’s menu or reviews, and seemingly most importantly nowadays; posting selfies or (as Apple would encourage) slofies on social media.
Why people don’t roam like home
According to the GSMA, approximately 90% of the planet has access to high-speed mobile networks so regardless of whether we’re at home or travelling abroad we want to be connected on the go ...but we’re not or rather we don’t choose to be. Unless you are from a Sentinelese tribe and have not yet embraced civilisation (and, therefore, unlikely to be reading this) I do not need to explain why as we are all aware of roaming tariffs. This is aided by blanket media reports of roaming horror stories like that of the British maths teacher in 2014 who was famously charged almost $3,500 to download a Neil Diamond whilst holidaying in South Africa (she clearly didn’t do her roaming maths on that one). Regardless of how big a Neil Diamond fan you are; I think we can all agree that no-one wants to pay that sort of roaming charge. And so welcome the silent roamer. The visitor in-hiding who, stays off the mobile grid, preferring to call, message and post from the safety of a WiFi connection and suppress their normally daily on-the-move activities they would carry out in their home country.
According to the European Commission who did a study on roaming in 2014, this type of restricted behaviour represents 94% of subscribers with a quarter of us even turning off our phones completely out of pure fear of death by roaming charge. The EC concluded in their report that European network operators stood to gain over 300 million additional customers by removing roaming tariffs. Although this research was focussed only on Europe, I would proffer a guess that this observation can be extended to the entire global roaming market. After all, if you pay $1 for an apple at home why would you pay $20 for the same apple abroad?
Despite the complexities with multiple parties involved such as the home and local operators etc., the regulatory authorities in most parts of the world, seem to be in complete agreement that roaming tariffs are not providing the customer with a great experience and have subsequently been encouraging their removal or reduction.
The opportunity lies at home
Of course, the alternative to roaming is getting a local SIM. Before eSIM technology, in order to reach in-country visitors, operators had to define a specific offer and set up dedicated distribution channels to sell prepaid SIMs. The inconvenience to the traveler to obtain a physical local SIM, therefore, having to take precious time out of their short-trip to select a provider, locate a retail outlet and register, all in a foreign environment and most likely in a foreign language, significantly lessened the attractiveness of connecting to a local network. As a result, operators spent a high cost on customer acquisition with a marginal return on investment. Until now, until eSIM that is.
eSIM technology makes dealing with tourists and travelers visiting a country easier, simpler and more profitable. As visitors can, through the comfort of their handset, easily gain access to operators’ services by subscribing to local networks available to these customers in their own language. This simplifies the registration experience and enables them to enjoy the benefits of local connectivity.
How to quickly wake up new revenues
With eSIM connectivity, operators can increase their revenue with high-spending visitors, aka high-ARPU subscribers who were previously reluctant to use mobile services due to cost and accessibility. In economic terms, it’s a case of price elasticity driving latent demand. Now, these visitors are no longer silent roamers but big noisy roamers: using Google maps to find the museum or the beach, Trip Advisor to check a restaurant or Instagram to document it all (breakfast included). This means a significant revenue stream for operators.
For mobile operators and mobile virtual operators alike, getting visitors to access their network services simply requires making their operator profile available for the customers to use in their eSIM device. This profile can be downloaded on-demand securely, with remote SIM provisioning, a service that operators can offer their subscribers via a trusted and certified eSIM provider and a remote SIM manager.
According to a recent report by ABI Research, total eSIM shipments reached 278 million in 2019, and are expected to increase by 300% in just four years. Moreover, it is anticipated that by 2022, eSIMs will be present in more than 95% of all new devices – a forecast, now that all new Samsung, Apple and Huawei devices include eSIM, can no longer be dismissed as purely gross over-exaggeration.
A new market avenue has opened up for operators thanks to eSIM technology and it will be interesting to see those who are quickest to react and capture this opportunity. If you’d like more information on how MNOs and MNVOs can offer eSIM connectivity, we recommend Workz Group, a leader in eSIM technology according to market reports, who is recognised by the GSMA as one of only six providers in the world to manage the eSIM across its full lifecycle from production, data generation and personalisation, to subscription management. Visit their website to know more: https://www.workz.com/mobile-solutions/remote-provisioning/
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