Why does my wireless service provider suck?

When you are working in the telecom industry, there is always a discussion around which are the key points for an operator to gain or maintain its competitiveness. The answer typically depends, as expected, on the department where the discussion is taken, or alternatively, is in the area where the operator places its competitive focus: branding, promotions for a replacement/new phone, prices, network coverage or speed of its data transfer.

In fact, everyone has part of the correct answer, but one aspect is that your customer becomes loyal to your company, and another just to bring him/her and let them leave just after a few months experiencing the operators' service, with all the involved acquisition acquisition costs involved.

Surveys from Ericsson Consumer Lab on Customer Satisfaction indicate that Network Performance is the number one factor when it comes to customer's opinion about the given operator, which should translate into the importance on providing, from the network perspective, what the subscriber demand.

Network performance and quality issues have many angles to consider, and now the ladder are more evident with the increase penetration of smart phones, but one of the key aspects is network investment, to keep up with innovations, but also fine tuning and maintenance. Also, and extremely important, is spectrum availability, which sadly is an asset that frequently is scarce due to slowness or lack of interest of country policies.

In the Latam region, telecom regulators have been lagging behind (in average the region has allocated less than 30% of recommended available spectrum for 4G services) on providing sufficient spectrum to allow for more capacity and speed, which are enablers for new services. At the same time, regulators must take this insight seriously, but not only to allow the existing subscriber base to access new services, but also to allow those still not connected to be able to become part of the digital era.

Moreover, from the economic perspective, it has been proven many times the positive impact that telecom investment have on the economy.

Having said this, and based on a paper published by GSMA Latin America (Mobile Economy Latin America 2013), among other many important actions, in Latin America there is an urgent need to address at least the following topics:

1. Clear and consistent approach to license renewals of existing operations
2. New spectrum. Cooperative policy making between mobile industry and governments regarding how and why new spectrum shall be allocated for wireless providers. Should the spectrum be actioned or given at no cost under certain conditions to be met by operators (rural coverage, social wireless broadband lines for m-education, m-health, m-government...?
3. Establish transparent conditions in the country to enable for more investments in any given country, whereas this investment be in spectrum, and network infrastructure. This should cover licensing longevity and renewal.

If these conditions are met, we will see a dramatic improvement to enable new wireless services, improved quality and positive socio-economic impact in the region. Government, regulators and mobile industry need to work side-to-side the points above, in order to create the climate for more investments. Otherwise, even if new spectrum is released, investments will be timid, without the drive required to put Latin America at the required level to maintain its competitiveness in a world that is becoming more and more global.