PARTNER CONTENT: Many single operators, MVNOs and smaller groups, struggle to cost effectively provide competitive and compelling roaming offers to customers, risking losing out to larger rivals in their local market and being unable to grasp emerging business opportunities in areas such as the IoT.
For companies without the scale of major international players it can be difficult to achieve competitive wholesale pricing from peers around the globe, with relatively low traffic volumes hampering negotiating positions or making it unlikely they can even get around the table with some players.
By partnering with Telenor Linx for managed roaming operators of all sizes can derive benefits already enjoyed by large groups.
Using its global scale and vast experience in the roaming segment the company provides connections between telecoms companies, and also digital players, to help its customers gain a competitive edge in their local markets and ease the burden of provision of roaming.
The ability to provide a solid and competitive offer in this area has become increasingly important for all providers and using an experienced, trusted partner for managed roaming is a cost-effective and simple way to achieve this. “The groups are getting stronger and those that aren’t part of that are fighting against rivals with advantages in terms of scale but also expertise, especially in the roaming segment. Players are being squeezed in the market right now, and partnerships are crucial to stay competitive,” Stig Waagbø, CEO Telenor Linx told Mobile World Live (MWL).
By employing a secure, well-structured managed roaming service, operators can resolve the significant barriers experienced by many, alongside making financial savings, opening new revenue opportunities and improving customer experience.
Business optimisation assured
Managed roaming from Telenor Linx takes the pain out of the provision of global roaming. Its customers have been able to reduce outbound roaming costs; simplify the wholesale roaming business; enable competitive retail roaming offerings; and cut OPEX.
Being a group with significant scale and units in a number of major markets, Telenor already has excellent relationships with operators across the globe. By bringing roaming under this umbrella, other players can benefit from these longstanding relationships.
Telenor Linx has the scale to wield significant negotiating power with large operators and other groups which could be hard to access for those with relatively low non-domestic traffic levels. Partners are able to leverage this to open new markets for customers and access to more exclusive host networks.
The vast amount of data used by companies in the Telenor family provide economies of scale which are unable to be achieved with one-on-one agreements, especially with big players.
For MVNOs, managed roaming can provide a further layer of flexibility, given the lack of a need to cater for inbound roaming and offering an alternative to sourcing from their domestic provider where allowed by existing contracts.
The operational side of roaming and ensuring quality connectivity can be another major headache. Services need to be tested, with the flexibility to change providers vital to ensure customers experience the same robust connectivity they do when at home. Managed roaming simplifies the whole process.
Quality management and financial aspects across settlement, accrual and collection are covered, eliminating a significant administrative burden.
The proposition is designed to be straightforward and means staff currently deployed on this time consuming element of the operator’s business can be reallocated to strengthen their offer domestically.
New revenue opportunities are perhaps not always associated with provision of roaming. However, when partnering on fully managed services business cases such as selling global IoT connectivity packages or consumer tariffs, covering calls and data sessions made in blocks of counties can become options.
Although a light-touch service, experts from Telenor Linx regularly engage with customers on their specific needs and strategies to ensure the roaming package is tailored to their requirements.
A-Z service to take the pain out of roaming
Telenor Linx provides an “A-Z process” for customers, Stig Waagbø noted, adding a service fully outsourced to it can allow customers to benefit from the “same rules, conditions and benefits we apply to our Telenor affiliates”.
Customers can enjoy full commercial management of their roaming proposition covering: retail alignments, coverage management, negotiations, cost and revenue monitoring, steering of roaming and welcome SMS platform for end users.
In terms of coverage, Telenor Linx coordinates the needs and requirements of all of its customers to optimise results. It offers contract management, uses a sophisticated roaming management tool and has well defined risk management policies in place.
On the financial side, in collaboration with its expert partners Telenor Linx is able to manage data clearing, billing information exchange, financial clearing, settlement and collection of dues, accruals and financial reporting, TAP-file exchange and dispute management.
“By transferring the whole process from entering into new roaming agreements, the negotiations with roaming partners, securing optimized utilization of deals, providing financial accrual reporting and doing the settlement, we can significantly reduce costs and pain points associated with an international roaming offer,” Charlotte Nystuen, Telenor Linx VP Head of Sales added.
Telenor Linx can be your trusted partner
Telenor Linx draws on a wealth of experience in the telecommunications sector to deliver an optimised managed roaming service for partners across the globe.
The division was born out of the amalgamation of Telenor Digital and Telenor Global Services in 2022, and has a close relationship with parent company Telenor Group, which operates in some of the largest markets in Asia and Europe.
The business uses the experience of the operator group’s successful project to amalgamate its various group roaming activities into one unit. Previously, these had been conducted on an operator-by-operator basis. By consolidating procurement, negotiation and management into a centralised hub, Telenor was able to leave its affiliates to focus on their domestic businesses.
By centrally negotiating roaming rates for the whole group, Telenor was able to get better deals and improve options for users. Being a larger player also yields benefits when it comes to prioritisation by partners for new service rollouts.
In 2020, prior to the creation of its Linx unit, Telenor began offering a managed roaming product externally. Since then, it has helped several players of a range of sizes optimise their operations in this segment, saving money and enhancing their customer offerings in both enterprise and consumer.
Every MNO and MVNO has a specific roaming pain point, whether supporting VoLTE, 5G or IoT deployments, combating high outbound costs, securing inbound traffic or simply conducting the administration involved in providing connectivity to customers outside if its home market.
Managed roaming from Telenor Linx can resolve these headaches while offering peace of mind the service is being delivered by a trusted, experienced partner of scale.
For more information on Telenor Linx, managed roaming and to view case studies on existing rollouts click here.