Why Spanish Cuisine is Like the New Mobile Service Provider Business Model

#MWC15 I enjoy coming to Barcelona every year for Mobile World Congress. On one hand, the show is overwhelming with the number of attendees and back to back meetings I have when I am here. But on the other hand, I get to experience and enjoy the great cuisine in this city. I always like to try new foods and see what the local cuisine is like no matter how odd it may seem to my sensibilities (stinky tofu, anyone?).

Of course, one of the staples of the restaurants in this part of the world is tapas. Tapas are appetizers or fingerfood served in restaurants in small portions. It is common to order a dozen different tapas dishes for a group of people. There is often a large selection of tapas dishes offered at a restaurant. I have seen over 50 on a single menu at some places.

Just like the tapas restaurants in Barcelona, mobile service providers need to customize and cater to their subscribers’ differing interests.  As mobile service providers adjust to their subscribers using more data with faster 4G LTE networks and less voice, they need to shift their revenue models to focus on delivering data-related services. The service provider wants to offer value added services that enhance the customer experience at a small premium. Not everyone will want the same service and the customer needs the ability to be selective and pick and choose what is right for their usage pattern.

In some cases, the subscriber might sign up for an anti-spam/anti-virus scanning service to secure and protect their communications and devices. Other subscribers could sign up for a parental controls service for their dependents to prevent the viewing of undesirable content. The types of services that the mobile operator will offer can be as varied and numerous as the tapas dishes offered in the restaurant. The services that a subscriber signs up for can be delivered within the service chaining architecture being developed to maximize the efficiency of the mobile operator’s network and value added services.

The important point is that the service provider needs to offer a wide range of services to allow the subscriber to customize and optimize their individual service.  These services need do be delivered with small premiums for the total package to make the value of the entire mobile service feel reasonably priced. This model will allow the service provider to enhance the subscriber quality of experience through specific functions and individualization while providing a renewing and expanding revenue stream to replace the dwindling voice revenues. 

Tapas restaurants are fun because I can customize my dining experience with foods I like in conjunction with foods I am interested in trying without overwhelming my budget or appetite. Premium value added services will deliver the same experience for the subscribers from their mobile network operators. Buen provecho!