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Business Review 2006 from
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Telecommunication:The wider picture
Bob Lawrence
managing director, Jersey Telecom
Competition. If you believe the advertising of our competitors you'd be forgiven for thinking it was something of a dirty word for Jersey Telecom.
But if you look at what is actually happening, the reality is rather different. Are lower prices and more/better services the product of competition alone, or part of a global trend in telecommunications? What is competition delivering that wouldn't otherwise have happened?
Well, we're seeing far more product and brand promotion - if competition is about anything it's about successful marketing, getting people's attention and making sure your products and services are 'front of mind'. That's one reason we welcome it, because when you have a monopoly it is actually very hard to demonstrate how good you can be, since customers have no meaningful point of reference to compare you against. Put simply, competition is all about brand positioning. High profile ads, editorial comment, headline grabbing price reductions, free giveaways, a retail presence on the high street. Competition has driven telecommunications companies to have a very 'loud' public persona, and as soon as one company goes that way, the others all have to follow.
Jersey Telecom has actually been competing in various areas for the last twenty years. That's when the market was first opened to enable Islanders to buy hardware from other suppliers. In more recent times, we compete with a number of local companies to supply business systems, IT solutions and equipment, and of course to install broadband connections. At some point this year we will compete with at least two other operators, if not three, to provide mobile services.
Flexibility
But what many people don't realise is the development of VoIP technology (basically, phone calls made over the internet) means that we actually compete already with companies across the world to provide voice calls for individuals and businesses. As well as delivering more flexibility and lower call charges, VoIP effectively removes all geographical (and potentially regulatory) boundaries, and means any company could provide Jersey customers with the ability to use a telephone for voice calls. Companies are already doing just that, in competition with Jersey Telecom. Jersey Telecom is shortly to become a VoIP provider itself following a substantial investment in its Next Generation Network.
So faced with competing companies how do you ascertain the real difference between the different operators? This is where the 'me too' game starts, when one provides mobile services, so does another, when one offers 3G technology, so do the others. Once again, when you look at the wider picture, better technology is becoming more accessible to all of us, with more technological services being provided by more companies and all them offering services which are easier to use.
Looking at it from the user's perspective, customers are becoming more aware of what they can achieve with technology, so their knowledge and understanding is increasing. That means more companies will be able to offer the technology you need, and you are becoming increasingly likely to want to use it.
That leaves Jersey Telecom with the following ongoing situation. In all areas of our business we either continue to face competition, or will do so in the near future. It's not a simple before/after situation, competition is a commercial environment we have been working in for some time - it's a trend, not an event and it is something we welcome.
We are all providing more, and better, services to local people, so with the volume increasing day by day in the public war of words, how do we differentiate ourselves?
And that's where our monopoly status of long ago provides an answer. We have the local knowledge, skills and breadth of experience to support all customers effectively. Many people are driven by price, but as anyone who has got increasingly frustrated with their latest gadget will testify, support and ongoing customer service are very important indeed.
And that's where the real battleground is. When we all have the technology, and all the ads shout that each company has the best deal, the firm which wins customers will be the one which supports them most effectively. That's where we'll be focusing our efforts.
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