Unprepared For Change : Telcos in Australia and NZ

Unprepared For Change

Are the Telecoms, Media & Technology Sectors in Australia & New Zealand Prepared to Take Advantage of the New Digital Economy?

SYDNEY, Australia (Feb 23, 2012) Changing consumer behaviours combined with advancements in technology are rapidly evolving digital economies around the world. Consumers now demand high speed data, voice and access to video and digital content on multiple devices. Smart and data hungry devices are increasing at a rapid rate; social media is driving almost everything and consumers are demanding the world. In Australia and New Zealand, the introduction of national broadband networks and LTE will only accelerate these changes and drive innovation in business models. Network and Communication services providers are racing to catch up to these new digital realities and rapidly changing customer demands.

CSG Systems International, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGS), a global provider of software- and services-based business support solutions, has been working with telecoms, media, entertainment and technology industries across the globe to help them determine if they are prepared, or even willing, to take advantage of the opportunities, or defend against the challenges, being introduced by a rapidly changing digital economy.

According to Ian Watterson, CSG International’s Vice President & Managing Director Asia Pacific, “Digital content within the communications ecosystem has raised the need for the most significant change to business models in recent history. Communication Service Providers (CSPs) need to be looking at their strategic options, the future of the core communications products which generate much of their revenue and how they can improve the customer experience to reduce churn and attract new customers in the telecommunications, media and technology sectors.”

Traditional content service providers have seen competition from other industries for several years, including entertainment, broadcasting, IPSs, search engines, consumer electronics and IT. This is eroding their revenue stream, harming their brand value and the value they have in the eyes of their customers. For example, within the mobile entertainment industry, the mobile music segment is the largest revenue contributor with a compound growth rate of 13.2 per cent – more than doubling from $10b in 2008 to $21b by 2014.1

“Now is the time to be developing innovative solutions to the challenges facing their organisations, launching strategies that accelerate new growth opportunities and evolving their business models to keep pace with new realities,” said Watterson. “The clear winners in the next phase of this evolving market will be those who invest the resources into building an infrastructure and eco-system that supports customers in an anytime, anywhere, always-on world. Those who fail to embrace strategies for monetising content now will lack the crucial foundation for winning customers and content partners in this rapidly evolving digital landscape.”

CSG International has collaborated with the Telco 2.0 initiative and Stratecast (Division of Frost & Sullivan), in order to help ensure that Australian and New Zealand industries are prepared to adapt and grow in the fast changing digital economy and to highlight the options and opportunities these changes present to the telecoms sector.

In December 2011 CSG International and Telco 2.0 co-produced and held the New Digital Economics & APAC Executive Brainstorm, the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific Region. The event was attended by senior executives from the communications, media, banking and technology sectors who brainstormed the most pertinent issues impacting the direction of the new digital economy in the region, and explored strategic options for CSPs to grow within the new digital reality. Delegates concluded that revenue is slipping through the cracks bit by bit. 78% of delegates believed that voice revenues would decline between 10% and 40% within three years. Messaging was forecast similarly, with 77% of APAC delegates forecasting mobile messaging revenues would decline by 40% or less; over the top price pressure was cited as the main cause for this decline.

CSG found that the key business model challenge in the provision of digital entertainment is determining how much customers will pay for different types of content. Legitimate business models that provide content for consumers for no fee, such as advertising funded models, was seen by 42% of delegates as giving the best chance for success for new online video services.

Video and Games clearly offer profit opportunities for the telecoms sector. Delegates at the APAC event co-produced by CSG and Telco 2.0 were asked which digital entertainment content offered the best profit potential for CSPs and video was the primary choice of delegates with 46% support while over 30% of respondents believed that games offered the best profit potential, music was ranked third with over 20%.

While many of these findings may be relevant for the Australian and New Zealand markets, the different market realties and business models in our countries may require different strategies and business models.

“To explore if the Telecoms, Media & Technology Sectors in Australia & New Zealand are prepared to take advantage of the new digital economy, we will be holding an Australasian Executive Brainstorm in April of this year. We will be focusing on specific opportunities for the local market such as exploring how LTE and government-funded fast broadband is driving innovative business models in Australia and New Zealand,” said Ian Watterson.

CSG International Australasian Executive Brainstorm

Following on from the APAC 2011 brainstorm the first CSG International Australasian Executive Brainstorm will be held in Sydney in April 2012. The aim of this event is to provide a unique platform, bringing together industry experts and analysts within an interactive environment to explore solutions to challenges and strategies that accelerate new growth opportunities and business model innovation. Topics covered in the brainstorm will include strategic opportunities and threats of the two sided business model, the customer experience 2.0 and digital entertainment.

For further information about the event please contact June Liang at june.liang@csgi.com

1Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2009-2014

About CSG International

CSG Systems International, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGS ) is a world-leading business support solutions and services company serving the majority of the top 100 global communications service providers, including leaders in fixed, mobile and next-generation networks such as AT&T, Comcast, DISH Network, France Telecom, MasterCard, Orange, T-Mobile, Telefonica, Time Warner Cable, Vodafone, Vivo and Verizon. With over 25 years of experience and expertise in voice, video, data and content services, CSG International offers a broad portfolio of licensed and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based products and solutions that help clients compete more effectively, improve business operations and deliver a more impactful customer experience across a variety of touch points. For more information, visit our website at www.csgi.com.

ENDS

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