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Well not dead, yet but it is getting harder to do business in this crowded and declining market.

 

I have been fortunate to stumble into computing just when it was a rapid growth business, and then by luck moved sideways into telecommunications just at the right time. Markets seem to grow and then level off, the time to get into these markets is of course at the beginning.

 

So we are seeing the decline of fixed line reselling, still a large market of course, but it is full of mature players all offering the lowest rates possible. There is no longer a compelling reason for businesses to change supplier within the conventional fixed line market. Sure they may be tempted to replace some lines with SIP trunks, but mostly their incumbent supplier will probably be able to offer this option, so no need to change suppliers.  

 

Now we are at the start of the next reseller opportunity, mobile. Of course mobile is not new, but we are finally seeing mobile as a viable alternative to fixed line. As more people favour use of mobile over landline, and increasingly even supplanting the PC for email, companies begin to question the need to their fixed line infrastructure. Ten years ago it was reasonably easy to justify changing fixed line supplier, there were tangible cost savings to be made. No one is going to get excited about saving the modest sums that can be shaved off an already slim margin. But there are alternative approaches. Today it is possible to package a cost saving proposal round combining fixed and mobile with the emphasis on mobile.

 

Just consider how many people that you do business with and give out their mobile number rather than landline. Mobile  has become dominant, not by design or policy, it is just more convenient. So why bother investing in an expensive fixed line structure at all?

 

The new breed of mobile can fully supplant the fixed line phone without loosing any functionality. Staff are also able to work smarter, promoting additional cost savings or revenue generation. This opens up a whole new market which includes corporate mobile applications, hosted services and many other potential revenue streams. Finally the word convergence begins to mean something as all the traditional data applications start to be accessed from the new bread of smart mobile devices.

 

It also opens up a new market for corporate mobile reporting which is my speciality area.