Helping to prepare a new market for our customers is not just one of our strengths at Tele2 IoT, it’s also one of the more fun parts of my role as Director of Operations. “New markets” is an expression used by our customers. However, for us it is called “known markets” – we are the telecoms experts and we know how the different telecom markets across the globe are working.
The IoT hype is real, but what’s underneath it is our bread and butter. For us, it is about ensuring the device performs as expected in the customer-selected markets.
We know the markets, and the customers know their business, so why not walk hand-in-hand into that new market? Tele2 IoT consists of an Operations department with 100% IoT specialists. We help our customers expand their own operations into new markets and as a result, become successful.
Success, of course, is the result of knowledge and hard work, so first things first: how to enter a new market.
1. The Dialogue: Identify Real Needs
The most important thing is opening up a good dialogue with the customer. During these talks we gather together all the hard facts, looking at the stats, preparing reports on how things change daily and weekly – but we also look at the soft facts. The forecast is one thing, but it’s also about the curve – when the move into the market is supposed to happen, what are the customer’s particular needs, etc. Once we have all the input we review regulations in the new market and ensure they will be compliant, while also advising on anything that might be addressed.
2. Clear the Path Before Entering
The next big step is syncing with Tele2 IoT roaming partners. An example of this would be when we have wholesale cases. We go to our roaming partners – sometimes a preferred one (by the customer) or sometimes to all the partners in the market – it all depends on the needs of our customer. We then identify the best commercial and technical combination in each country. This is an important step because every customer is different, and we need to make sure the solution meets the needs of the customer on all levels. Most customers will say that both cost and technical are important, but we also have customers to whom cost is secondary – where the best reliability is far more important, so we make that happen for them.
3. Revisit the Forecast
Now we take a new look at the situation and revisit the forecast and the plan. In this step we are closing in on the actual deployment for the customer. As an example, what will be the geographical spread of the deployment and what will be the technical and -commercial implications?
We know how things go: a forecast is not always set in stone and that is just… life. We are flexible, and we know that being flexible is as important for you as our customers as it is for us.
The coverage situation might be a parameter. Across the European market the coverage situation is more or less always the same. There is an old network that everyone thinks is “simply the best”, and then there is a cheap one that has the reputation for only working in urban areas. Well, you know what? That cheap bastard might be exactly your best pick if you need a pure urban deployment.
4. Assuring All Parties Things Will Work as Intended
We also conduct testing in the market – technical testing, latency testing, etc. – in order to make sure the service is actually good enough to meet the customer’s needs. This is something we do jointly with the customer. We always have the possibility to simulate and test roaming across the globe from the Tele2 Radio Test Lab in Stockholm, so in the first stage we do the tests remotely. In the second stage, we actually go into the markets. Both of these testing stages are important, because you can then feel safe in the knowledge that things will work as expected when they move into the new market.
5. Get In There
Now the time comes to actually start the deployment and at this stage we should be home free. But no – in Operations we are far too paranoid for that.
When the cruciality is high, we make sure to establish customized graphs with thresholds and everything else we need to make sure we can monitor the deployment. We do this simply to be proactive and address any issues before they might arise.
These five steps are our way of working proactively, not reactively. We are world class and can make you become a world class expander, too. If you’re ready to expand into new markets, please feel free to contact me and have a chat.
If you would like to learn more about how Tele2 IoT can help your business, please get in touch.