Increased subscribership can be a crisis or opportunity – which will you be prepared for?
The growth of broadband subscribers has slowed in recent years, but that is about to change. U.S. subscribership will climb from four million to eight million by 2021. Revenue will follow suit, reaching $5.2 billion, up from $2.3 billion within the same timeframe.
What will fuel this enormous growth? More devices will connect to IP networks. By 2021, there will be 3.5 devices connected to IP per person, up from 2.3 in 2016. The increase in subscriber connections is due to the Internet of Things (IoT), which are expected to account for more than half of the connected devices. If you’re an independent WISP owner, this is exciting news. You could double your income or more — if you prepare.
It’s obvious that you should build additional towers to support more broadband use. You’ve probably been thinking about fiber, and some WISPs have already begun deploying it, But, not all areas are perfect for a fiber buildout, and it’s pricey. So getting more out of your wireless network is going to be crucial for this new growth opportunity.
Predicting how subscribers will use data, how you should prioritize it and how to improve the client’s experience to keep them connected to you will be important.
What’s the cost of being unprepared?
If your tech or customer service teams can’t see your network’s health and performance, that’s a problem. Visibility can make your staff more proactive and empower them to resolve issues quickly, which strengthens your subscribers’ experience.
If subscriber complaints are your first hint of trouble — that’s the beginning of a revenue catastrophe if it’s not resolved quickly. As wait times increase and data interference continues, you’ll lose subscribers and the organic referrals from happy customers.
Disrupted service impacts business clients more. If you’re forcing them to be patient while you’re fixing unexpected problems, they’re losing productivity and revenue. If you lose business clients, that’s a much larger chunk of your receivables. But that’s just the start of your troubles; your inability to work proactively will force you to purchase more expensive, unplanned bandwidth. And, that can take time to be installed and provisioned. What if this last-minute bandwidth order is not in your budget, how will this impact your short- or long-term revenue plans?
Being proactive is tough without the right tools. But, if you have the right resources to position your support teams to be proactive, you will reduce your cost and increase the lifetime value of the subscribers, and this all equates to more profit for your business.
With future revenue on the line, it makes sense to have the ability to inspect your data flow in real-time and resolve minor issues before they have a chance to grow up into major ones.
Unlock revenue with accurate views of your network’s data usage
Projecting your network’s data usage controls bandwidth cost and prevents network congestion. Imagine – your system running at 90-95% bandwidth utilization with no network congestion. You order and turn up more bandwidth just as you need it. Your subscribers enjoy a stable and reliable network and are happy to pay their invoice month after month. They tell their friends and family how much they love their internet connection every time they hear someone complain about their ISP.
When you create a premium subscriber experience you create raving fans, and that drives growth: Understanding how subscribers use your network can give your WISP an advantage in three growth strategies:
- You increase the lifetime value of each account.
- You increase monthly revenue through targeted bandwidth upsell campaigns.
- You turn a network of subscribers into Raving Fans that drives new activations.
Improve satisfaction by seeing individual client’s data usage
To accomplish the goal of creating raving fans, you’ll want complete network visibility to see who your heaviest users are and why they’re using so much data.
When a phone call comes in about service issues, you’ll have a granular view of how that subscriber uses their data pipe. If their streaming has increased, you’re in a position to be proactive and offer an upgrade to improve their service quality. With this kind of deep understanding of how your customers use the internet, you’ll be providing them with premium service that creates raving fans and organic referrals.
All of this is possible with Saisei’s patented flow technology which gives you real-time visibility, control and analytics. You control bandwidth cost, improve subscriber satisfaction and get them to promote your WISP, which drives new installs in the markets you’ve invested to serve.
As your subscriber list grows, you become more efficient. Saisei integration with Visp.net’s Ultimate Back Office Billing and Automation system gives you the level of control you want.
- Monitor the health of your network to detect potential problems in real-time.
- Understand how your subscribers use their internet with just a few clicks.
- Forecast when to buy bandwidth and whether reprioritizing data is the smarter move.
- Empower your staff with network visibility and the controls to WOW your subscribers.
Take your first step toward higher profit and future growth by viewing a free, live demonstration. Experience how effective Saisei monitors your network and integrates with Visp.nets Billing and Automation system, make your call now to 541-955-6905 or sign up online for a free demonstration.
