The ripple effect of the Corona Virus Disease, abbreviated CoViD-19, is being felt across the world. Lockdowns and movement restrictions are imposed on people and businesses alike, meaning that people are spending significantly longer periods at home for work and leisure, requiring a substantially higher amount of data. Telecommunications companies are therefore focused on addressing the multiple aspects affecting their sector at this point. On that note, 5 impacts of CoViD-19 for telecom companies to consider:

Network Usage Ramifications

A full season of your favourite show on Netflix and a video conference with your team on the same day? You probably would have seen a slight drop in quality in both by now. Increased usage of data at home for both work and leisure due to lockdown means that the network usage in turn is skyrocketing. This is to the point where several telecom companies have observed spikes in usage. Per a study from Deloitte, the volume and frequency of voice calls, too, have dramatically increased.

Consequently, frequency of connection drops/outages, and lower quality in audio have been observed; to the point where several companies have reduced picture quality for video streaming to prevent possible outages. Paradox at this point is that the productivity levels demanded are equally high as the network usage, and therefore can also be limited due to hampered quality. MultiCall is useful at this point, as it only requires data to initiate the call, and is also not VoIP based, making its audio quality that much better.

Customer Experience

The spike in usage also means that companies are scrambling to provide a better customer experience and accessibility. Businesses have pulled their shutters down across the globe, meaning that telecommunications will need to adapt to new ways to sell products and services to customers. This is to the point where tools are offered for free or at reduced costs to better assist customers towards the various aspects of working from home. MultiCall steps in at this stage too. Take our free 4-party calls, for example. And there’s more good news, we’re offering competitive pricing plans to allow for more, with post-paid plans available to our business users, and prepaid for both Individual and Business!

Use Consumer Data to Track CoViD-19

With an impact on the world economy worse than the 2002 SARS and September 11th WTC attacks combined; governments and companies alike are utilizing data in their attempts to track and contain the virus, along with its spread. Effectiveness of comms and data exchange is essential towards the screening of the outbreak, and therefore its control.

A country that exemplifies this is the very epicentre of this crisis, China. The country’s expansive landscape, complemented by a population that is highly mobile, has made it crucial towards rapid screening and controlling of the outbreak, for which its tech landscape has been essential in various forms. The aspect of utilizing consumer data to track also, however brings up the question of data privacy. And with past breaches such as Facebook’s 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, telecom management figures will need to consider how data privacy frameworks are evolving and will have to re-evaluate their company policies based on the same.

Financial Impact

Cash flows in the long term may prove to be an issue for telecom companies (much as with other sectors), but history has shown that they still can stand relatively resilient during times of recession like the present one. However, this does mean that companies could either rescind or put aspects of investing in the future (such as with 5G technology) on hold until further notice. At the same time, start-ups that are innovating and looking to disrupt the sector may be opportunistic at this stage. MultiCall has served thus far to be such a start-up, to disrupt by bringing the best of the worlds of VoIP and PSTN and granting the ability to call many like calling one instantly.

Taking Steps Forward

A crisis disrupts the daily operations of a company and is capable of causing financial loss, property, breaches of security, loss of life and if dealt with wrongly, irreparable damage to an organization’s reputation. A crisis is also complex and of unknown duration. Does it sound like this pandemic? Evidently so. CoViD-19 is no less than a crisis. And dealing with a crisis comes down to six stages

Warning

Risk Assessment

Response

Management

Resolution

Recovery

We’re well past the warning stage now, with political, economic and health authorities uniting to execute risk assessment and response. Where Telecom companies regardless of their size need to find their footing is with the stage of management onwards. From a PEST analysis standpoint, the political factor comes to be of increasing importance; stimulus incentives need to be strongly considered, as the global effort to ensure economic resiliency surges. Telecom companies will need to keep a close eye on the same to ensure proper management and allocation of their scarce resources.

Determining the appropriate resolution would require that companies test the reliability of their networks. This is towards handling the spikes and drops discussed earlier. The compromises in service quality or technical issues also can lead to a significantly larger amount of people contacting service helplines or call centres; these will need to be equipped to handle them. Recovery can be hastened by telecom companies if they look out for opportunities to automate processes. This is not just for customers, but for internal processes as well; given the higher volume of remote working.

Conclusively, the upper management at telecommunication companies will need to have a clear understanding toward guaranteeing the reliability of their networks. While doing so, it would also be appropriate to determine appropriate times to restart investments in the network, and in future trends such as 5G and process automation to have it evolve. This is key towards ensuring a positive customer experience, even at the current load their networks take on. From a financial standpoint, executives will also need to re-orient the structuring of their costs; to accommodate potential declines in revenue that may be faced.