Strategy Analytics is seeing a growing number of operators making a success out of unlimited data plans or zero-rated offers, increasing profitability and improving customer experience. The key is capacity-enhancing LTE upgrades. Market analysis of Finland, South Korea, China, US and examples from Vodafone, Free and Deutsche Telekom support a call to action for more mobile operators to tackle LTE upgrades and launch new data plans to stimulate mobile data use.
Operators risk losing out if they are caught off guard by a push from competitors, regulators or consumer demand for more video-centric plans with zero-rated content or full unlimited data offerings. Strategy Analytics urges operators to be proactive with a customer-first, network-ready approach to create a win-win-win-win for the operator, customers, content providers, and regulators. The time is ripe to launch LTE upgrades, including LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, Unlicensed LTE including Licensed Assisted Access LTE (LAA), not only for current service plan demands to stay competitive, but to win in 5G operators will need a strong Gigabit LTE network as a workhorse as 5G builds out. Thus operators should lead in technology adoption to support innovation on service plans and build for success in the emerging video/content centric era. First movers with a data strong network have an advantage for unlimited, yet even followers can position well to monetize and support growing demand.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
1. The Move to Unlimited Data Plans
1.1 Zero-rating and Unlimited Plans: a Growing International Trend
1.2 Finland & South Korea: Lessons from Mature Unlimited Plan Markets
1.3 T-Mobile US: Profitability from Binge On Zero-Rated Video to Unlimited Data
1.3.1 Unleashing Mobile Video – What Binge On Entailed
1.3.2 Impact of Binge On and T-Mobile ONE unlimited plans: KPIs of Success
1.3.3 Impact on Network: Network Evolution to Support Capacity Demands of Binge On and Unlimited Data
1.4 China Jumps on the Unlimited Data Trend
2. Summary & Recommendations: Zero-rating and unlimited data
2.1 A Call to Action: Act Now to Implement LTE-A Upgrades and Video-centric Plans
3. How Can We Help You?