How can CSPs survive?

Communications service providers (CSPs) are facing a major obstacle: They're struggling to adapt to changing consumer behaviors and losing market share to big tech companies in the process.

OpenSync

Learn more about how Plume helps CSPs improve service, reduce operating expenses, and increase their capability to upgrade and deploy new services.

Simply put, OpenSync is the connecting layer between CSPs and the WiFi hardware they distribute to their subscribers, giving them the power to develop, deploy, monitor, and manage smart home services with one system.

Sources: “New Survey Shows 27 Percent of U.S. Households Plan to Cut Cable TV Subscriptions in 2021,” Trade Desk “Total Cost of Ownership Study,” Plume “Reasons for Customer Churn in the Telecom Industry: 2019 Survey Results,” TechSee “American Customer Satisfaction Index Telecommunications Report 2019-2020,” ACSI “Reasons for Customer Churn in the Telecom Industry: 2019 Survey Results,” TechSee

*All statistics are taken from the Plume Total Cost of Ownership Study and represent the greatest percentages measured for each category. Long-term phone call and cost records from November 2018 to August 2019 for over 2 million customers were analyzed in the first half of 2019 to measure the operational benefits of the Plume CEM platform deployment.

By shifting to cloud-based solutions

“Ultimately, CSPs need to be focused on the cloud-based platforms that allows them to be fast-to-market, flexible, and respond to consumer demands.”

As Plume found in a recent study, the number of devices per US household increased by 38% from October 2019 to May 2021. Most notably, consumers invested in more smart lightbulbs, security cameras, voice assistants, and fitness equipment. And with those new devices, people have come to expect higher quality experiences and connected services that anticipate their needs. So, how can CSPs help ensure their long-term survival and success? Start adopting AI-driven, data-centric, cloud-based solutions that allow for future growth. Sophisticated AI is core to the cloud-based offering because it allows services to adapt to—and keep up with—ever-changing consumer demands.

Todd Grantham

Plume CMO

Here’s how those privacy-led solutions can help providers increase their market share and get ahead of competitors.

“As the world starts to open up, I think that number is going to drift back a bit, but I don't think we're going to be anywhere near the previous device count and capacity. That new water line is now much higher.”

Consumer behaviors evolved during the pandemic, with many people now working and schooling from home. As Grantham pointed out, the number of devices that were active at home during the day increased 100-200% in 2020.

Todd Grantham

Plume CMO

Meet changing consumer demands

As a result of this increased device usage, people have come to expect more from their smart home experiences. In particular, they crave fast WiFi speed, a secure, uninterrupted connection, and personalized features. It's up to CSPs to meet these demands. That's where the cloud-based delivery platform comes in, offering a way to deliver an expanded suite of services into each home.

“[We can] offer services via that cloud platform, whether it be cyber-security protection services, physical motion-detection services, or guest access and parental control features. All of these things are ways to enhance the home experience for their subscribers.”

Todd Grantham

Plume CMO

Push out new services instantaneously

Consumers don’t just want enhanced smart home experiences. They also want them quickly. In other words, they don't want to wait for new hardware to ship each time they upgrade or spend hours on the phone with customer service every time they have a question. Again, cloud-based solutions are the answer. "The ability to push new services with existing hardware is a completely new way to think about approaching the market," Grantham said. "And that is a very real-world example of future-proofing because you have the nimbleness of the cloud. That's what we're proposing CSPs embrace fully." In fact, consumers are already used to this kind of instant gratification with big tech companies like Amazon delivering on-demand content and e-commerce products with just a tap.

Otherwise, they risk being washed out by competitors. “It used to be that the CSP was very central to a consumer or subscriber’s life, and it's becoming less so,” Grantham explained. “That’s why this cloud-based platform allows the CSP to keep ownership or keep a larger share of wallet of that experience for their subscribers and keep relevance high for their solution.”

“Consumers have gotten more and more comfortable getting services from various providers, whether it be membership-based services or cloud-delivered services—that's just become the norm. So CSPs now have to move into that same model.”

Todd Grantham

Plume CMO

Stop relying on expensive hardware

The ongoing silicon shortage continues to affect consumers’ ability to get new hardware—be it a dishwasher, laptop, or network server. CSPs who rely too heavily on their hardware may have their hands tied by this issue. But those who offer cloud-based solutions can continue to adapt and expand. “As a cloud-based model, we can upcycle existing, deployed hardware out there for CSPs,” Grantham said. “So those gateways that they’ve sent out in the world, we can actually push our platform into those deployed boxes and suddenly open up all of those services.” That means CSPs can extend the lifespans of their legacy hardware and avoid getting pulled under by the silicon shortage. This is made possible with OpenSync—an open-source framework that provides CSPs with WiFi management capabilities across each customer's home.

CSPs can’t wait around to adopt this cloud-based model, either. They need to act now as consumer behaviors will only continue to evolve and big tech companies will keep swooping in to steal market share. “It's incredibly urgent for CSPs to get into the game,” Grantham said. “And now that consumers are welcoming these services pretty readily into their homes, it’s really important for CSPs to set up that delivery platform so they can offer the same level of experiences that their subscribers have counted on in the past.”

Download the TCO study