Phone users' expectations continue to rise<\/p>\n
By Prapti Widinugraheni<\/p>\n
LONDON (JP): The time has come when telecommunications
\nproviders have to start thinking about giving their customers
\nmore than just a telephone line to keep them paying their bills.<\/p>\n
As telecommunications becomes more sophisticated and exposed
\nto competition, telecommunications providers and operators must
\nconvince their once-faithful customers that the services are
\nworth what they cost.<\/p>\n
Currently, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), the domestic
\ntelecommunications provider, does little more than operate
\npeoples' telephones and provide general information and complaint
\nhotlines and prerecorded billing information.<\/p>\n
But with the opening up of the telecommunications sector,
\nTelkom will have to deal with tough competition from foreign
\nplayers who will enter the domestic market and offer more.<\/p>\n
The United Kingdom's British Telecommunications (BT) Plc,
\nwhich was privatized in 1984, will be among the foreign
\ntelecommunications companies wanting a piece of Indonesia's
\nlucrative and growing domestic market.<\/p>\n
BT, which provides telecommunications services to about 90
\npercent of the UK's 23.5 million households that have telephone
\nlines, faces competition in UK itself.<\/p>\n
BT's marketing services head, David Duxbury, said BT's main UK
\ncompetitors were Mercury Communications Ltd, the United States'
\nAT&T and more than 50 resellers that may at any time resell the
\nmore than 50 licenses issued and enforced by Britain's office of
\ntelecommunications.<\/p>\n
BT's director for regulatory affairs, John Butler, said the
\nUK's telecommunications sector was now so open that anyone could
\nget a license.<\/p>\n
\"There is a guarantee to get a license and compete in the
\n(UK) market but not a guarantee to make money,\" he said.<\/p>\n
BT has expanded since being privatized.<\/p>\n
Last year, it announced plans to merge with U.S.
\ntelecommunications company, MCI. The planned merger is expected
\nto result in a company called Concert Plc.<\/p>\n
BT said it intended to use Concert to penetrate the U.S.
\nmarket but the new company has yet to get approval from U.S. and
\nEuropean Union authorities.<\/p>\n
Last week, BT and MCI took a big step toward conquering the
\nworld when it joined with Portugal Telecom to enter the Spanish-
\nspeaking world.<\/p>\n
But what do they have that can outdo domestic monopolies like
\nIndonesia's Telkom?<\/p>\n
Last week at an exhibition called \"Innovations 97\" at its
\nlaboratories in Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, BT showed that
\ntelecommunications companies would have to offer more than phone
\nlines to win in new markets.<\/p>\n
During the exhibition, BT displayed a wide range of products
\nand services, some of which are already available and some which
\nwill be launched over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n
Products available included an airline interactive service
\nwhich gives airline passengers information on everything from
\nroad maps to shopping centers.<\/p>\n
BT has also designed an agent-based work flow (which will help
\nsave time negotiating contracts), long-distance equipment to help
\ninsurance companies assess crash damages of vehicles in remote
\ngarages, and 3-dimensional retail shopping information where
\ncustomers can furnish their homes on-line.<\/p>\n
There is also a public warning system, which can warn people
\nof an expected disaster, like a flood, and provide evacuation
\ninstructions.<\/p>\n
And there is the \"smartspace\", which is a seat equipped with a
\nscreen and gadgets so a person can direct operations and
\nparticipate in teleconferences.<\/p>\n
But are BT's designs as innovative as it claims?<\/p>\n
Many people attending the exhibition, particularly those from
\nEurope, said what BT was doing was the same as many other
\ncompanies.<\/p>\n
Duxbury said that like many telecommunications companies, BT
\nwould provide up-to-date multimedia and Internet features, band-
\nwidth choices and other packaged services.<\/p>\n
Customers would increasingly demand services which would allow
\nthem to work from home, give them more mobility and more choice,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"Customer loyalty will become more meaningless. People that
\nhave been with a bank for years, for instance, may change if
\nanother bank offers better services,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In other words, customer-based companies should not
\nunderestimate their customers' power to choose.<\/p>\n
The key was to realize that customers -- particularly
\nresidential customers -- would be choosing a telecommunications
\nprovider based on services and price rather than on technological
\nsophistication, he said.<\/p>\n
Although BT's laboratories spend up to 270 million pound
\nsterling a year on research and technology, on the customer level
\nit would still rely on providing modernized network services,
\nDuxbury said.<\/p>\n
These include call-waiting, which allows Internet-users to
\nknow when there is a phone call on the line, 3-way calling, lower
\ncongestion levels, reminder calls, and ring-back-when-free
\nservices.<\/p>\n
\"We'll reach our customers and prospective customers through
\nTV advertising, direct marketing and telemarketing campaigns,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
An ambitious drive like BT's will be needed in the next
\ncentury when countries under the World Trade Organization,
\nincluding Indonesia, have to open up their telecommunications
\nmarkets and compete in a free and fair business climate.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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