BLS EXPECTS EXCITING NEW PHASE FOR MALAYSIAN MOBILE MARKET

By Farazira Amira Yusof

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian mobile market is entering an
exciting new phase following the relisting of Maxis Bhd, according to UK-based
information technology solutions provider Business Logic Systems (BLS).

There will be aggressive competition to increase long-term customer loyalty,
leading to the creation of more innovative products and services in the next 18
to 24 months, it said.

BLS expects the mobile players to bundle their products, forming more
integrated partnerships with financial institutions and retailers going forward.

However, the stiff competition is not going to create a "price war" as it
would affect the revenue and profit of operators in the long run, said BLS
president for Asia Pacific, Vicks Kanagasingam.

"It shouldn't be a price war as it could create 'short-term gain, long-term
pain'. I believe mobile operators in the country are creative and would not go
into this method," he told Bernama recently.

"Like Thailand two to three years ago when the mobile operators went into a
price war, they all ended up losing money. Because of that, they didn't expand
their networks, then the quality of service became bad. So, the loser was not
only the operators but also customers," he said.

Vicks also said that this method was not the key strategy for the operators
to secure subscriber loyalty.

The mobile players, he said, should have a better understanding of
customers' changing needs and respond quickly in real time.

"This is where creativity comes in and what they need is the real-time
marketing strategy which can help to improve churn rates for operators," he
added.

Real-time marketing technology will allow operators to make the right offer
to the right person at the right time by using the right communication channel,
thereby increasing revenue, Vicks said.

"Most mobile companies still run aggregated marketing campaigns which make
use of historic information, so customers are not receiving communication at the
point when it most relevant," he said.

"But through an automated marketing technology, operators can make use of
short message service (SMS) campaign to prepaid customers, in particular just
moment after they top up. The message can carry out special offers and
incentives to encourage further service usage."

This move, according to him, would help operators to have a two-way of
dialogue with customers, especially prepaid users as the average revenue per
unit (ARPU) was low.

BLS has developed a real-time campaign management tool, InTelestage
Real-Time Marketing Manager, which empowers mobile operators to meet customer
needs in real-time and treat the customer as a valued individual, building
long-term relationships that drive up recharge revenues and stimulate service
usage.

Vicks said Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd, which deployed the system for its X Pax
campaign in 2007, saw its usage increased by five per cent, adding that BLS was
in the midst of deploying the system to Maxis.

The InTelestage solution has also been deployed by other world leading
mobile operators, including Saudi Telecom Company in Saudi Arabia, Telstra in
Australia, B-MobileCommunications in Brunei and AXIS in Indonesia, he said.

According to Vicks, the telecommunication industry is expected to continue
recording moderate growth as it is recession-proof.

BLS, he said, planned to expand its customer base to the Philippines,
Thailand and India in the near future and would continue to come out with
innovative solutions to meet customer demands.

Established in 1996, the company operates from offices in the United
Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia, Austria and Dubai, with a development centre in
Romania. Its partners include Acision, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard
and Microsoft.
-- BERNAMA